Best time to trade

[TraderGeek]

Hi all,

I'm a newbie and just gettng into forex. Have a demo account I've played with ... got lucky on the last couple days of Euro climb but I know it was just dumb luck.

Anyway, since I have a day job during US Market Hours, I'm wondering what would be the best time to trade in the evening and what currencies? Would JPY stuff be best since the Asian markets are open then?

What I'd like to do is develop 2 strategies:

1. A swing / multi-hour / multi-day strategy that is "set and forget" that could be active while I'm at work. With this one, advice on times to enter and pair(s) to focus on would be helpful.

2. An active strategy where I'll be in and out while watching the screens, preferably that I could trade sometime between 7PM and midnight or so, CST.

BTW, I'm in US CST if that helps. EST is fine though ... I can handle that transition. It's Asia that gets me.

[zula]

Tokyo Open 7pm EST and 0:00 GMT, Close 4AM EST and 9pm GMT
London Open 3am EST and 8 GMT, Close 12pm EST and 1700 GMT
U.S. Open 8am EST and 1300 GMT, Close 5pm EST and 2200 GMT

[TraderGeek]

So would it be bes to focus on paris with JPY if I want to trade in the US evening?

[jjones]

I have the same problem you have (namely work gets in the way of trading). During my very brief (3-4months) forex trading history, I've noticed that even though Asia market opens at 6pm, nothing really major happens normally until Europe market opens around 2am. Then there is also a ton of activity in the morning when US market opens. So bottom line, if you're trying to scalp you're better off losing some sleep or showing up to work late.

Neither of those options was working out for me so I switched to more of a swing-trading philosophy the last couple of months and it's been working great (on a demo account) so far (I made about 30% in 6 weeks). I basically analyze the daily charts to determine support/resisitance and trend and enter a position accordingly. Since this is swing-trading, I set target much higher profits (and set much larger SL) than with scalping-type day-trading. Also I try to stay interest positive at all times so that if the trade goes against me I can just collect interest for a few days and wait for it to reverse (note I'm using O A N D A which pays/receives interest constantly). I've mainly been making good money with the major USD pairs (USD/JPY, EUR/USD). I have also done well with EUR/GBP because it seems to stay in a pretty well-defined range. Another month or 2 of good returns and I'll put some real money into this game.

Oh yeah, the other advantage of the swing-trading approach is that you don't have to be glued to your monitor like you do when day-trading.

[CajunFX]

WHEN TO TRADE: Hours of the Day

Average range in pips for the four majors, Eastern Time:

HOUR	EUR/USD	GBP/USD	USD/CHF	USD/JPY
12 AM	10	11	15	14
1 AM	13	15	20	15
2 AM	21	25	30	20
3 AM	23	29	34	21
4 AM	20	27	29	20
5 AM	17	25	26	18
6 AM	17	24	26	18
7 AM	18	24	27	19
8 AM	26	31	39	25
9 AM	24	29	36	23
10 AM	30	34	45	26
11 AM	24	29	36	22
12 PM	20	25	31	19
1 PM	16	19	25	15
2 PM	16	18	24	15
3 PM	12	15	19	12
4 PM	9	11	14	10
5 PM	9	9	12	9
6 PM	8	9	12	11
7 PM	10	11	15	15
8 PM	11	11	16	17
9 PM	10	10	14	15
10 PM	10	12	16	13
11 PM	8	9	11	11

The above is based on four years of data ... hope it helps you.

Regards,

Erik

[kaZza sg]

I've read that Fridays and more specifically weekends are days that you DON'T trade on. I think you guys forgot to mention to the fellow, more directly, that.

You should NEVER trade on the weekends. Because, that's when the Market is closed. Unless you like whispers coming back at you, losing you money all over the place. Even if it's fake.

Here, goto babypipes.com They will tell you EXACTLY when are the best times to trade and have specifically outlined the dangers of the days when you are NEVER to trade. By the way, what's your style. Fundamental, or Technical?
You need to know this, also depending how your daytime methods adjust to your style and your current time frame. What's your favorite currency pair? etc. Find out all of these things before just "picking a lot and buy/selling it when an opportunity suits you.

Expert traders, we can use alittle bit of your help in this also, not just with him/her who is asking the question!

[CajunFX]

WHEN TO TRADE: Day of the Week
Average range in pips for the four majors:

Day EUR/USD GBP/USD USD/CHF USD/JPY
***************************************
Sun 24 31 36 25
Mon 92 110 141 95
Tue 102 128 162 104
Wed 101 123 158 106
Thu 83 98 121 77
Fri 80 96 117 72

Good point on the days to trade... again the above is based
on 4 years of data.

Regards

[thn5625]

Hello Tradergeek

If you want a set time to trade and you are looking for a time thats high in price movement then its around 4am Central time till about 1 PM Central Time. This is just an estimate. This is when the london and us markets open. around 10 am to 12 am the london markets close and us markets are beginning to accelerate. This is a time of good price movement. If I were you, start by following london and us market activity and youll get a feel for what it is doing for the day.

I usually sleep or relax during austrialian or asian market hours.

Again the above are just guidelines. Follow economic data. Sometimes the most price movement comes during the asian or australian markets, sometimes the london and us markets are quiet. I would say 65 percent of the week the US and london markets are busiest.