A lot of 4 hour charts usually start with 4 hour bar after the open after the 1 hour break each daily bar close; these charts end with a 3 hour bar usually for index futures like ES, NQ, YM and so on. I've also seen charts where it starts with a 3 hour bar after the 1 hour break at 10pm GMT & end with a 4 hour on the close (close at 10pm GMT). This creates surprisingly different bars because of OHLC which produce different entries for breakouts & if indicators i'd expect slightly different signals. i've done backtests on both charts for years collectively and the 3 hour bar (1st candle) favours the strategy + Note: a bar at closes at 9am E.S.T everyday 30 minutes before the cash open which is good for breakout signals. I've tried Sierra Chart but that made me go insane playing with the values and adjusting the settings to repeatedly get the same price action. I also, tried tradovate's desktop platform too both original and legacy chart options but find nothing that can give a similar output*. Do you have any charting software that support futures & support these charts or have options to pick what open/close times each individual candle has or just the beginning or end? ; I can only seem to find Charts that Forex/CFD brokers use that have these open/close time such as Oanda & Forex.com (you can also see this on tradingview via symbols SPXUSD & SPX500USD)*. Picture examples 4h Charts i'm looking for first bar after daily bar close lasts 3 hours last bar before daily close lasts 4 hours : Example 4h Charts first bar after daily bar close lasts 4 hours last bar before daily close lasts 3 hours:
TradeStation 4 hour bar futures charts are 4 hours - from Globex opening 6pm ET to 10pm, 10pm to 2am etc. The last bar of the day is 3 hours long because that is all there is 2pm ET to 5pm. Shut down/reset till 6pm. Then next day's 4 hour bar begins.
There should be a remedial math course for new posters to take when it comes to hourly charts, and markets that are not open 24/7. Is this what Forex is teaching our children? What is next? Asking why the the charts stop working on Saturday? Fer cryin' out loud!
But this was not what i was asking for? I need different charts as i almost strictly use pending orders using highs/lows; regardless the market will open 11pm GMT and finish 10pm GMT i just want the first bar to last 3 hours instead of 4 hours.
I know why the last bar lasts 3 hours the charts I'm looking for have the exact same time for the open & close I'm looking for the first bar to last 3 hours followed by 4 hour bars like the symbols i mentioned in post the market will Close at 10pm GMT & open 11pm GMT Regardless of the 4 hour bars used
Ok I see that now. I was tired when I read initial post last night. And I now get why you'd liked to have a 3 hour bar, not avoid having one as I had thought. I haven't tried it to know for sure (maybe later at end of my trading day) but TradeStation allows you to configure custom trading sessions. So I'll try to see how it looks and reply back.
I tried custom sessions and the only result i could get on both tradovate & sierra chart was the 4h bars with the last bar lasting 3 hours.
%% Sounds a bit like hourly candle charts problem; reg market hours for stocks ETFs.I still prefer 60 or 61 minutes over 30or 31 minutes even though 60/61 minutes is less logical. But i so seldom us a 14....... on bottom\ i could ignore that real easy + never miss it..
Ok I was able to manage setting up a custom session trading day with 4 hour bars at (all ET) 10pm, 2am, 6am then 3 hour bar 9am (Cyan Ellipses), and finishing with 4 hour bars again at 1pm and 5pm. Chart pic shows gaps because I only set up custom session for Monday (today) starting with last night's open, as it is a bitch to type out line by line 6 different time slots checking the right boxes etc. Actually I did Tuesday as well (previous Mon/Tues bars show) but then "threw in the towel" though now seeing this layout I will save it and look at it again myself in the near future. So yes it can be done with a little work, not much work, but more than I care to do right now but you get the picture.
%% LOL My ES, SPY,SPXL charts/cash charts work well on saturday, but i never trade that stuff then LOL. I saw IBD founder on CNBC once when i seldom watched it much\ even back in that day. ''You daytrade??'' the cnbc reported asked him. He frowned [which maybe means no or not much/LOL] Then he answered ''weekly charts. '' I wondered if it was 5, 6 or 7day week. Most likely 5 day week/all his charts were 5 day weeks\excluding Christmas..........................................................................Merry Christmas in july.