Timeframe Refinement
The process of narrowing a wide higher timeframe zone into a precise lower timeframe entry by finding the exact candle that took liquidity within the larger zone
Timeframe refinement is the process of drilling down from a wide higher timeframe zone (daily or 4-hour) into a precise lower timeframe entry (15-minute or 1-minute). Start with the daily zone, refine to the 4-hour candle that matters, narrow to the 15-minute liquidity event, and pinpoint the 1-minute origin candle. Each step adds precision while maintaining the higher timeframe significance. The result is a 3-5 pip entry zone derived from a 200-pip daily level. A 1-minute zone in no man's land is worthless; a 1-minute zone within a 15-minute within a 4-hour level is your best entry.
✓How to Recognize
- •Start with the daily/4H zone, then drop to the 15m to find the specific wick or liquidity event within it
- •On the 1-minute, find the exact candle that took liquidity and reversed — that is the refined entry
- •A refined 1m zone must sit within a significant 15m and 4H level — never trade a 1m zone in isolation
- •The refined entry allows 3-5 pip stops instead of 40-80 pip stops — same institutional level, dramatically better risk
⚡How to Avoid
- →Marking 1-minute zones everywhere without checking if they refine a higher timeframe level
- →Skipping timeframes — going from daily directly to 1m misses the structural context of the 4H and 15m
- →Refining into candle bodies instead of wicks — the true origin usually hides in the wick
- →Over-refining an already tight 15m zone — if the 15m is precise enough, adding the 1m may not improve the entry