Quick answer

Top-down, every morning before the bell. Daily first, then 4-hour, then 1-hour. Mark the obvious highs and lows, identify the PD array price is sitting in, and let the daily structure decide which side you take. The 1-minute is for execution, not direction.

Introduction

People ask me how I find my bias more than almost any other question. The answer is the same every time: top-down. Daily first. Then 4-hour. Then hourly. Then execution.

Most traders skip the macro work and try to find direction off the 1-minute. Then they wonder why they get chopped. The 1-minute is where you execute. The higher timeframes are where you decide which side to take.

“

"I always look at the daily chart before open. I'm looking at what market structure is giving us. Mark out some obvious lows or highs even if they're way far out."

”Kevin Dhesi · @dhesi_trades

How do I read the daily chart for bias?

Open the daily. Mark the obvious lows and highs. Identify whether structure is bullish or bearish. Look for any daily PD arrays. Fair value gaps, breakers, order blocks. That price is reacting to.

If we're in a daily bullish FVG and structure is bullish, your bias for the day is buy the dip. End of conversation. You don't need to look at any lower timeframe to know which side you're taking.

The Daily Tells You The Story

The daily is the narrative. Are we in a bull market? Are we pulling back into a gap? Are we breaking down through structure? Whatever the daily says, the lower timeframes have to align with it. Or you're trading against gravity.

Figure 1The top-down stack: daily sets bias, 4-hour confirms, 1-hour shows where the liquidity is. Execution comes after.
Dhesi Trades

How do I use the 4-hour chart to refine bias?

The 4-hour is where you confirm or contradict the daily. If the daily says bullish and the 4-hour is also in a bullish FVG, you've got alignment. Two timeframes pointing the same direction is a high-confidence day.

If they disagree. Daily bullish but 4-hour just broke structure to the downside. You wait. Mismatched timeframes are choppy days. Either bias is unclear, or the market is at an inflection point. Both are reasons to sit smaller.

How do I use the 1-hour chart to find liquidity?

Once daily and 4-hour are aligned, drop to the 1-hour. Now you're looking for where the liquidity sits. Equal lows. Previous session lows. Obvious wicks that haven't been mitigated.

If the bias is bullish and there's clean sell-side below on the hourly, you have your roadmap: wait for a sweep of that sell-side, then look for the model on the lower timeframes.

Figure 2Map the liquidity. The hourly tells you where price needs to grab fuel before continuing the daily story.
Dhesi Trades

What rules do I trade by for finding daily bias?

Daily Bias Workflow · Pre-Market Routine
  1. Open the daily chart first. Mark obvious highs and lows.
  2. Identify any daily PD arrays in play. FVG, breaker, order block.
  3. Determine the daily bias. If unclear, the day is unclear. Sit smaller.
  4. Drop to the 4-hour. Confirm or contradict the daily.
  5. If aligned, drop to the 1-hour and mark liquidity pools.
  6. Identify your draw on liquidity. The level price wants to grab.
  7. Wait for the open. Do not change your bias once the candle opens.
  8. Execute on the lower timeframe only when the higher timeframes give you the green light.

When should I skip trading entirely that day?

  • Daily and 4-hour conflict. If they're pointing different directions, you don't have a high-confidence read. Sit smaller or sit out.
  • Major news in the next hour. CPI, FOMC, NFP all override your bias. Wait until after.
  • Price is mid-range with no clean liquidity nearby. No magnet, no trade.
  • You can't articulate the bias. If you can't explain in one sentence why you're bullish or bearish, your bias isn't clear enough to trade.
  • You haven't done the prep. If you didn't mark levels before the open, you're flying blind. Skip the day.

What's the bottom line on finding daily bias?

Bias isn't magic. It's a workflow. Daily for the story. 4-hour for confirmation. 1-hour for liquidity. Execute on the lower timeframes only after those three are clear.

Skip the workflow and you're guessing. Run the workflow every morning and you'll find that most days the bias picks itself.

The full workflow, with my live morning bias breakdowns and the levels I'm watching, plays out on the live stream every weekday morning.

“

"I start with the daily, I go with the 4-hour, I use a 2-hour if needed, I go to the 1-hour, find areas of liquidity. I always try to go for at least 1:2 on these type of trades."

”Kevin Dhesi