Spencer Li

The Different Styles of Trading (Holding Period, Timeframe, Products, etc)

The Different Styles of Trading Holding Period Timeframe Products etc

The 3 Styles of Trading: Short-Term vs Medium-Term vs Long-Term (and Which Fits You)

Last updated: 3 July 2026 · By Spencer Li, CFTe

There are three main styles of trading, sorted by how long you hold a position: short-term, medium-term, and long-term. Short-term trading (day trading and scalping) means closing positions within the same day or even within seconds, using 5-minute or 15-minute charts, and it suits full-time traders who can watch the screen constantly. Medium-term trading, also called swing trading, holds for days to a few weeks on the 4-hour or daily chart, and it is the best fit for part-time traders with a full-time job. Long-term trading holds for weeks to months on the daily or weekly chart, and it suits people who want to check in only weekly or monthly. Your style decides your holding period, your timeframe, your time commitment, and the products you trade. For most people with a job, medium-term swing trading is the sensible starting point. Short-term trading is the most stressful and the least beginner-friendly, so I do not recommend it to people just starting out.

Here is how each style works, who it suits, and where it goes wrong.

What does “trading style” actually mean?

By style, I mean the way you approach trading. It is not the strategy or the indicator. It is the rhythm you commit to.

That rhythm then locks in four things at once:

  • Your holding period (seconds, days, or months)
  • Your timeframe (which chart you read)
  • Your time commitment (how often you have to look)
  • The products you can realistically trade

Get the style wrong for your life, and nothing downstream will work. A person with a 9-to-5 who tries to scalp 5-minute charts will lose to the people doing it full time. Pick the style that fits your schedule first, then build the strategy on top.

The 3 styles, side by side

Holding periodMain timeframeHow often you checkBest forTypical products
Short-term (day trading, scalping)Seconds to one day5-min, 15-min, or shorterConstantly, every few minutesFull-time tradersForex, futures, larger stock markets
Medium-term (swing trading)Days to a few weeks4-hour or dailyEvery few hours or once a dayPart-time traders with a jobForex, CFDs, lower-cost stock markets
Long-term (position trading, investing)Weeks to monthsDaily or weeklyWeekly, monthly, even quarterlyPeople with no time, more capitalStocks, ETFs, REITs, dividend assets

The products differ for a reason. Short-term traders need things that are very liquid, have low commissions, and move enough during a single day to be worth trading. Medium-term traders want products built for retail, with transaction costs low enough that holding for days still pays. Long-term traders want assets that appreciate over time and pay you to wait, which is why dividends and REITs show up here and not in scalping.

Is short-term trading right for me?

Short-term trading is mainly for people doing it full time. It includes day trading (closing all positions by the end of the day, so you never hold overnight) and scalping (taking extremely short-term positions that can last seconds).

You will mainly be using 5-minute or 15-minute charts, or even shorter timeframes. That means checking your screen every few minutes, or staring at it constantly.

This can be quite stressful for beginners. Hence, it is strongly not recommended as a starting point. The people on the other side of your trades are often full-timers with faster tools and years of screen time, and you are paying commissions on every fast in-and-out.

Is medium-term (swing) trading right for me?

Medium-term trading is the most ideal for part-time traders, because it does not require much monitoring of the markets. It is also known as swing trading, because it captures the “swings” in the market.

You will mainly be using the 4-hour or daily chart. So you only need to check your charts every few hours, or even once a day. That makes it ideal for people who have a full-time job and do not want to spend all day looking at charts.

Personally, this is the style I teach and trade. The products tend to be the ones better suited to retail traders: forex, CFDs (contracts for difference, where you trade the price move without owning the asset), and stock markets that do not carry too-high transaction costs. You get most of the opportunity without the screen addiction.

Is long-term trading right for me?

Long-term trading is suited for people who do not have any time at all. It includes position traders and investors who take positions that can last weeks or months.

You will mainly be using the daily or weekly chart, so you will probably only be checking your positions weekly, monthly, or even quarterly. This is the most hands-off option.

