Gold Education
Reading Charts
Reading More Than One Timeframe
The same chart is bullish, neutral and bearish at the same time. Which answer is right depends entirely on the question you are asking.
A daily uptrend contains dozens of 15-minute downtrends. Neither chart is lying. Most confusion in chart reading is simply two timeframes arguing inside one head.
A workable routine
- 1
Direction on the higher timeframe
Daily or weekly. Structure, the 200-period average, the big levels. This decides which side you are allowed to take. - 2
Context on the middle timeframe
4-hour. Where are the zones, where is the range, how much room is there before the next obstacle? - 3
Timing on the lower timeframe
15-minute or 1-hour, and only for the entry and the stop — never for the opinion. - 4
One conflict rule
If the higher timeframe says down and the lower says up, you are looking at a pullback, not a reversal.
When it fails
Adding timeframes until one of them agrees with you is not analysis. Two, at most three, chosen before you look — and if the higher timeframe says nothing clear, the honest answer is that there is no trade, not that you should drop to a faster chart until there is.