Pros & Cons of Trading Emini Outside of Busy Hours

[cowcool 10]

What are pros/cons of trading Emini outside of regulard hours (9:30-4:15)? ..

 

Cons

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Low volume

 

Concerning low volume, I feel that if you only trade an account below $ 200.000,- it doesn't matter right because even in very low volume hours for example 5 AM , the volume is still much much more than $ 200.000,- right?. Correct me if I am wrong .

 

Other cons and pros please...

 

Sorry to bother you veterans for my newbie questions...

 

Thx!

[brownsfan019 17]

I think you should ask James for your own forum area.

 

Volume is a consideration, but should not be a deal killer IMO unless of course your methodology revolves around volume.

 

PROS TO TRADING GLOBEX HOURS:

* Very tradable, there is volume and trades going on

* Can position yourself for RTH

* Stops can be smaller than during RTH

* Everything is smaller - moves, profits, stops - can work to the advantage of someone that prefers smaller stops

* Some decent moves can occur when European markets open

 

CONS TO TRADING GLOBEX HOURS:

* Volume lower, which will normally result in smaller moves. If you are a quick momentum type trader, hard to accomplish here

* Have to be very patient - you can get a move, but could take hours to get there = can feel like watching paint dry

[momentom 10]

The trick for this is to use range bars as otherwise you are out of sync with the high volume part of the market. If you put up a range bar chart and compare it to a tick or volume or time chart you will easily see the advantage.

[ant 10]

I don't generally trade the Emini S&P overnight, but I do use the overnight session to position myself for a trade that I've been waiting for. After doing my daily preparation at the end of each trading day, I identify several potential trading scenarios for the next day. If one of those scenarios set up in the overnight session, I'll take it. I'm not trading at the same level I do during regular hours - the volume is just too thin. Also worth noting is that I don't trade for ticks, I trade for multiple handles, so I would usually put my stop in and go back to sleep. But again, I don't do this often.

[xburbx 10]

I think it's easier to see the conviction to price during the day based on volume