I always start with 1hour charts, because I want to see 1 to 2 months of data on a chart.. if that looks good, then I will consider looking closer, like 15 mins sometimes on those small account building trades.. But its not necessary, 1 hour charts are fine too.. and then the chart should tell you how long to expect to stay in the trade.. some of them only last minutes and others might last a few days.. just pick the best charts you can find.. and often you can milk one chart for a month or more, profiting every day or every other day on some of those real good ones.. You can easily make a living off just the small account building trades alone..