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Thursday, July 16, 2009

It's a Matter of Time..


Time is a key piece of the puzzle in technical analysis. A lot of the chart analysis you see on the stocktwits stream are for a specific time frame, usually that of the chartist, and not necessarily yours. So before you jump into that trade, check the time-frame of the chart and see if it agrees with yours.

If you are a day trader then you’re looking at the price action down to the minute and don’t care what will happen tomorrow. If you are a swing trader, then you’re looking at the 15/60 minute charts to confirm your thesis and time your entry, but mainly focused on the last few days up to a few weeks of that stock’s action, and perhaps pan out to see where they fit in the big picture. If you are a longer term trader then many weeks, months and years is your target, and you are really focused on the fundamentals and the economic environment at that level, and technical analysis becomes an auxiliary tool and not your main focus.

Due to the time frame differences a lot of people will have conflicting views of the same financial instument, and be both correct. So always clarify your time frame before you make up your mind.

Finally, thanks to all those who chart and take charting requests, I know that the time and effort put into that is significant and the education by example provided to others is much appreciated.

Peace and profits to all.
Stockaddict