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Hello all: My name is Andy and I'm new to the Forum...it looks fantastic. I would be interested in opinions regarding tick vs time charts, positives/negatives etc. TIA
Can you help answer these questions from other members on NexusFi?
Tick vs Chart is really a question of style and habits. Personally I like strategies and therefore I prefer tick charts because on a condition like calculateonbarclose=true (which you need to set when backtesting with NT), time is not a key issue. For example on a cross strategy from a 15 minutes bar, the condition will be checked at the close of the bar, if something happens in the middle you might be screwed (and your backtest will not reflect live), where as on a 4 tick chart the condition will be met after 4 ticks up/down move, regardless of time. This condition reflects the updating of your indicators as well.
If you are discretionary, tick vs time will less impact on your trading, you might therefore look for the commonly used minutes time frames, which will depend on the instrument (there is plenty material if you search on futures.io (formerly BMT) Price Action)
Range charts are based on constant ticks therefore we can include them in tick charts as well, the principle doesn't change, but you are right my description might have been missleasing, I was referring to Range charts.
maybe I don't understand what you're trying to say, but for me there's a huge difference between range and tick charts. with range charts (like volume or time charts), you don't know how many ticks it takes to form a bar.
Like you mentioned there is a huge difference, what I am trying to say is that with time charts the bar is built according to a fixed time (which leads to a series of above mentioned consequences) , where as with tick charts time is not fixed and I found it more reliable for my style and habit. My descrition of tick chart was more referring about how the data is recorded (tick, or minute)
I use compressed tick charts. By compressed I mean a chart that is zoomed out to where you can't easily identify each candle but you can easily identify each swing. A 300 tick for the ES and a 100 tick for the NQ 'squashed up' is what I use to see where the market has been. To be honest, I could use any chart as long as it shows all the swings.
I do also occasionally peek at the 5 min chart. I use this specifically to look for 'textbook' setups that will pull retail traders into positions. For instance, a move up and then a candle with a long tail at the top. I will them use DOM/T&S to see if the sellers that buy into the reversal are mostly retail and if there are signs of false bids on the ask and icebergs on the offer. If I see this, I'll go long.
So the idea is to see all of the action but not have any focus on any specific bar but rather to keep an overall view on the day unfolding. Then keep a 5 min chart open to see if you can fade trapped traders.
It depends in part on your trading style. Time charts are good for certain setups but tick charts are better for others.
As a rough guide, I'd say that time charts are better suited for larger moves with bigger targets and wider stops, while tick charts are better suited for scalping and timing precise entries.
I personally use tick charts for my intraday trading. This is as much a matter of habit as anything. I've been using them for years and they make sense to me at this point.