Do note that, it also requires a lot of patience. And it is not suitable for people with little capital, because your money is going to get locked up for long periods. The products tend to be more asset-based: stocks, ETFs (exchange-traded funds, baskets of assets you buy in one ticker), REITs (real estate investment trusts), and other assets that can appreciate over time and pay dividends.

So which style should you pick?

Start from your calendar, not from your ambition. The honest order for most people:

  1. Have a full-time job and limited screen time? Medium-term swing trading. This is the default I point beginners to.
  2. Trading full time and able to watch the market all day? Short-term becomes possible, but go in knowing it is the most stressful and the most competitive.
  3. Have spare capital, plenty of patience, and almost no time to watch? Long-term position trading lets your money work while you do other things.

There is no “best” style in the abstract. There is only the one that fits your time, your capital, and your temperament. The traders who blow up usually picked a style that fought their own life.

A screener can tell you what a chart is doing on any timeframe. It cannot tell you which timeframe you can actually sustain at 11pm after a full day of work. That choice, matching the style to your real life and then holding the discipline to stay in it, is judgment, and it is the first of the Human Edges no tool trades for you.

FAQ

What are the 3 main styles of trading?
Short-term (day trading and scalping), medium-term (swing trading), and long-term (position trading and investing). They differ by holding period, timeframe, time commitment, and the products traded.

Which trading style is best for beginners with a full-time job?
Medium-term swing trading. It uses the 4-hour or daily chart, so you only need to check your positions every few hours or once a day, which fits around a full-time job.

What is the difference between day trading and swing trading?
Day trading closes all positions within the same day, using very short timeframes like 5-minute or 15-minute charts and constant screen time. Swing trading holds for days to a few weeks on the 4-hour or daily chart, needing only a daily check.

Why is short-term trading not recommended for beginners?
It uses 5-minute or 15-minute charts that demand near-constant attention, which is stressful, and you are competing against full-time traders with faster tools while paying commissions on frequent trades.

What products suit each trading style?
Short-term suits liquid, low-commission, high-movement markets like forex, futures, and large stock markets. Medium-term suits retail-friendly forex, CFDs, and lower-cost stocks. Long-term suits asset-based holdings like stocks, ETFs, REITs, and dividend payers.

Now that you have the three styles side by side, which one actually fits your week? Let me know in the comments.

And if you are still deciding where to start, read the pillar: The Beginner’s Guide to Trading and Technical Analysis.

Want a style that fits a busy schedule? Grab the free 15-Minute Swing Trading Starter Kit. It’s the exact routine I use to scan once a day and trade any market in 15 minutes.

About the author. Spencer Li is the founder of Synapse Trading and a Certified Financial Technician (CFTe) with 15 years of trading across stocks, forex, crypto, commodities, and bonds. His trade log is public, 404 trades, losses left in. He teaches low-risk swing trading in 15 minutes a day, one system for any market.

Education, not financial advice. Synapse Trading is not licensed by MAS to advise on investment products. Trading carries risk of loss; past performance is not indicative of future results.

Related

Beginner’s Guide to Trading and Technical Analysis (pillar) · What is swing trading? · Day trading vs swing trading · How much capital do you need to start trading?

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Spencer Li

Exotic & Uncommon Technical Analysis Methods

EXOTIC UNCOMMON TECHNICAL ANALYSIS METHODS

Uncommon Technical Analysis Methods: 11 Exotic Trading Tools (And Whether They Still Work)

Last updated: 3 July 2026 · By Spencer Li, CFTe

Uncommon technical analysis methods are the exotic, less-mainstream ways of reading charts, like Fibonacci, Elliott Wave, Gann theory, harmonic patterns, Ichimoku, and Market Profile. Most were genuinely popular at some point, then faded as the hype died down or simpler methods replaced them, and today their use is mostly confined to hobbyists and niche bloggers. Are they worth your time? My honest answer, after studying all of them: a couple are useful as a secondary lens, most are interesting but not worth building a system around, and a few attract more believers than their results justify. None of them is a shortcut. The trader matters more than the method. Below is the full list of 11, what each one actually does in plain language, and where I personally land on each.

Here is the catch nobody tells beginners. You can spend a year mastering an exotic method and still lose money, because the method was never the hard part.

What counts as “uncommon” technical analysis?

