Modern markets support a variety of time-based strategies. At one end of the spectrum, day traders throw money at trends that come and go in minutes. At the other end of the spectrum, old-timers toss stock certificates into lock boxes and forget about them for decades. Most of us feel comfortable playing in the middle ground, between these two extremes. In other words, we do not jump on every wiggle of the market, but respect the many virtues of market timing.  Longer-term charts work well with this trading style because they provide access to the market while leaving time for family, friends and career. Apply this strategy by looking for opportunities on the weekly charts, instead of the daily charts. Then, review positions and add new orders during the weekend, leaving the weekdays for the rest of our lives. 

Weekly charts filter out noise and get right to the major trend.  But, you cannot throw money at a long-term chart, without picking your spots, because there is too much space between highs and lows. One effective weekly strategy combines invest or and trader techniques, applying the best of both worlds. You do this by entering the position over time, using dollar cost averaging, but aligning the trade with major support.

This is an excerpt from January 2010 issue of Trader's Journal.