In my opinion nothing beats 4 hour Forex charts, you may be wondering why I would make such a claim. Is it something to do with some ‘esoteric secret?’ or maybe ‘The World’s top traders are doing it?’, maybe it is ‘Some secret ploy to sell you my latest product that relies on a 4 hour chart?’
The reason why I believe the 4 hour Forex chart is the best time frame ever is basically just to do with my lifestyle, how I personally trade and how I create time for trading in my life.
I lead a pretty hectic life, with running the Prestige Trading Software, looking after my partner and raising my beautiful little girl, there is always 101 things to do each day. Trying to fit trading into my life in the past was sometimes difficult, especially when trying to keep the important people in my life happy but with a four hour chart I manage it.
For some people trading may seem like a daunting idea, especially if you already have a fulltime job and you are not in a position financially to give it all up to become the ultimate day trader. If all this sounds far too familiar then keep reading to learn why I claim that the 4 hour chart is best chart out there.
Trading can be very time consuming, lots of people choose to try and trade daily charts or even weekly charts. But this can feel like you are waiting forever for charts to line up. You may have to wait days or even weeks between moves, this will just add to your frustration.
My average Day to Day Schedule using 4 hour Forex charts
The best thing about the 4 hour forex currency charts, is the fact that it fits my lifestyle perfectly.
This is how my trading works on a day to day basis and the reason why more recently I have started to trade Forex over Stocks using a 4 hour chart, I do still keep my eye on a few stocks and for that I use a daily time frame.
07:00 am: I wake up, I switch on my trading computer and load up TradeStation. I check all of my open positions and spend approximately 10 minutes seeing what the markets are up to.
07:30 am: I shower and get ready for work, some days I even hit the gym first. I check my twitter and news feed on the way to the office, this gives me an idea of the general market news for the day and what people are talking about.
09:30 am: I get to my desk about 9:30am. I check my charts and start to look at the hundreds of emails I receive each day, I start working on my various projects.
01:00 pm: I take lunch and get back to my desk for 2:00pm.
02:00 pm: Naturally I check my charts again. This is the same process all day, I manage my stops and positions, I look to see what is setting up and I enter any trades that meet my entry criteria. I carry on working on my projects for the rest of the afternoon.
05:30 pm: I start wrapping things up for the day, and you guessed it… I check the charts just before I leave work, by the time I get home and have some dinner, see my daughter and partner it will be coming up to 8:00pm.
08:00 pm: I spend a good hour doing some research and analysis, looking at new ideas and looking to see what is lining up for the next trading day. I check all of my positions and then I try to relax for the rest of the evening. I take one last glance just before bed which is usually around about 11pm.
So you can see how with 4 hour Forex charts I literally never miss a bar. I prefer the 4 hour chart because it is so much faster than a daily chart. Best of all I can live my life without being glued to the charts 24/7. I literally see each bar as the day progresses. It allows me to open and close my positions when the opportunity to enter or exit arises and I still manage to get everything else done too.
If my life-style sounds a little bit like your life-style and you’re wondering how an earth you can squeeze trading time into your already busy schedule then have a look at the 4 hour chart and see if it can work for you too.
If you use 4 hour Forex charts, post me a comment I would love to hear from you.
Hi Christopher,
How are you… I hate myself for babysitting the laptop… I do intraday and reasonably successful but I want to switch over to longer time frame so I can have a life… Would like to know what enter exit strategy you apply on 4hr/daily charts that works for you.. I am a fan of Nial Fuller who advocates daily chart… and taking positions with no indicators but just the candlesticks and its patterns… but I need little more than that to reconfirm my entry…appreciate your input… cheers have a nice day
Sridhar Rao
Hi Sridhar,
The stuff Nial puts out is good logic, I use our Home Trading System for timming and for managing my positions once I am in.
Combine it with what you have already learned and I am sure it can work for you too.
-Christopher
Hi Christopher,
I totally agree with this post. I do trade purely momentum price action on the 4 hourly chart. It brings the perfect balance between profits /losses ratio as well as quality of life without having to be glued to your computer each day. It is great timeframe.
approx how many pairs do you cover with 4h
& how many trading opportunities do you get per week do you get.
thanks
4h chart is less stressful. intraday can be very stressful , esp if its 30min and below.
i’m thinking 15min for now, and will see how i go. if too stressful planning 4h, with 1h as my entry.
nihal.
Hi Nihal,
Recently I have been trading just the EURUSD as I have been very busy and following more currency pairs than that is really hard work.
I keep an eye on the American Economy and the Euro Economy and I am placing 1-2 trades per day using our Home Trading System.
Time frames I am watching are weekly, daily 4h, 60m and 5m.
-Christopher
Hi, will your indicators work well with Ninja Trader 8
Max
Hi, yes all of our Ninjatrader Indicators are compatible with Ninjatrader 8.
Yes, all indicators will work in NT7 and NT8