Best Times of Day or Night to Daytrade Forex Are?

[StevenSJC 10]

I have spent a lot of time researching when are the very best times of day to trade various markets. Forex or futures - it always amazes me how different the results can be, literally at times hour by hour.

 

I've seen trade results double, or fall into the red just by moving from one hour to the next.

 

I'm curious if any of you experience the same?

 

Of course most of us who trade actively no some basics like ignoring lunch hours, or low volume, but I think it goes deeper than that.

 

For example, in my forex trading I used to start earlier for the U.S. session, as early as 7am EST (New York) but have realized after analyzing reams of results, good and bad, that I do much better starting more like 9:30am EST -- and I can actually trade less time and make more - quite a concept

 

I'd say 9:30am - 11:30am EST might be the sweet spot for me. Now, that could vary by market but mostly thinking markets like GBPUSD, EURUSD and possibly USDJPY. I do not day trade pairs with wide spreads like a GBPJPY.

 

European hours I'm less sure -- 1am - 5am EST is the general range but I think the same can be said here -- why waste all that time if we can work on focusing on the best 60 -90 minutes.

 

I learned similar when I trade Crude Oil Futures - I used to way overtrade.

 

Curious if any of you have had similar experiences our outcomes?

[bathrobe 10]

I trade es futures mainly, I usually trade the first hour to 90 mins and then look at other markets and assess whether or not to continue with es.

[Tams 20]

best time is when there is good volatility...

 

 

credit: MAK

[WorldTrader 10]

I like to trade the Futures, so I start at the US Open. I have found that the ES moves best in the overnight session and per US session. It needs a news push or event to really get going during the US session. Otherwise, it ranges and it has been tight up until last week. So, is there really a best time to trade the ES? It really seems to vary. For a while then last 45 mins of the US session gave some good moves. Does anyone like to trade it overnight or outside the US session?

[patrader 10]

For forex or currency futures like 6E or 6B i have found the Toyko open ok but London and U.S. better.Usually after london closes(11:30 am est) i stop trading the currencies.For the ES usually the first couple of rth hours of trading and last hour are best.Sometimes when the range expands than the middle of the rth day can be good.When there are important reports before rth open at 8:30 am est than a good trade may setup soon after the release.Trading the

ES any other time in globex usually has more slippage.If trading CL than i stick to the pit hours.Check out this website for world market hours: World Financial Markets -- Current Open/Closed Status, Opening and Closing Times, and Holiday Schedule, Expressed in Terms of Your Local Time Zone

[patrader 10]

best time is when there is good volatility...

 

 

credit: MAK

 

Tams under the pace column on the left should the upper and lower be reversed?

[snowbird 10]

best time is when there is good volatility...

 

 

credit: MAK

 

Interesting chart. What do the numbers within the chart represent?

 

snowbird

[robertm 10]

I have spent a lot of time researching when are the very best times of day to trade various markets. Forex or futures - it always amazes me how different the results can be, literally at times hour by hour.

 

I've seen trade results double, or fall into the red just by moving from one hour to the next.

 

I'm curious if any of you experience the same?

 

Of course most of us who trade actively no some basics like ignoring lunch hours, or low volume, but I think it goes deeper than that.

 

For example, in my forex trading I used to start earlier for the U.S. session, as early as 7am EST (New York) but have realized after analyzing reams of results, good and bad, that I do much better starting more like 9:30am EST -- and I can actually trade less time and make more - quite a concept

 

I'd say 9:30am - 11:30am EST might be the sweet spot for me. Now, that could vary by market but mostly thinking markets like GBPUSD, EURUSD and possibly USDJPY. I do not day trade pairs with wide spreads like a GBPJPY.

 

European hours I'm less sure -- 1am - 5am EST is the general range but I think the same can be said here -- why waste all that time if we can work on focusing on the best 60 -90 minutes.

 

I learned similar when I trade Crude Oil Futures - I used to way overtrade.

 

Curious if any of you have had similar experiences our outcomes?

 

Study when others make money using a similar strategy (ie, trend, scalp, whatever) to yourself on a similar timeframe that you wish to trade. You can find this by sitting in on rooms, or viewing results that are published, or looking at when you get the most spam in your inbox as all the scam systems/robots usually make money at the same time (hint hint).

 

By study I mean over several years and market conditions, not a few hours of research.

[robertm 10]

best time is when there is good volatility...

 

 

credit: MAK

 

Do you know if your source did a similarly detailed study of when those volatility sweet spots are most prevalent Tams?

[Kiwi 16]

I agree with the first post and would have fully agreed with some of the intermediate posts ... but have changed my mind over the last 8 years.

 

I have come to believe that different markets will have times best suited to various approaches. It might be that those times correspond with maximum volatility but that depends if the strategy does best in those circumstances; volatility is also a crude measure of what is happening.

 

IMO, crude measures are most appropriate when trading auto systems. In my recent experience of automating and trying to automate trading approaches I've found this to be true and I've also discovered value in indicators that I abandoned as I became more discretionary.

 

When trading a discretionary strategy then the strategy and time of day may match not because of size of moves but because of the nature of the moves. For example, with HSI I skip the first 45 minutes, which are also the most volatile times. Later trend and flow become more readable to an extent that overcomes any loss of volatility.

 

Similarly in some markets there are specific situations that seem to favour different approaches:

- 6am gmt the early risers begin often pushing the market over an hour or two to a desirable position. this push process is both readable and tradable.

- 8am gmt is the traditional start for breakouts and seems to be promoted for trends (which do sometimes develop beautifully during the european morning)

- 8:30am nyt is news time (I think, its not time I pay attention too as I sleep) which has high volatility but poor trendiness because of US news shocks. An hour or so later Steven obviously finds the post news market to be more readable and trades any resulting action.

 

One trader's opinions of course

[MadMarketScientist 11]

I'd have to agree with what Kiwi describes.

 

As much as we all hate it, because it makes trading much more difficult - there are many behaviors that are particular to a given market. And it takes time to discover these nuances.

 

I do think it makes sense to start with some base rules. For example the points on forex are very valid and will help you narrow down. However, after that you really do need to start observing then trading a market before you really start to pick up on its behavior. And, surprisingly sometimes it's very different even between very similar markets.

 

It's worth it in the end if you can invest that effort but it does mean you cannot constantly change to the flavor of the day/week and instead should look to try and master a small handful of markets first before expanding your horizons.