Mainstream technical analysis is the stuff most professionals lean on: support and resistance, trend lines, moving averages, basic chart patterns, and a handful of momentum indicators. It is common because it is simple and it travels well across markets.

Uncommon technical analysis (sometimes called exotic, unorthodox, or alternative TA) is everything past that fence. These are methods with their own rulebooks, their own jargon, and often their own devoted following. Some are rigorous. Some are closer to numerology with a chart attached. The label “uncommon” is not an insult, it just means fewer traders use it day to day.

The 11 uncommon methods, side by side

I studied every one of these before settling on the simple core I trade today. Here they are with a one-line definition (jargon explained) and my honest take.

MethodWhat it actually doesMy take
Fibonacci analysisUses ratios from the Fibonacci sequence (0.382, 0.5, 0.618) to mark likely retracement and extension levels on a moveUseful as a secondary lens for picking levels; do not treat the lines as magic
Elliott Wave theoryReads price as repeating 5-wave and 3-wave cycles driven by crowd psychologyBeautiful in hindsight, hard to call in real time; the count changes after the fact
Gann theoryW.D. Gann’s system linking price, time, and geometric angles (the “Gann fan”) to forecast turnsFamous, complex, and to me more mystique than edge
Harmonic patternsGeometric patterns (Gartley, Bat, Butterfly, Crab) defined by precise Fibonacci ratios between swing pointsA more structured cousin of Fibonacci; precise rules, demanding to trade well
Dow theoryThe original trend-following framework: trends have phases, and indices should confirm each otherFoundational and still sound; most modern TA quietly rests on it
Ichimoku Kinko Hyo (Cloud charting)A Japanese all-in-one indicator: the “cloud” (Kumo) shows support, resistance, trend, and momentum at a glanceGenuinely useful once you learn it; busy on the chart at first
Volume Spread Analysis (VSA)Reads the relationship between price spread, volume, and the close to infer what large players are doingSensible logic (volume confirms price); interpretation is subjective
Market ProfilePlots price against time-at-price to show where the market accepted value (the “value area”)Strong for understanding where trade actually happened; popular with futures traders
Pitchfork analysisAndrews’ Pitchfork draws three parallel trend lines from three pivots to map a channelA clean way to frame a channel; one tool, not a system
Point and Figure (P&F)Plots price moves only (Xs and Os), ignoring time entirely, to filter out noiseOld-school noise filter; a niche taste today
Cycle analysisLooks for repeating time cycles (highs and lows recurring on a rhythm) to anticipate turnsTempting, but cycles drift and break right when you start trusting them

If one row jumps out at you, good. That is the row worth a weekend of reading. The other ten can stay on the shelf.

Were these methods ever actually popular?

Yes, and that history matters. Many of these were the cutting edge of their day. Dow theory underpins almost everything that came after it. Gann and Elliott had cult followings for decades. Ichimoku has been standard in Japan for generations.

What happened is ordinary. The hype around a method cools, or a simpler tool does most of the same job with less effort, and usage drifts to a smaller circle of specialists, hobbyists, and bloggers who keep the flame alive. That is not proof a method is useless. It is just how attention moves.

Are uncommon technical analysis methods worth learning?

Here is my honest position. A small number of these earn a place as a secondary lens once your core is solid. Fibonacci for levels, Ichimoku for an at-a-glance read of trend, Market Profile for understanding where value sits. The rest are worth knowing about, mostly so you can recognise them when someone online presents one as a holy grail.

The trap is the same with every exotic method. It looks complicated, so it feels powerful, so a beginner assumes the complexity is what is missing from their results. It usually is not. I trade a simple core, scan once a day, and the edge lives in the decisions, not in the indicator count.

A method can flag a setup. It cannot tell you to size it down, sit out a coin-flip, or walk away after two losses. That gap is the first of the Five Edges, judgment, and no chart tool, exotic or plain, closes it for you.

