# Period

## Supported period values

Gunbot supports different values for `PERIOD` for each exchange.

Currently the following periods are known to work:

![](/files/-M2XFwp4kDAAv87jkmo8)

## Choosing the right period

The `PERIOD` you set for candlesticks in your strategy is very important, since it has a big effect on indicators like `EMA1` and `EMA2`. This article provides a really quick overview of what the impact of `PERIOD` is.

A single candlestick is a visualization of the opening, closing, high and low prices within a certain time frame. The most commonly used values for this time frame (`PERIOD`) are 5 minutes and 15 minutes. The closing price of each candlestick is used for calculating `EMA1` and `EMA2`.

Using shorter candlesticks results in more price movement around EMA, this can be great for trading, but also be risky because you are fixated on short term trends only.

In the image below, you can see the effect on EMA (the green and red lines) when using different candlestick sizes, while keeping other variables the same.

![Same EMA values, different periods.](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/boekenbox/gitbook-images/master/32069470-900b0cd0-ba89-11e7-93f1-fbdfa80b3001.png)

> tl;dr: Set `PERIOD` low to trade on short trends, set it higher to trade on longer trends.


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