🕒 Timeframes in Trading: How Not to Get Confused and Choose Your Style 🕒
If you're a beginner and have opened a chart, you probably noticed labels like 1m, 5m, 15m, 1h, 4h, 1d…
These are timeframes — they show how much time one candle on the chart takes.
1m — 1 candle = 1 minute
5m — 1 candle = 5 minutes
1h — 1 candle = 1 hour
1d — 1 candle = 1 day
🔍 Why is this needed?
The timeframe shows the market scale. The smaller it is, the more noise and short-term movements there are. The larger it is, the more stable and reliable the signals.
📌 Who Uses Which Timeframes:
- Scalpers: 1m – 5m – 15m (quick trades within an hour)
- Day traders: 15m – 1h – 4h (one day — one trade)
- Swing traders: 4h – 1d (hold positions from a couple of days to a week)
- Investors: 1d – 1w – 1M (working for the long term)
⚠️ Beginner Mistake: Only looking at 1 timeframe.
Correct: Look at the higher timeframe, trade on the lower one.
Example: trend on 1h — entry by pattern on 5m.
- Conclusion:
The timeframe is like a zoom lens. Learn to look at the market from different angles and don’t make conclusions by only looking at one candle.