Helloooo. So, I’ve been reading around and while I was talking to Tom about volatility of a couple of pairs, I decided to look up the “Volatility Days” for them. And I stumbled upon articles along the lines of “Best Time to Trade So-and-so Pair” and there were very specific time frames (e.g. between 8am and 9am (UK time) for GBPJPY)
Usually 14:30 to 17:00 GMT when both USA and UK are trading gets the biggest chart movements and is the most liquid time so you avoid those unpredictable spikes that you get when it’s literally just one guy on a laptop somewhere in the middle of the Pacific trading!!
The way I go about this is to find trustworthy sources - babypips being a prime example.
So, in terms of the largest range, I find their table to be a very good tool to look at - I like to think of this as something I would attach to a board or on the wall with some tape!
Let us just say that it is pinned in my web browser for quick reference.
There are two other articles worth mentioning.
The following delves into the time slot of the major trading sessions and there are also tables for average pip movement.
The last one is one of the tools hosted on the babypips website, a time converter that illustrates which sessions are currently open for trading.
I enjoy researching topics, hence, the style used in this post.
You sure know your stuff Brand! I really appreciate this! I almost forgot about the chart they had on the school of pipsology about the average pip ranges! I’m viewing it now and reflecting on how my trades have been going. Comparing resources to ultimately find the best time to trade must have taken quite a while but I hope it’s been helping you bag those pips!
Thank you for the kind words, @ria_rose Well, my trading session is usually the London session and the first couple of hours of the NYSE. Malta is just an hour or two (daylight savings time) ahead of London so it is almost natural to work during those hours. I try to juggle between the best hours and the best days for the better time to open a trade. But the markets are unpredictable so I would have to add fundamental and technical analyses, too, which also take a considerable amount of time.
The “best time” varies from trader. What should matter to you is whether you are ready for your trades or not. Analyse the market properly and see when you are ready to take a risk and can also afford a loss.
Trading time depends from person to person and the strategy that person opted for trading. I personally use a scalping strategy and prefer to trade in the morning.
In my case, I like to trade with Sydney and Tokyo session, I feel the market at this session is quite stable, of course there is no much big movement but I’m ok with that.
In the market, there is no such thing as a good or bad time. However, based on currency pairs and different time zones, it is possible to determine the most appropriate time.
That’s interesting! I mostly trade the London or New York sessions. But are there any particular pairs you would recommend for the Sydney and Tokyo sessions?
It is better to trade when the currency pair is highly liquid and offers adequate volatility. Like I trade EUR/USD so I trade when the London and New York sessions overlap.
actually the time can matter when trading, but it depends on your trading style, personality and so on. I can tell you if you live in Europe DO NOT TRADE EURO-PAIRS BEFORE 8 AM! Usually the first 2 hours of the “day” go totally in the opoosite direction.