Forex traders are almost always technically oriented, which is why trading with the help of charts is almost a necessity. User-friendly and extensive charting software, such as the charting program integrated into the FXCM trading platform (FX Trading Station), simplifies trading for both beginners and professionals. 

The chart program integrated in FX Trading Station (Market Scope charts plug-in) offers the largest selection of technical indicators of any free chart package and contains standard line charts, as well as bar and candlestick charts. A key feature of this charting package is that enables trading directly from the chart (chart trading). 

For instance, in an hourly chart (60-minute chart) each bar (or candlestick in candlestick charts) represents an hour of price movement. In 5-minute charts an individual bar represents price movement over a period of 5 minutes. Available periods range from minutes and hours, to days, weeks and months. 

While shorter chart periods are used for timing market entry, the longer or overarching chart periods are used to determine the general direction of the market. Longer periods give you the big picture, enabling you to steer your trades in the long-term direction of a trend.

Try them out: » FXCM’s free real-time charts

Look at the daily chart for the EUR/USD currency pair, where one bar (or candle) represents price change for a day, and try to find the support and resistance levels by drawing lines along the daily highs and lows. You will see that as soon as a primary support or resistance level is penetrated, the market follows a new trend and, as a result, an entry into the market -- especially using a chart with shorter periods -- can be extremely lucrative.