Considering Alternatives: GBP/USD Discussion

The GBP/USD 15 minute swing was an entry that required an uptrend and support at the 34ema trio.  For anyone watching that set up, the 34eam low was broken as prices pierced 1.6477 and made a low at 1.6454.  Fifteen minute charts — due to their short term nature — will have smaller risk/reward rations and are preferred for that reason by many traders.  However this capture (left) shows the support at the low on the 30 minute chart.  This market cycle was also in an uptrend or “mark up” cycle and prices were supported at the 34ema close.  The very candle that stopped out the 15 minute chart was the one that triggered the swing buy on the 30.  Risk tolerance and time frames are intertwined.  Longer time frames will often require more risk and in cases such as this swing set up, require a deeper pullback for an entry.  However, sometime the wait is worth it.  Trouble is there is no magic that will always signal which time frame will be the better to trade.  A good habit though would be to scan the nearby time frames for comparison.  So a 15 minute set up should by default at very least also merit a look at the 30 minute chart.