Timeframe ( English time-frame ) or trading period - the time interval used to group quotes when building elements of the price chart (bar, candlestick , line chart point).
Within the selected trading period, from the general history of quotes, usually only open prices, highs, lows and closures are left, and total volume of transactions is calculated, for example, the number of shares sold during this time ( eng. Open, high, low, close, volume ). For a line chart, only one selected price parameter can be used (usually, the closing price).
Very often, the trading period is used in the name of the price chart: minute (each element of the chart is based on data for 1 minute), fifteen minutes (in the figure), hourly, daily, weekly.
A common mistake is to assume that the “hourly” chart shows in the window detailed price movements in 1 hour. “Hourly” means that one smallest element of the chart is formed within an hour, and the hourly chart window can contain history for several calendar months.
The more detailed history you need to see, the shorter trading period you need to choose. To display movements within one day, use from minute to hourly chart. Daily or even weekly charts are usually used to review historical intervals of several years.
For the designation of trading periods, an abbreviated entry is usually used in the form of a Latin letter (usually the capital letter) to designate a time period and a numerical indication of the number of such periods:
- M is the minute (M1 is the minute period, M10 is the ten-minute period).
- H is the hour (H1 is the hour period, H4 is the four-hour period).
- D - day (D or D1 - day period).
- W - week (W or W1, sometimes Wk - weekly period).
- MN - month (MN or Mo - month period).
- Y is the year (Y or Y1 is the annual period).