How to decide if an exotic method is for you

A quick filter before you sink a month into any of these:

  • Does it give clear, repeatable rules, or does it only make sense after the move? If you can only “see it” in hindsight (the classic Elliott Wave complaint), be careful.
  • Can you test it? If the rules are too vague to backtest, you cannot tell skill from luck.
  • Does it replace your core, or sit beside it? Treat any exotic method as a second opinion, never the whole system.
  • Are you reaching for it to fix a discipline problem? A new method will not patch a leak that is really about psychology or risk.

If a method survives that filter, learn it properly. If it does not, you just saved yourself a month.

FAQ

What are uncommon technical analysis methods?
They are the less-mainstream ways of reading charts, including Fibonacci analysis, Elliott Wave theory, Gann theory, harmonic patterns, Dow theory, Ichimoku (Cloud charting), Volume Spread Analysis, Market Profile, Pitchfork analysis, Point and Figure, and cycle analysis. Most were once popular and are now used mainly by specialists and hobbyists.

Which uncommon method is the most useful?
In my view, a few earn a place as a secondary lens: Fibonacci for picking levels, Ichimoku for a quick read of trend and momentum, and Market Profile for seeing where the market accepted value. Dow theory is foundational and still sound.

Do professional traders use exotic technical analysis?
Some do, but most professionals build on a simple mainstream core (support and resistance, trends, moving averages, basic patterns) and add at most one or two of these as a supporting view. Very few trade an exotic method on its own.

Is Elliott Wave or Gann theory reliable?
Both have devoted followings, but both are hard to apply consistently in real time, because the interpretation often only becomes clear after the move has happened. Know what they are, but be skeptical of anyone selling them as a sure thing.

Should a beginner learn these first?
No. Master a simple mainstream core and your risk and psychology first. Exotic methods are a second opinion, not a foundation, and the complexity can distract a beginner from the parts that actually move the needle.

So which of the 11 are you tempted to study, and which have you already written off? Let me know in the comments.

And if you want the simple core before the exotic stuff, start with the basics: The Beginner’s Guide to Trading and Technical Analysis.

Want the system, not another indicator? Grab the free 15-Minute Swing Trading Starter Kit. It’s the exact routine I use to scan once a day and trade any market in 15 minutes, no exotic tools required.

About the author. Spencer Li is the founder of Synapse Trading and a Certified Financial Technician (CFTe) with 15 years of trading across stocks, forex, crypto, commodities, and bonds. His trade log is public, 404 trades, losses left in. He teaches low-risk swing trading in 15 minutes a day, one system for any market.

Education, not financial advice. Synapse Trading is not licensed by MAS to advise on investment products. Trading carries risk of loss; past performance is not indicative of future results.

Related

The Beginner’s Guide to Trading and Technical Analysis (pillar) · Definitive Guide to Price Chart Patterns · Fibonacci retracement strategy · Ichimoku Cloud explained

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Spencer Li

The 3 Main Types of Technical Analysis

the 3 main types of technical analysis

There are 3 main categories of technical analysis methods that are used by all traders:

Since I will be doing separate guides for each of these methods, for now I will be briefly going through each one.

 

Types of Technical Analysis

 

1. Classical Charting

These were the very first tools developed by traders, back when there were no computers and charts had to be plotted and analysed manually.

They include things like swing counts, support and resistance levels, trendlines, channels, price patterns, etc.

Even today, most traders still use these methods, usually in conjunction with other methods.

2. Technical Indicators

With the advent of computers, traders started using them to crunch numbers, and by applying mathematical formulas (using the open, high, low, close, volume data) were able to add another dimension of analysis which was not always obvious by visual observation.

There are thousands of indicators, but the common ones used are moving averages, MACD (moving average convergence divergence), RSI (relative strength index), Stochastics, Bollinger Bands, etc.

3. Price Action

Price action is a pretty broad category, but the main idea is to study the movement of price, while understanding the underlying reasons for such moves.

In the past, one such method was tape-reading, which has now evolved to reading the price ladder and order flow. but these are more for intraday traders on very short timeframes. I used to do that when I was trading for funds.

For retail traders, the more common approach is to study candlestick patterns, which is to identify unique clusters of bars, but for more advanced price action, it involves studying every single individual bar.

Most traders will use a combination of all 3 methods, since they are not mutually exclusive. The idea is to find a combination of tools that can enable you to find good trading opportunities with the least amount of effort.

