How Do You Trade a 15 Minute Chart?

As a day-traders' favorite, there are quite a lot of specifically designed strategies to trade a 15-minute chart.

The 15-minute chart is a favorite of day-traders. While scalpers may prefer lower time frames to catch more trade opportunities, day-traders could focus on the 15-minute chart to profit from larger price movements throughout the day. There are usually one or two profitable chances every day when we trade on the 15-minute chart, except on holidays and quiet trading days.

How should we trade on the 15-minute chart? There are quite a lot of specifically designed trading strategies out there. Here are some of them:

The 15-Minute Breakout

Requirements:

• Sufficient knowledge about support resistance and simple candlestick reading.
• Naked 15-minute chart with additional trend lines as needed.

The rule:
If it is trending in one direction and breaks a 15-minute high, then it is most probably going to continue (either upward or downward).

The caveat:

• The strategy is more suitable for Asian and European trading hours.
• Be aware not to open any position within 2 hours before market close in the New York session.

The 20-EMA Trading Strategy

Requirements:

• Understanding on how EMA (Exponential Moving Average) works, support resistance zones, and overall trend.
• A 20-EMA on a 15-minute chart.
• A Daily chart.
  

The rule:

• Check the major trend in the Daily chart. Is it uptrend or downtrend? Only open a position if the trend on the Daily chart is in the same direction as the current trade opportunity on the 15-minute chart.
• If prices on the 15-minute chart moved over 20-EMA with substantial buying volume, then you can buy it. If prices on the 15-minute chart moved below 20-EMA with substantial selling volume, then you can sell it. See the example above.
• If prices have moved over 20-EMA for several days, then you can look for buying opportunities when prices retrace to the 20-EMA line. if prices have moved below 20-EMA for several days, then you can open a short position when prices retrace to the 20-EMA line.

The caveat:

• This strategy is only suitable for breakouts and trending markets. Be aware not to use it during choppy or ranging markets.
• To improve accuracy, you could also monitor price patterns and volume indicators. There is always more than one way to use a certain trading strategy, read more to learn further.

Multiple Time Frames Trading Strategy

Requirements:

• Knowledge about support resistance zones, trend lines, and simple candlestick reading.
• To trade on every currency pair, you would need to check 15-minute, 1-hour, and 4-hour or Daily charts.

The rule:

• Determine the major trend in the largest time frame. You could make use of the 4-hour or Daily chart.
• Confirm that the major trend is still ongoing in the mid-term time frame (1-hour).
• Look for entry and exit points on the 15-minute chart. You could either apply the 20-EMA strategy above, or choose other indicators such as ADX, Parabolic SAR, and Bollinger Bands. You could also prefer a naked chart as long as you have sufficient experience with patterns and candlesticks.

So, which strategy would you choose to trade a 15-minute chart? Whichever it is, make sure to first try it out on the demo account till you could master it well. Good luck!