Sunday, September 21, 2008

The Five Minute Rule wins the day

I posted way back when about trading in the morning and how tricky it can be. Friday turned out to be a good lesson for that- or a hard one if money was involved. One thing that I think needs discussion is the psychology of the 5 minute chart. Looking at the open of WM, PMI, and RDN and seeing those huge white bars could make one think that they would keep going up...









However the 1 minute chart reveals the real story...







Although the 5 minute chart is useful most of the time, trading at the open and premarket leader drops requires the most precise timing. Switching to a 1 minute chart may help clarify what is happening in the stock and help you make better trading decisions.

2 comments:

James Krieger said...

I always jump between 1 and 5 min charts through out the day. I find them both useful when trying to decide whether to enter a play

James Krieger said...

It's weird because those two huge EOD trades on WM never showed up on the Thinkorswim charts. I remember being confused why WM had a closing price of $4.25 when my TOS charts still showed in around $3.70.

Had to be some hedge funds or something betting that WM would get sold over the weekend (which is what I was looking for too when I took a small position). Still nothing though so far on WM.