Indeed Friday NFPs can kickstart late-week trends or rallies, for example.
Going to have to agree/disagree with this statement. First, let’s clarify that “best” days to trade is largely an intraday traders problem only. Swing or long-term strategies need not worry. If your strategy says enter you enter, simple as that.
But as an intraday trader, one knows that every day is a good day to trade, it’s all about timing. So the question is better of put not what is the best day to trade but what is the best hour.
That is going to come down to your own system and your own research. After all, a day trader’s job is to find evidence of past price action that yield positive results then apply that knowledge to their trading plan. That, is no simple exercise in itself.
Take my own work. Just recently I was introduced to a technique known as Binary Rule-Based Approximation. This technique has allowed me to identify 216 different box pattern formations that I work with. Researching and testing these patterns is a long-term project and I’m just starting my exploration. However to demonstrate the above I have extracted the below data.
So using just 1 single pattern, tested against tick data obtained from Dukascopy, using Birt’s Tickdata suite with slippage and variable spread (slippage set at 80% chance of negative slippage up to 1 pip, 20% at positive slippage up to 0.5 pips at entry, 60/40 of up to 0.5 pips on exit) over a 26 month period I came up with the following results.
No good what-so-ever. But if I apply a simple time of day/day of week filter I can obtain the following results
All of a sudden my unprofitable pattern has become highly lucrative. Just by trading the right hour on the right day. But, it’s all theory. And not tested in a live environment yet.
That’s next and all part of the process. A process that occurs at my pace. But I have got a bot up and running testing in a small, real account. I have linked it to myfxbook but the test only started yesterday so nothing to report on. Won’t hijack this thread but will update my own when the time is right.
To put it simply, every day you see a good signal to open a trade is a good day to trade. In the end that’s what matters the most, I think.
i mostly swing, and i just look for good position in the charts to start a trade, there is no good nor bad days to trade for me, its the timing really. the art of letting go of a bad outcomes is a must!
I don’t think so that there are any best day to trade as no one can predict the fluctuation of Forex Market. We need to trade daily to becoming successful.
Here is a some unbiased results (i.e. I don’t trade based on fundamental, technical or quantitative data):
I find Tuesday best day for trading . Monday is good but some times trend is not clear that to which side market will go after weekends. Next day we know markets ups and downs on the basis of First day movement.
I prefer long-time trades, so there are no best days for me. For the intraday traders, of course, there is sence to trade on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. But sometimes you can meet good signals on other days too.
My opinion is that the best time for trading is:
- When we have intersection of two sessions – European and Asian, European and American sessions,
- The European session - the most volatile,
- Tuesday and Wednesday – days when normally most intense movement is observed.
I think Wednesday and Thursdays are the best days to work with EUR/USD. I get the most profit these days. And what about other pairs?
I saw the comparing table on Babypips already. It’s interesting waht will other traders say.
That all depend on the pairs we are trading with, like you said that thursday and friday works for EUR/USD, and like wise we have different trading days for different pairs.
There are many days in which the market is volatile and provides opportunity, so it all depends upon you as a trader.
I see this fine thread’s still steaming ahead, replenished with ever-increasing insight and profundity. Actually, I have yet another thought to add to it: I’d stay away from bank/public holidays, myself … 
Yes, the insights of some are truly deep
It is hard to determine which day is best for trading as we all know the market is very intense and unpredictable so it all depends on the instruments. However Friday could be the day that most traders avoid to do some real actions (I’m excluding the NFP here) and of course the bank and public holidays. Monday is a bit slow as well s I think that Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday are the most preferable days unless you have a long-term strategy.
There’s your best advise… Time of day is far more important then the day you trade.
I am fundamental trader and to be honest days like first friday of the month I am always away of trading. The NFP can really affect your account specially if you are trading in GOLD or EURUSD. Obviously I respect that others could tell me that also is the best moment to make your profits if you are trading in news but… I would recommend to avoid really big news. (is just my opinion)
For me the best days are: tuesday/wednesday/thursday.
Mondays are usually slow (at least till US session), as for fridays they can be very unpredictable due to profit realization/position closure before the weekend.
I would agree with you guys here, but I feel it still depends largely on the time in those days.
Most forex traders are more successful during the late US, Asian or early European trading sessions – essentially 2 PM to 6 AM Eastern Time (New York), which is 7 PM to 11 AM UK time.
Monday to Thursday ?
Rest from Friday to Sunday