 

thumbnail beginner guide to trading and TA

If you would like to learn how to get started in trading, also check out: “The Beginner’s Guide to Trading & Technical Analysis”

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Spencer Li

How to Read Price Bars (Candlestick Bars)

How to Read Price Bars Candlestick Charts

Now that we have learnt how to read price charts, the next step is for us to zoom in on the individual bars that make up the price charts.

Since these charts are called candlestick charts, the individual bars are called candlestick bars. For convenience, most people will also refer to them simply as price bars.

 

reading candlestick bars

Each candlestick bar consists of 4 data points:

  • Open – this is the opening price of the bar, which refers to the first transaction which occurred in this time period.
  • Close – this is the closing price of the bar, which refers to the last transaction which occurred in this time period.
  • High – this refers to the highest transaction price which occurred in this time period.
  • Low – this refers to the lowest transaction price which occurred in this time period.

Based on these 4 data points, all candlestick bars will have 2 components:

  • Body – this is the “fat” part of the candle, and its length is determined by the distance between the open and close.
    • White body – If the closing price is higher than the opening price, it means that prices moved up, and it represents bullishness.
    • Black body – If the closing price is lower than the opening price, it means that prices moved down, and it represents bearishness.
  • Shadow – this shadow is the “thin” part of the candle, and represents the extreme moves of prices within the bar.
    • Short shadow – this signals low volatility and less uncertainty.
    • Long shadow – this signals high volatility and more uncertainty.

I will be covering more of this in my price action trading guide, so for now here are some simple rules for analysis.

Bullish factors:

  • A lot of long white bars
  • Short or no shadows on the top of bars
  • Long or no shadows on the bottom of bars

Bearish factors:

  • A lot of long black bars
  • Short or no shadows on the bottom of bars
  • Long or no shadows on the top of bars

 

thumbnail beginner guide to trading and TA

If you would like to learn how to get started in trading, also check out: “The Beginner’s Guide to Trading & Technical Analysis”

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Spencer Li

How to Read Price Charts (Candlestick Charts)

How to Read Price Charts Candlestick Charts

As we mentioned in the previous chapter, there are buyers and sellers, and a transaction happens when both a buyer and seller agree to transact at a particular price.

As the number of buyers and sellers in the market vary, so does the supply and demand, which causes the price to change continuously.

A price chart is simply a way to visually represent all the transactions that take place for a particular product, over a certain period of time. By plotting it out, it makes it easier for us to study the price trends over time.

While there are many types of price charts, such as bar charts, line charts, renko charts, kagi charts, etc, the most commonly used chart nowadays is the candlestick chart, so I will be using it for all my examples.

 

how to read technical price charts

In the example above, you can see that prices are plotted as the y-axis, while time is plotted as the x-axis, so as we view the chart from left to right, we are observing how prices change over time.

Since this is a daily chart, 1 bar represents 1 full day of transactions. In trading terminology, we will say that the chart timeframe is the daily timeframe.

Some common timeframes include M5 (5 minutes), M15 (15 minutes), M30 (30 minutes), H1 (1 hour), daily (1 day), weekly (1 week), monthly (1 month), etc.

In the same example above, you can see that if I switch to a 1 week (5 trading days) timeframe, all that data in the box will be compressed into 1 bar. And if I switch to a monthly timeframe, all the data in the 1 month box will be compressed into 1 bar.

If you look at the bottom of the chart, you will see red and green bars, these represent the volume, which is the number of transactions that occur in that period of time corresponding with the price change.

Generally, the bar is green if price closed higher (relative to the close of the prior bar), and it is red if the bar closed lower.

 

price chart multiple timeframes

So this is how the same chart will look like as I toggle between the daily chart, weekly chart, and monthly chart.

As you go to a higher timeframe, you will notice that the chart gets “cleaner” and less granular, which makes it easier to study long-term trends by removing the noise, but on the downside it contains less data.

Personally, for my own trading, I like to stick to the daily chart, because it works well for swing trading.

 

thumbnail beginner guide to trading and TA

If you would like to learn how to get started in trading, also check out: “The Beginner’s Guide to Trading & Technical Analysis”

 

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