Technical Analysis For Dummies, 4th Edition

Chapter 15

Ignoring Time to Create Better Timing

IN THIS CHAPTER

Looking at two ways to ignore time — tick and constant range bars

Figuring out point-and-figure charting

Taking a look at breakouts

Using time-less charts with other indicators

Timing is important. It counts in cooking, romance, and a thousand activities. It counts so deeply in technical analysis–based trading that the word “timing” appears in the titles of many articles and books. So why throw time out the window in constructing charts?

The answer is that important price moves can happen at any time. The time of day (or night) is irrelevant. What’s important is the price move. With some important exceptions, like the daily close or the month-end, price moves based on changing sentiment occur independently of time. They depend on the news and Events that drive supply and demand.

You can divorce indicator signals that direct your buy/sell timing from conventional time constants. You don’t really care at what hour a breakout occurs; you care far more about whether it’s a true breakout you should trade or a false one ...