Tick Chart

Is using Tick Charts any difference in Price Action Trading?

Should work as well.

It seems that using number of transactions for one bar is a good approach.

Sure, but if you are learning and you have no chart to compare with yours, how will you learn? I would recommend to stick to the 5 min chart and once you master it, you can switch to whatever instrument, time frame or whatever.

Any recommendation of size of the tick used, not too long or too short such as 512 ticks as many used or 1,500 ticks?

In tick charts the bars are printed quickier depending on the volume while in time charts the time is fixed. Around 2000 tick charts (and 6500 volume charts) resembles very much the 5 min chart so if you go lower you will be trading a very fast chart during BOs with more false signals, take that into account! 

Long story short: Stay with the 5min while learning! 😉

Further to ludopuig's excellent and helpful reply above just like to say that I trade tick charts and like them very much. I still have a small 5-minute chart window open to see what Al is looking at, and to imagine what he might well be saying in his room. 😊 

Currently on 4,000 tick chart due to slow market, equivalent to about a 3-minute chart for numbers of bars. When market is active I go up to 8,000 ticks to achieve similar bar count.

As ludopuig noted, 2,000 ticks and lower is far too fast and it will generate much stress in a medium to fast market.

Thanks Ludopuig and Richard for your helpful comments. 

I just experimenting different option to understanding more of my personality (fast or slow charts; swing or scalp; in and out quickly; risk toleration etc).  Sometimes, I am quite impatient on the 5 mins chart and get in the market too early. Watching the tick charts or 3 mins provides quicker price action pattern formation.  I am just still experimenting at this moment.

Hello Danny. I have experimented and traded for some time with both, also 2/4 range bars, 1 min bar, 5 min bars, -/+2000 tick charts.

The reason I have traded so many different time frames is I never had the patience to wait for the 5 min bars. Why? Because of the feeling welling up inside of me saying 1) if I didn't get on board now it would take off without me and 2) if I get in now it will be at a better price than if I wait for bar to close. Both are incorrect psychological biases. Closely related is not wanting to buy after a big bull bar/selling after big bear bar.

The problem I found with lower timeframes is I end up taking profits way too early and giving too much room for stops.

Now I only trade 5 min bars even though I like it the least and %90 + of the time I'm waiting for the close to place trade.

Trading the 5 min bars allows me the confidence to hold for the larger moves and to get out when there's an opposite signal vs... jumping in... stop out, in... stop out, in... tiny profit, in... get out with loss after moving stop to unacceptable levels ect.

Also commissions are account destroyers if are on too low of a timeframe and take alot of signals.

Just my two cents.

Hi Richard, sorry for reviving such an old topic, please tell me if this is against the rules. I was searching the forum on more information about tick charts and noticed your answer here. How do you go about deciding on your tick chart setting? Do you just wing it, or look at times per bar on market open, or look at volume?

I find myself being drawn to tick charts, since I like the way they depict volatility in the markets, but I'm trying to find my way in trading with them. I want to be able to adapt to the market just like you're doing.

Hi Michiel,

I stick with 8,000 tick most of the time which with current volatility is similar to a 2-3 minute chart - sometimes faster when lots of volume coming in. But yes, I adjust based on volatility and aim for 3-5 minutes equivalent. When the market slows down I usually move to 6,000 tick, then 4,000 tick which is my usual lowest. I do not usually change ticks while trading, unless misjudging market, and run with whatever I start with, again 8,000 for probably 80-90% of days. I eyeball the small 5-min chart to check how my tick chart compares.

So winging it in a sense, but not actively as starting out with 8,000 works fine for most days, all day. I only trade from about 8am to 12:00pm ET. I use the full Globex chart which helps see how things are going, along with Globex volume which is a good pre-warning for a volatile day.

PS. Your post is not against any rules. 😋 

Hey Richard,

I also apologize for reviving an old thread but I got curious since I see a lot of people using tick charts to create meaningful ETH charts.

Are trend lines as reliable on a 8000 tick chart versus a 5 min chart?

Also, on a 5 min chart, a strong signal bar is fairly significant for something like a low/high of day setup. Do these 5 min signal bars translate to something equivalent on the 8000 tick chart?

Postado por: Andreas

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...Are trend lines as reliable on a 8000 tick chart versus a 5 min chart?

Also, on a 5 min chart, a strong signal bar is fairly significant for something like a low/high of day setup. Do these 5 min signal bars translate to something equivalent on the 8000 tick chart?

Hi Andreas,

Yes, and yes. Give it a go in a separate window and compare to see for yourself. I find tick charts much more useful. Trend lines from the overnight to RTH are especially valuable and not often present on 5-minutes unless only looking back last couple of hours.