📍 Core Concept

Timeframes

Choosing and combining timeframes for optimal analysis.

APOLLO ENCYCLOPEDIA

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What It Is

Timeframes determine the period each candlestick represents on your chart. Common timeframes range from 1-minute to monthly. The timeframe you trade defines your holding period, stop-loss size, and the type of analysis that's relevant.

Key insight: Higher timeframes are more reliable than lower timeframes. A double bottom on the daily chart is far more significant than one on the 5-minute chart because it represents more market participants and more capital. The signal-to-noise ratio improves as you zoom out.

Scalping: 1m-15m timeframes. Day trading: 15m-1H. Swing trading: 4H-Daily. Position trading: Daily-Weekly. Investing: Weekly-Monthly. Match your timeframe to your lifestyle and personality.

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Choosing Your Timeframe

Start on higher timeframes.

New traders should begin with daily charts. They're slower, give you time to think, and the patterns are cleaner. As you gain experience, you can drop to 4H or 1H for better entries.

Use multiple timeframes.

Analyze on a higher timeframe (daily for direction), enter on a lower timeframe (4H or 1H for precision). This gives you the context of the big picture with the timing of the small picture.

Don't over-trade low timeframes.

Lower timeframes generate more signals, but more of them are noise. The 1-minute chart is 95% noise and 5% signal. The daily chart inverts that ratio.

💡Pro Tip

Apply this concept in combination with others. No single concept tells the whole story - confluence is key.

Master Timeframes

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