Ok, so' I am planing on Swing trading, but my problem is I dont know which charts / how many charts / which time intervals I am supposed to be looking at. When I have too many they start confusing the crap out of me...like 1day / 1 min or 5 days / 2 min etc... Whats the the best combination of charts to use for swing trading and their time intervals and indicators ?
The most important thing to keep in mind is that most people lose in trading. Ask yourself again and again why is this? Probably there are quite bright guys among them with lots of skills (eg spotting patterns in charts). IMO the problem is mostly just one: People are using too few data (or corrupted data). They get valueless information or too much - so that it cannot be processed any more by a human mind. So the task is: - Get as much (valid) data as possible - Then filter it so that only important information is left over (and you do not get overwhelmed) The first step would be to understand what kind of data is available out there, how you can get it and what you can make of it. And keep in mind that the valuable data is not easy to access. When you are asking for time intervals: Use the smallest possible (for not loosing precious information) - eg tick charts and from there zoom out to see the bigger picture. Indicators: Stay away from them - they have been made to appear helpful but they only distract and will never give you an edge. (Better learn to trust your eyes)
"Swing trading sits in the middle of the continuum between day trading and trend following. Swing traders hold a particular stock for a period of time, generally between a few days and two or three weeks..." You should consider looking at a chart that exhibits swing highs and lows that keep you in trades for those typical time periods. One or two minute charts would, depending on your method, probably not fall into that category.
It's always been daily for me. If it went down, it'll probably go back up, and if it went up, it'll probably go back down. Not too much thinking about swing trading is needed, but systematically analyzing it is what you should work on if you go this route.
Use Think or Swim's Prophet charts... Set them up as a 60 day 10min chart... Use 500 SMA with a 5-10 SMA... Keep is ultra simple. 1 time frame is good enough, AS long as it's NOT 1 min-5 min (way to short, unless u are scalping). I am swinging the FX market and I find 10min 60 day or 15 min 60 day is great. My charts have little green and red arrows, so I just buy and sell based off my arrows. Easy...right? Kind of...It takes most traders too long to realize they don't need MACD, RSI, STOCHASTICS, SMA/EMA all barfed up on their chart. (most traders blow up before they realize to keep it simple...some kill themselves and others go on shooting rampages http://news.zdnet.co.uk/itmanagement/0,1000000308,2072877,00.htm ) 1 trend indicator is all you need. Follow it like the bible (or whatever holy book you're fond of )
For swing trading i use a weekly, daily then a 60 or 30 min for the entry. I wouldn't use anything smaller than a 30 min for a swing trade. I consider a swing trade from 2 days to 2 weeks or maybe even longer. Is this what you are talking about with your swing trading? A 2 min chart or a tick chart would not give me a big enough view on the stock for a swing trade. TG
============================ Neveralone; If you had to pick one timeframe; 10 years of QQQQ,further zoom it down to 1 year,50 day ma...... Sure ,study bid ask realtime,[years] on 1 your year chart,; ============================== & to make it easy on eyes,i may zoom the 1 year candles to 60 days, but its still 1 year chart. On saturday, may look @ monthly, all daily data.... William O Neil [founder of IBD], uses daily charts,50 & 200 dma; 1 minute -15 minute charts or tick charts are about as useful to me swingtrading as ticks on a turtle[not much]. Wisdom ,focus on a few helps, cut back, on loss; it may mean a trend change QQQQ is bullish on 50 dma, but below 200 dma.