Trading on 1 hr chart: swing trading with Bollinger Bands (2024)

Trading on 1 hr chart is a swingtrading style based on Bollinger Bands. And as you know, swing trading is much different thanday trading.

Day Trading requires much deeperconcentration since each trade lasts for few minutes to a maximum offew hrs at the most. So, you need to be quick in identifying thetrading opportunity and reacting to it. Swing trading on the otherhand will give you some breathing space to

trade.

Entering the trade

a. Currency pairs – All USD basedcurrency pairs.

b. Indicators used –

• Candlesticks

• Bollinger Bands – 1. setting of 20period with deviation 2,

2. setting of 10 period with deviation of2.

• Stochastic RSI – setting 18, 2, 2

• 200 EMA

For stochastic RSI, even the 14,3setting would have worked well, But after testing more than 50settings, I felt that 18,2 work the best.

Here are the rules of the trade fortrading on a 1 hr chart, which are quite

1. The low of current candle andprevious two candles should not be the lowest point in the last 30candles.

2. The current or the previous 2candles should have created a lowest low in the last 7-8 candles, butshould not have the highest value in last 7-8 candles.

3. The Difference between highest pointand lowest point in last 10 candles should be 45 or more Pips.

4. Confirmation Indicators

• The Stochastic RSI oscillatorshould have value of 40 or below

• The 10 period UPPER bollinger bandshould be Inside (or let us say “Below”) or should have samevalue as the 20 period Upper Bollinger band

As soon as you find a setup which meetsabove rules, we’ll enter the trade after below mentioned guidelineis met -

We can enter the trade as soon as theprice goes past the mid-point of range of last 3 candles.

IMP: This cross of the midpoint of therange should happen within next 3 candles for the trade to be taken.Else the setup is not Valid and you must wait for next setup.

Just to mention again, “range” hereis calculated as difference between highest high of last 3 candlesand their lowest low.

So for example if in last 3 candles,the highest high has been 1.4000 and lowest low is 1.3940, then rangeis 60 pips. As soon as price crosses range’s mid point which is60/2 = 30 pips, we can open a trade.

Trading on 1 hr chart: swing trading with Bollinger Bands (1)

If you look at above chart, Point A andPoint B present good trading

conditions.

But if you look at Point C, it doesn’t.Why?

Because Point C made the lowest low inlast 30 Candles and also the stochastic RSI is not below 40. Infactit is more than 60.

Trading on 1 hr chart: swing trading with Bollinger Bands (2)

The above chart shows 3 trade setups –

1. The 1st trade set up starts at pointA where all the entry rules as values of confirmation indicatorsmeet.

As soon as trade is entered, the stoploss is placed 25 pips below the low of the candle at that time.

As soon as the trade is 35 pips inprofit, the stop loss is moved to entry price.

So from now on your trade can never endin loss.

From there on keep moving stop lossevery 20 pips towards the direction of trade.

This trade would have ended at point 1with 20 pips profit.

2. Same rules as above. The trade wouldhave opened at point 2.

This trade would have made 210 pips andwould have ended at point 2 where the market would have hit thetrailing stop loss.

3. The 3 rd trade setup is at point Cwhich would have ended at point 3 with

60 pips profit!

As you can see the system is highlyreliable and is very straight forward in use. Once you practice withfew times, you’ll start spotting the trade setups in matter of30-35 seconds!

Trading on 1 hr chart: swing trading with Bollinger Bands (3)

The above chart covers 2 trades onUSD/JPY currency pair.

1. The 1 st trade is marked at point Ameets all the trading rules. It exits at point A when the markettouches the trailing stop loss. It ends with 120 pips profit!

2. The 2 nd trade ends starts at PointB and finishes at point 2 with amazing 260 pips profit.

Remember, such high profits arepossible only when you adhere to the money management principle whichis a key to have profitable trades!

Money Management Rules.

Here are the money management rules fortrading on 1 hr chart. Please go through these carefully –

1. As soon as you open the trade, placethe stop loss 25 pips below the entry price. But your stop lossshould not be more than 55 pips away from entry price.

2. Once you are 35 pips in profit, moveyour stop loss to entry price.

3. From there on, keep moving yourtrailing stop loss every 20 pips in the direction of trade.

4. You can exit the trade by followingany of these exit strategies –

a. 1 st Exit strategy can be that assoon as you reach profit of 90 pips you can close the trade

b. The other exit strategy is that youcan keep your trade running and till the time market reverses andhits your trailing stop loss

Note: A quick note I’ll make here isthat I would recommend you to use exit strategy 2 since on 1 hr chartthere can be some runs that can fetch more than 200 pips!

Also, be careful when the marketreaches 200 EMA. If there is any sign of reversal when currency pairtouches 200 EMA, close the trade immediately.

