[StevenSJC]

I posted something similar in the Forex thread, but since I trade futures as well, I though it made sense to discuss this here as well.

My question is -- have you determined the very best hours in the day to trade futures, market dependent I realize?

I know in my trading it has shocked me how different the results can be using the very same strategy, at different times during the day. There are pockets of time that are quite profitable, and literally an hour later the same exact approach could be a total dog.

For example, I have traded Crude Oil Futures quite a bit and realize that from about 8:50am EST (New York) to 10:30am is the sweet spot. 10:30 to 11:30 is "ok" but definitely the results fall off -- and if I have some success in the 8:50 -10:30 zone I should stop trading after I hit some objective -- because the good trading conditions seem to be immediately followed by a consolidation - many times I quite just in time.

Curious if any of you experience similar? I know when I've traded the Russell e-Mini if I started exactly at 9:30am EST I did FAR BETTER than literally starting just 5 minutes later at 9:35. I always though it was better to wait right at the opening but turns out that was wrong advice - at least in my trading.

How about you? S&P? Dax? Nasdaq futures?

The good news is I think we can find ways to spend a lot less time and make more money -- if we can have the discipline to just s-t-o-p trading - and that's a whole other topic

[Studog]

In fact Steven, I would venture to go a little further with that hypothesis.
Its important to find a market, any market that has the volatility and depth you are looking for, at certain times to facilitate the trading method you want to implement.
You may want to di even a little further and consider the bar timing that works. I am currently using 2minute bars for entry on a particular market and 1 minute bars for exit.
This method works well on THAT particular market with my preferred methodology.
However, it doesnt work so well on other markets.
There are many reasons for these scenariosand the length of time for which they exist.

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will show you that consistency is the key. Methodology is key and finding the mkt and timing that matches your risk, money management and entry and exit scenarios means that consistency in results is on your side.
All questions happily answred

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[Tams]

shills, shills, shills, more shills.
this is really turning me off...
James would have shut this down before anybody noticed.
sigh... time to look for a new forum

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Hello, just report them if you see it - we jump on those and remove the URLs and have already contacted this poster -- anyway, just let us know and we'll keep the forum clean -- but, sometimes the initial post is going to happen, but collectively we'll work together and remove - thanks for the heads up.

[tjnoon]

Oops.. Sorry guys. Somehow I thought I was posting this in our sponsored forum regarding the UTA. My mistake, although it is pertaining to best times of day to trade, it wasn't my intention to post in this section. -- TJ

[frank123]

best times ? the close time ...

YouTube - scalping live trading dax wall street futures stocks

YouTube - scalping live trading dax wall street futures stocks

[cuttshot]

StevenSJC,

I would agree that the open of the equity session is the best time to trade the index futures. With the volatility that we have seen over the past number of weeks I have been able to get done with my trading within the first 30 minutes of the equity session on most days.

The mini nasdaq (NQ) has been a market that has caught my eye here recently. Starting right at the open at 930 EST has produced some really nice results. Of course the many gaps that we have seen lately have helped out. I would say from 930-1100 EST is going to be the sweet spot for futures.

The TF is another market that has been on fire lately. Again the first hour of the session is key to trading this market.

Something to keep an eye on is an 11:00 EST reversal time. This is something that I have kept an eye on since my stock trading days way back when. I'm typically done trading by this time but if for whatever reason I'm trading later into the session I will look for this 11:00reversal.

Finally the afternoon session on the index futures tends to be very streaky as far as movement goes. When it's on it can produce some nice moves but when the market slows down it can be like watching paint dry. Of late I have found coming back at 2:00 EST has given some nice results. Don't know how long it will last but it's been giving some nice movement.

Cuttshot

[StevenSJC]

Cuttshot

Great points.

One thing I like to do as well is keep an eye on ATr average true range. When it goes above average and the $Vix is up I know afternoon trading will be good. Not to mention the sweet spot you call out in the morning.

[cuttshot]

Good idea StevenSJC. I'll have to keep an eye on that. My problem is that I don't feel as confident in the afternoon session. I would much rather get things done in the morning so I can focus on my swing trades in the afternoon. However, when the afternoon sessions heat up it's hard to ignore the big moves that we can see as we head into the close.