FX trading hours and time intervals

[gremtp]

I hope you will excuse a futures "purist" asking probably dumb questions on FX.
I have some doubts on FX hours and trading times. Apologies if these questions were already answered somewhere in the Forum, but I have not found a straight answer yet.
I have done some tests recently and I have seen some noticeable differences depending o what interval break one uses.

1) “Regular trading hours” for FX, at least according to Tradestation are 5 PM to 5 (4.58) PM “exchange time”. For those in London time zone this means 10PM to 10 PM.
Is everybody using this interval for the start/close of the day? Does StrategBuilder/Metatrader, for instance, use the same?

2) (it may well be a poll): on daily bar trading, do you input your orders just after the 5 PM analysis? I mean a buy signal on EURUSD on a daily bar will prompt an order to go long to be submitted at….somehow 5.15 or 6 PM depending on how long your analysis is? Or do some of you (for instance those in Europe) wait until the start of the European session (say around 7 AM)?

3) 240 min (4 hours) bars. I am not clear whether most of you guys use the 17, 21, 1, 5, 9, 13 (which would be 22, 2, 6, 10, 14, 18 London time) intervals as per Tradestation , or the 00, 4, 8, 12, 16, 20 intervals. Or indeed any other interval. Again, what interval do SB/MT use, for instance?

Obviously it would be good if you could give a bit of explanation too.
If there are various versions of how people use the intervals, perhaps it would be good to invite those who post trades in the forum to specify which one they use? Just a suggestion.

Thank you

[Eddo]

I hope you will excuse a futures "purist" asking probably dumb questions on FX.
I have some doubts on FX hours and trading times. Apologies if these questions were already answered somewhere in the Forum, but I have not found a straight answer yet.
I have done some tests recently and I have seen some noticeable differences depending o what interval break one uses.

1) “Regular trading hours” for FX, at least according to Tradestation are 5 PM to 5 (4.58) PM “exchange time”. For those in London time zone this means 10PM to 10 PM.
Is everybody using this interval for the start/close of the day? Does StrategBuilder/Metatrader, for instance, use the same?

2) (it may well be a poll): on daily bar trading, do you input your orders just after the 5 PM analysis? I mean a buy signal on EURUSD on a daily bar will prompt an order to go long to be submitted at….somehow 5.15 or 6 PM depending on how long your analysis is? Or do some of you (for instance those in Europe) wait until the start of the European session (say around 7 AM)?

3) 240 min (4 hours) bars. I am not clear whether most of you guys use the 17, 21, 1, 5, 9, 13 (which would be 22, 2, 6, 10, 14, 18 London time) intervals as per Tradestation , or the 00, 4, 8, 12, 16, 20 intervals. Or indeed any other interval. Again, what interval do SB/MT use, for instance?

Obviously it would be good if you could give a bit of explanation too.
If there are various versions of how people use the intervals, perhaps it would be good to invite those who post trades in the forum to specify which one they use? Just a suggestion.

Thank you

Hi there - firstly I am no expert re Forex trading having only started relatively recently, and so I suggest my input just be used as 'poll data'.

Having said that based in the UK working on GMT and my 4 hr bars update at: 00:00, 04:00, 08:00, 12:00, 16:00, 20:00

I am not entirely sure when the daily bar refreshes, I think its midnight GMT however I base my scan's and enter orders based on the daily bar I find when I emerge from my pit which is usually around 6:00 GMT.

I do hope that is of some help - Chris

[davidl]

gremtp, forex trading is 24 hours a day 5 days a week with my broker. I live in the US. Here is what i do. I start at the 0000 gmt (8 pm est) and place any daily trades then. I may stay up to 0400 gmt if i see a possible 4 hour set happenning. Another great thing about mtp, you can see the set ups happenning in advance, as you probably already know. If i dont see anything happenning ill sleep from 0200 gmt to 08 gmt (4 am est). I'll usually pay attention to the charts from 0800 gmt to 1600 gmt. Another great thing about mtp is you dont need to stare at the charts waiting for the perfect set up during that time. I usually check towards the end of each hour or at the very least the end of each 4 hour bar between 0800 to 1600. After 1600 gmt the forex market generally slows until about 0000 gmt for the start of the asian session. I for the most part dont place trades then. Whew.

Bottom line- I place daily trades after the close of my daily bar at 0000 gmt and 1 hour and 4 hour trades between 0800 to 1600 gmt.

Hope this helps

[davidl]

gremtp, forex trading is 24 hours a day 5 days a week with my broker. I live in the US. Here is what i do. I start at the 0000 gmt (8 pm est) and place any daily trades then. I may stay up to 0400 gmt if i see a possible 4 hour set happenning. Another great thing about mtp, you can see the set ups happenning in advance, as you probably already know. If i dont see anything happenning ill sleep from 0200 gmt to 08 gmt (4 am est). I'll usually pay attention to the charts from 0800 gmt to 1600 gmt. Another great thing about mtp is you dont need to stare at the charts waiting for the perfect set up during that time. I usually check towards the end of each hour or at the very least the end of each 4 hour bar between 0800 to 1600. After 1600 gmt the forex market generally slows until about 0000 gmt for the start of the asian session. I for the most part dont place trades then. Whew.

Bottom line- I place daily trades after the close of my daily bar at 0000 gmt and 1 hour and 4 hour trades between 0800 to 1600 gmt.

