20 second charts are useful, too. And for the same reasons, I suspect 10 second or even 5 second charts would be also. I tried tic charts once but they overwhelmed my computer.
Higher time frames gain you no more certitude. They just ensure that your stops have to be wider and you'll get fewer opportunities intraday. You should never have to watch more than 2 futures contracts to make a very good living. If you can't avg 20+ ticks per day off of the YM on a 1-5 min avg time per price bar (that covers minute, volume and tick charts) you should seriously consider never quitting your day job to be a futures trader. There are more 2 to 1 reward to risk ratios on the 1 min YM with 20 ticks being the minimum "2" and 10 ticks being the maximum "1" in a 40-60% winning pct window than you can mentally/emotionally handle taking. And again with the ES...the ES volatility stinks in comparison to the other e-minis, a horrible contract for beginners and intermediates. It's for advanced traders with deep pockets.
Agree with the rest of your post but not necessarily this. The lower volatility of the ES can make it "easier" and "more comfortable about the risk" than higher volatility contracts. For others reading this post, I suggest they try trading all of the bigger contracts and see which one, if any strikes a chord. (I suspect they'll find all to be equally difficult and stressful.)
OP, based on the timing of this thread and your recent "14 losses" thread, I'm assuming you experienced your recent positive track record (2 months) using the 5m chart to trade stocks, then hit the heavy loss streak and now contemplating switching time frames. Maybe stick to the 5m if that's where you experienced your prior success, and use a 10m or 15m to help you navigate areas where the higher TF conflicts with your 5m signals. If you have a valid 5m signal that occurs right where an opposing signal is setting up on a higher HTF, it could be a way to filter out some of the 5m losers. Perhaps keep track of all your valid 5m signals that set up where an opposing 15m signal occurred, and see if the win rate for those specific 5m signals was markedly lower than your normal average. No magic time frames, but proficiency at using 2 or 3 concurrently can certainly help.
Although I will say it does seem a bit unfair lol that the ES has such nice tradable swings from 19:00 to 07:00 and during RTH it does this to us lol
%% Including ,but not limited to 5 hour candlecharts.............................................. Also, Risepoint ,you have to be aware some times its like '' [TT ]Travis Tritt song; ''The Whisky Ain't Workin' Anymore'' Also 200 day moving average/200 period moving average helps keepon right side of trend. Hard to go wrong wrong with 200dma; but i dont consider 5 minutes over or under 200dma as ''nothing but noise'' If 95% of the money is made off calender + 5 %off clock; study both.
%% Anything CAN work. I enjoy including, but not limited to 5 hours candle charts.200 day moving average + 200 period ma can be strange, in that its quite a trendLine=auto adjusts. Only bad thing aboUt a 5 hour candle chart, only 1+ part per day.............
While everyone can explain why they use particular time frames, based on my experience using a time based chart for day trading does not work well. What is the consistent correlation between a clock and what you are trading, other than the market is open or closed. A trade could start and end before you get a new bar. Or, if you have a period of low / no activity many technical indicators will start reverting to neutral. As soon as activity pick up invalid signals may be generated because the math is comparing something to nothing.
It does not matter what time frame you use. All that matters is when you plan to get in and when you plan to get out. Think about it! What difference it makes if you use a 5 , 7 , or 8 minute timeframe? Eventually you will see the same context on a 5 minute bar as 1 minute bar. It makes no difference. From my experience, managing the trade is key. I can tell my 5 year old to stare at the chart and click buy and sell on a 5 minute chart. All that matters is where he gets in and where he gets out.