Trading on 1 hr chart: swing trading with Bollinger Bands (2024)

FAQs

Which timeframe is best for Bollinger Bands? ›

Bollinger Bands typically use a 20-period moving average, where the "period" could be 5 minutes, an hour or a day. By default, the upper and lower bands are set two standard deviations above and below the moving average.

Can we use Bollinger Bands for swing trading? ›

Bollinger Bands are well-known technical indicators in the swing trading world. They help traders identify a probable turnaround in prices. To execute a basic swing trade, you could buy near the lower Bollinger Band and set limit orders to sell near the upper band.

Is the 1 hour chart good for swing trading? ›

Swing trading rests at the intersection of various trading styles. It's comparable to delivery trading due to the ideology but at the same time, you'd observe that day traders carry out their daily analysis in similar ways. The best timeframe for swing trading includes 1-hour, 4-hour, and daily timeframes.

What is the best indicator to combine with Bollinger Bands? ›

Traders often combine the Bollinger Band indicator with Moving Averages. The choice of which particular MA to use depends on the time frame and the trading style, yet on an intraday hourly chart, the 10-period Simple Moving Average (SMA) may be a good option.

How much accurate is Bollinger Bands? ›

Interestingly, Bollinger Bands are able to capture about 90% of the price action in a given asset or cryptocurrency. When the asset's price moves above or below a set Bollinger band, this means that trading opportunities are being presented.

What is the drawback of Bollinger Bands? ›

One of these limitations is that the Bollinger Bands are essentially reactive, not predictive. The bands will react to fluctuations in price movements, either uptrends or downtrends, but will not predict prices. Like most technical indicators, Bollinger Bands are a lagging indicator.

What are the disadvantages of Bollinger Bands? ›

Limitations Of Bollinger bands

False signals: Bollinger Bands can produce false signals, especially during periods of low volatility when the price moves sideways. Traders need to exercise caution and look for confirmation from other indicators.

What chart should I use for swing trading? ›

Swing trading strategies can be aided by using candlestick charts and oscillators to identify potential trades. Oscillators track momentum and help identify reversals when they begin to diverge from the existing trend.

What is the 1% rule in swing trading? ›

The 1% risk rule means not risking more than 1% of account capital on a single trade. It doesn't mean only putting 1% of your capital into a trade. Put as much capital as you wish, but if the trade is losing more than 1% of your total capital, close the position.

Is 1-hour chart good for day trading? ›

For some forex traders, they feel most comfortable trading the 1-hour charts. This time frame is longer, but not too long, and trade signals are fewer, but not too few. Trading on this time frame helps give more time to analyze the market and not feel so rushed.

What is the best moving average strategy for a 1-hour chart? ›

A common setting for the simple moving average on a 1-hour chart is the 10-period SMA. This setting is often used to identify short-term trends and potential areas of support and resistance. Alternatively, 20-period SMA is also a popular choice, this setting is used to identify medium-term trends, and also he.

What works well with Bollinger Bands? ›

The best combinations with Bollinger Bands are oscillators such as the RSI and MACD. Bollinger Bands are great at pinpointing value price areas in the market, but they do not show the price strength or weakness at such areas. This is where oscillators come in.

What is the best Bollinger Band strategy? ›

Buying on the break of the lower Bollinger Band is a simple strategy that often works. In every scenario, the break of the lower band was in oversold territory. The timing of the trades seems to be the biggest issue. Stocks that break the lower Bollinger Band and enter oversold territory face heavy selling pressure.

When to buy and sell with Bollinger Bands? ›

Wait for a breakout: After the Bollinger Bands have squeezed, you're looking for a breakout. This is when the price moves decisively above the upper band (for a long trade) after a squeeze or below the lower band (for a short trade). The breakout signals the potential beginning of a new trend.

What is the weekly Bollinger Band strategy? ›

We'll call it the Weekly BBO. In layman's terms the rules are: When the broader market is in an uptrend, look to buy any stock that breaches the upper side of its Bollinger Band. Place an initial stop 20% below and continue to trail that stop 20% behind as price moves higher.

What are Bollinger Bands economic times? ›

Definition: Bollinger Bands is one of the popular technical analysis tools, where three different lines are drawn, with one below and one above the security price line. Its specific period moving average is denoted as midline to form an 'envelope'.

What is the Bollinger Bands multi time frame indicator? ›

Bollinger bands is a popular technical indicator, which is used by many traders to assess the trend's volatility. With MT4/MT5 BB Multi-Timeframe (MTF), you can see the status of the breakout or pullback from the bands across multiple timeframes in one table.

How do you use Bollinger Bands for long term investment? ›

As a simple Bollinger band strategy, you'd typically want to buy when the price gets above the middle band after its second low, and place your stop loss just below the second low. You'd then want to stay in the trade so long as the price is finishing (i.e. “closing”) each week above the middle band.

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