Originally posted by SicilianTM
I've often wondered if it makes any sense to use typical candlestick patterns on an intraday chart. For a daily chart they kinda make sense since there is a natural open and close to the trading day. On a one minute chart for example, it's kind of arbitrary as to when one minute ends and the next begins - shift it by a few seconds and you might get a totally different picture when it comes to two-candle patterns.
Hi SicilianTM,
I can't speak for others that use Japanese Candlesticks on intraday charts...but I'm assuming most have noticed the same thing I've notices...
That is...the probabilities of intraday candlesticks are much different in comparison to those on daily charts.
Simply, many patterns on intraday depend
more on where the price is closing in relationship to what your choice of indicators (stochastics, PPO, MACD, RSI, CCI, Price Moving Averages and so on).
In fact, I use candlesticks much differently on intraday than I do on daily charts.
Therefore, I assume you mentioned this subject because you also notice the difference in their probabilities for follow-thru.
Also, I don't really understand (maybe I do) your following statement:
"...arbitrary as to when one minute ends and the next begins - shift it by a few seconds and you might get a totally different picture when it comes to two-candle patterns."
The same is true for daily, weekly and monthly data. Why? It depends on your data providor.
I've seen different Open, or High, or Low prices by data providers like PCQuote, Quote.com, Standard & Poors, DialData, eSignal plenty of times.
For example, what looks like an "Incomplete Dark Cloud Cover" pattern on the daily charts via eSignal may be a "Dark Cloud Cover" pattern by DialData.
The biggest difference between two data sources I've seen has been between Quote.com and TradeStation Pro (daily numbers and intraday numbers).
I remember seeing a "completed" candlestick in TS pro to only review the candlestick 15 min laters to see its "slightly" different...scary huh.
Also, what's odd is that I can download a ASCII file from one intraday data provider and upload that same file into another another program to only see different single candlesticks (minor changes)...once again...scary.
Note: I have not done the above test in about a year. I was just bored one day and got curious.
Thus, how reliable your data provider arguably merits it's an important aspect of your JC analysis.
Nihaba Ashi