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Forex Course

168. Learning To Trade Multiple Timeframes In The Forex Market

Introduction 

In our previous lesson, we discussed multiple timeframe analysis in forex means. Now, let’s find out what forex trading with multiple timeframes means. In case you are wondering, trading multiple timeframes in forex does not mean that a trader is opening several positions using different timeframes. We are not saying you can’t do this, you if you have the money; but that is not what trading with multiple timeframes in forex means.

Trading multiple timeframes in Forex means using different timeframes to establish the trend and support and resistance levels of a currency pair to determine the best point of entry and exit of a trade. Let’s use a few examples to show how trading with multiple timeframes in forex occurs.

As we had mentioned in our previous lesson, the timeframes you use for your analysis depends on which type of forex trader you are. The best way of trading multiple timeframes in the forex market is by using the top-down technique. With this approach, you first observe the longer timeframes for the general market trend, then use the smaller timeframes to establish more current trends.

Let’s take the example of a forex day trader. You will start by using the 1-hour timeframe to establish the primary market trend. Say, a day trader wants to open a position on September 9, 2020, at 11.00 AM GMT, using the 4-hour timeframe, the market shows an uptrend.

4-hour timeframe for EUR/USD

1-hour timeframe for EUR/USD

The 1-hour timeframe confirms that the pair’s intermediate trend is consistent with the uptrend observed in the 4-hour timeframe.

15-minute timeframe for EUR/USD

The 15-minute timeframe can then be used to select the best entry point.

Determining the market limits: the longer timeframes will enable you to determine the support and resistance levels of a currency pair. The resistance levels help you set your exit points while the support levels will help you timing your market entry.

Establish the trend momentum: While the larger timeframe gives you the overall market trend, the smaller timeframes will help you establish the spikes in the price of the currency pair. These spikes will help you to establish the short-term strength of the trend compared to the longer-term trend.

Helps avoid the lagging effect of some technical forex indicators: Most technical Forex indicators are lagging, meaning trend changes signaled by the indicators lags the real change in the price of the currency pair. Therefore, price-action can be said to be leading the technical indicators in the forex market.

We will cover these three reasons in detail in our subsequent lessons.

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Forex Course

105. Summary of Leading and Lagging Indicators

Introduction

In the previous lessons, we have understood what leading, and lagging indicators are. We also saw how these indicators could be further divided into other types. Here’s a summary of everything we’ve learned so far in this space.

Leading Indicators

Leading indicators are those who forecast prices in the market using historical prices. It indicates a signal for the continuation or reversal of a trend the event occurs. However, these indicators do not work with complete certainty. As they are making a prediction, it is more probability driven.

Lagging Indicators

Lagging indicators, as the name suggests, are lagging in nature. These indicators confirm the market trend using past prices. They are called the trend-following indicators as they give an indication once the trend has been established in the price charts. However, these confirmatory indicators are more reliable than the leading indicators as they give more accurate signals though they are late in doing so.

Please refer to this article to know the differences between these two types of indicators.

In the industry, there are three types of indicators that are widely used. They are

  • Oscillators
  • Trend-following indicators
  • Momentum indicators

If we were to put them into the bag of leading or lagging indicators, Oscillators are leading, trend-following indicators and momentum indicators are lagging. Note that an indicator may not be under one of the types; they can be a combination of two or all three.

Oscillators

An oscillator is a leading indicator that moves within a predefined range. These are to our interest when it crosses above or below the specified bound. These areas determine the oversold and overbought conditions in the market. These indicators are very helpful in determining market reversal. Some of the most popular oscillators include MACD, ROC, RSI, CCI, etc. The usage and interpretation of oscillators have been discussed in detail in this article.

Trend-Following Indicators

Trend-following indicators are lagging indicators that are usually constructed with a variety of moving averages. Crossovers are the typical strategy used with these indicators. These indicators give a signal to buy or sell when the market has already begun its move. Hence, these indicators give us late entries but are more convincing than leading indicators. For example, Moving Averages and MACD are the most used trend-following indicators.

Momentum Indicators

As the name clearly indicates, these indicators show the speed or the rate of price change in the market. Since the momentum can be calculated after the price moves, it is considered a lagging indicator. These indicators indicate when there is a slowdown in the buyers or sellers. And with this, we can assume for a possible reversal. More about this can be found here.

Conclusion

This sums up the concept of leading and lagging indicators. Having an understanding of these indicators is necessary because it is risky if a lagging indicator is analyzed as a leading indicator and vice versa. Also, it is recommended to use these indicators in conjunction with each other for better results. In the upcoming course lessons, we will be discussing interesting topics related to Elliot Wave Theory.

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Forex Course

100. Leading and Lagging Indicators: How are they different from one another?

Introduction

When getting started with trading, the first things people look out for are indicators. Indicators exist in both technical analysis and fundamental analysis. The difference between the two beings, fundamental indicators indicate or predict a long-term trend while technical indicators predict or confirm a short-term trend.

One of the best forms of analyzing the markets is by using indicators, as it helps interpret the trend in the market and also the opportunities available in them. Indicators are of two types, namely, leading indicators and lagging indicators. The former one is used to predict the future trend while the latter is used to confirm a trend.

What is a Leading Indicator?

It is a type of technical indicator that forecasts future prices in the market using past prices. That is, when the indicator makes its move, the prices follow a similar move. These indicators lead the price; hence they are called leading indicators.

However, never there is a 100 percent surety that the price will move in the direction as predicted by the indicator. Yet, traders can get their ideas from the indicators, see how the market unfolds, and then act accordingly.

What is a lagging indicator?

A Lagging indicator is also a technical indicator that uses past prices and confirms the trend of the market. It does not predict future price movements. Basically, it follows the change in the prices.

Classifying Indicators

There are five types of indicators in technical analysis. Let’s put these indicators in the right bag.

Trend indicators – It is a lagging indicator to analyze if the market is moving up or down.

Mean reversion indicators – A lagging indicator that measures the length of the price swing before it retraces back.

Relative strength indicators – It is an oscillator which is a leading indicator that measures the buying and selling pressure in the market.

Momentum indicators – This leading indicator evaluates the speed with which the price changes over time.

Volume indicators – could act as a leading or a lagging indicator that tallies up trades and quantify the buyers and sellers in the market.

Examples of leading indicators

The widely accepted and used leading indicators include:

  • Fibonacci Retracement
  • Donchian channel
  • Support and Resistance levels

Difference between Leading and Lagging Indicators 

Conclusion

All novice traders are in the hunt for the so-called “best indicator” in trading. But there is no such thing as ‘best’ indicator. Every indicator is a useful indicator if applied in the right way. For instance, we cannot use a trend indicator to predict the future of the market and then undermine that it does not work. Instead, one must understand the category under which an indicator falls and then use it accordingly.

I hope you were able to comprehend the types of indicators and the difference between them. In the next lesson, we shall apply some of the indicators into the real market and test them.

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