60-minute bars

T

Tech Analysis

Since the trading day is 390 minutes, there are (6 1/2) 60-minute bars per day. As a result, the last bar doesn't get printed on esignal if your chart's daily timeframe is 9:30-4:00. You have to set the timeframe for 9:30 to 4:30 to get the last full 60-minute candle/bar printed, but that includes the afterhours market which skews the results. Or use 30-minute bars, of course.

Anyone have this problem with other chart services? I have to use 65-minute bars in order to get 7 intraday bars printed before the close, but I never hear anyone mention 65-minute charts.
 
if 60 does not fit - it does not fit - and it does not skew the results - it is the results - using 65 is not solving anything - except giving you 65min bars!

you just use 60min bars - but 30 are much better anyway ( 2 x 30 is a 60) and low and behold - they fit the time correctly!

 
aside from the technical issue you brought up, i would like to bring up the issue of using a time frame which causes unequal amounts of time and volume to a chart.

I think using such timeframes is visual misrepresentation and could seriously affect the outcome of trading if soley relied upon.

the only time frames worth charting are the ones that divide evenly into the market hours. I use 78, 65, 39, 25, 15, 5, 1 minute time frames.
 
Make sure that the signals you use are the ones everyone else uses - thats what moves markets - no secret formula - when the majority of people are working off the same signal - the market takes off - so be careful of anything to theoretical - keep it simple - choosing off the wall SMAs to fit the time of day - may seem to make sense - but perhaps you are solving a problem that does not exist?
 
60 minute bars are a common timeframe that many traders look at - regardless of whether it produces an "unequal" bar.

The datafeed should properly account for this though without including afterhours data in a bar unless you specifically tell it to or requiring that you do anything unusual to your charting time period.

If the datafeed can't deliver properly formed 60 minute (or any other timeframe) bars that contain only regular trading hours price data - then it's incorrectly engineered.

I have not seen that kind of behavior on Qcharts, DTN, Realtick or any web-based charting service that can show 60 minute intraday bars.
 
if you have your bars - set to 60min and the end of the market - set to 16:00 - your last bar - should just contain the last 30 mins -but the day close - may of course be different

but what do u want to use the last 60 min bar for? By then you should have made your bucks and be out on the town!

the next bar is the open - and thats a major battle based on all sorts of factors - look at today, the market opened way up
 
Tech Analysis,

When using 60 min bars with Tradestation (which I use), it automatically sets the last bar to 30 mins. (i.e. 6 - 60 min bars and 1 - 30 min bar).
 
as i said in the point above - the last bar will be a 30 min bar if you are dealing with a cash market time set to finish at 16:00 Eastern time - since although it is in a 60 min sequence of bars - the last bar will only get 30mins of data
 
This is silly. Your time horizon will almost certainly be different than another market participant's. A Commercial has a completely different motive and time horizon than I do as a local market-maker. Do you take 2 trades a day? OK, then use a 30-minute chart. 20 trades a day? OK, then use a 3-minute chart. 2 trades a week? OK, then try a 180-minute chart.

I think that you will find that by expanding or contracting the bar timeframe, you will be able to generate the number of trade opportunities you will take over the course of the day, week, or month. I am constantly adjusting time frames to glean 'cleaner' signals.

Another idea: use multiple time frames. Personally, I use daily, 60 minute, and either 2,3,4, or 5-minute bars depending on things appear to me. All at once. Quad monitor on the ole' CQG. Reason: an oversold study or support pivot level on a 3-minute chart is meaningless if you've just busted through yesterday's low.
 
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