Hope this helps



One other thing, when i get wise and smart like Matt and I'll probably just place daily trades after the close of the daily bar. But right now im young, dumb and stupid. LOL

GTA

[gremtp]

Thank you vey much David and Chris for your input. It looks like 00 gmt etc. is the most popular. I may have to tweak the TS set up then.
As for the rest of you forum readers, I was kind of hoping for a bit more feedback. Usually this forum is quite a good source of info and advice. It seems that heat and the World Cup have slowed down the participation.
Come on, anybody else willing to share their pearls of wisdom?;)

[Rimu]

240min and daily on GMT time... makes it a bit difficult on Aussie time but by only doing 240 minimum means you can get some sleep...

[jtrade]

gremtp,

I looked into this awhile back; I also use TS8 & feed MTP with data via the Radarscreen eld.

I set up three "Daily" sessions : the regular TS8 one, which is essentially the NYSE close; 0800 CET, which is pretty much the European open, and 0900 CET which is when I get back from taking my daughter to school (I presently live in Amsterdam). I also set up a 400 minute Forex sesion to mimic the currency futures pit session, as well as 60 / 120 / 240 / 480 min bars.

This was when I still daytraded index futures and had my computer clock set to Central Time, ie. Chicago time.

However, as I no longer trade index futures on fast tick charts, I have recently reset my computer clock to CET and have NOT yet adjusted my custom sessions accordingly... and guess what, it makes very little difference, amazingly enough. I am about to "slim down" to two daily sessions : NYSE close, as that's what many in the US use, and 0900 CET as that fits my personal timetable. I will also run 240 min bars only on the 0900 CET custom session.

As Matt keeps showing us, "Less can be More" !

I should also add that start time is critically important to some other trading methods.

HTH.

J.

[gremtp]

Well, it looks like there is no clear consensus, here. That’s not necessarily a bad thing.
Thank you all again for your input. It would be also good to hear form some of the FX gurus out there and from Steve/Matt, if at all possible….:D

Jtrade, quite a lot of info there, thank you.
If I understand correctly, you (will) have 2 daily sessions. One on the NY close and one on 9.00 CET.
NY close is at 5 pm NY time (10 pm London time and 11pm CET). I guess you make your analysis on this and send orders just after 11 pm CET. You then have a 9 am CET session, where you do the same. It sounds intriguing. I will have some thought about it. It will be interesting to see how one deals with overlapping trades, confirmation and rejection, etc.
On 4 hour charts, your intervals will be 9-13-17-21-1-5 CET, (8-12-16-20-24-4 London time), which would actually be 3-7-11-15-19-23 NY Time. Correct?
I do not have much experience on this, but my research showed some differences in set ups. Perhaps they are not too relevant, after all.


PS: I still do not seem to be able to find out what 4 hour interval MetaTrader uses. Any ideas?

[jtrade]

Jtrade, quite a lot of info there, thank you.
If I understand correctly, you (will) have 2 daily sessions. One on the NY close and one on 9.00 CET.?

Correct & implemented.

NY close is at 5 pm NY time (10 pm London time and 11pm CET). I guess you make your analysis on this and send orders just after 11 pm CET. You then have a 9 am CET session, where you do the same. It sounds intriguing. I will have some thought about it. It will be interesting to see how one deals with overlapping trades, confirmation and rejection, etc

I only place orders after 0900 CET* - if a NY session trade has triggered and has gone beyond the entry point, I simply place a limit entry and wait for the trade to come back : if it doesn't & I miss it....... NEXT !
(* well, if I am playing golf early, then I will enter orders around 0630 CET based on the NY close).

On 4 hour charts, your intervals will be 9-13-17-21-1-5 CET, (8-12-16-20-24-4 London time), which would actually be 3-7-11-15-19-23 NY Time. Correct?
I do not have much experience on this, but my research showed some differences in set ups. Perhaps they are not too relevant, after all..?

I am no longer using 4 hour charts (I am running two other, non-EW, self-developed systems on daily charts, so I am not looking for more trades, just good ones with excellent RR characteristics... MTP's forte imho.

Sorry to be so late in replying - I had not been reading forums much in the last couple of weeks as I have been backtesting strategy ideas intensively (and entering the "paralysis by analysis" :eek: zone as a result !).

I am completing a transition from trading multiple intraday timeframes to daily only, for two reasons : firstly, I think I will make more $$$ long-term, secondly, quality of life : less hours in front of the computer, more time with my family (and maybe even on the golf course !!!). I very recently read a great forum post elsewhere from a very sophisticated and successful trader who I respect : the essential sentence being this :

In short, at 50 I feel like an old fool. Squandering my time trying to figure out the optimal way to fish in a pond when all I had to do was turn my back and throw out my line into an ocean full of opportunities. .

Simple methods with good risk reward - there is indeed an ocean full of opportunities, far too many for almost any individual to bankroll....

Good trading !

:)

J.

[jtrade]

gremtp,

In yesterday's report, Steve mentioned the current USDJPY daily trade as not having shown up in the scan & therefore needed to be found by manual analysis. This is an example of the 0900 CET 1440min chart not only automatically finding the trade (in both MTP EOD & TradeStation), but also at a "better" entry price (this will not always be the case, of course)

Not sure what the chart quality will be like, as it's the first one I've posted....

J.

PS. Just to clarify, the chart time says 02:58:00, which is EST / NY time and 0858 CET, ie. the bar closes 2 minutes before 0900 CET.