Not really just 1 hour ... lets see Do not trade opening. Usually take very long lunch break like an hour plus. Do not open new positions after 15:30. Also skip some days entirely if I think it will be hard. Basically, try to stay in a more relax state ... cuz am older now and need less excitement
I trade the first hour and a half, 9:30-11:00 am EST. Occasionally I'll scalp in the afternoon. That's about it. But then again, I have a full-time day job. Regards.
I make 85% of my money in the first 20 minutes of the day. I could stop there and still have a good year. But I can't stop, because....I....must.....TRADE!
85% in the first 20 minutes?? interesting. I generally do nothing the first 10-15 minutes -- then I hit hard from 9:50 - 11:15. I try to keep it light in the middle of the day, then hit it hard in the last 2 hours of the day. I'm curious about what your trading style is... scalping only?? It's tough to get a read in the first 20 minutes (unless your doing OO's or something). Care to elaborate? Dog
The first hour and the last hour of trade in the S&P's are the best trade of the day. Lately the first hour has been better than the last. WHY YOU ASK? The shorts have been squeezed all day. The early morning buyers take profits instead of adding on, which tells me the long-term direction is lower.
rlb21079, Wow...after I saw certain descriptive words in your post...I said to myself... french women would love you By the way...if a trader can survive the first few years of hard knocks...they should be ok after that. Anyways...prox had asked... What's the logic in just trading one hour? I use to think there was a distinctive advantage with trading the first hour in comparison to trading other intraday time cycles... maybe there is and maybe not... Lately...I've been focusing on the psychological or emotional aspects of trading the first hour. For example...if I take a loss...I know I still have the remainder of the trading day to wait patiently for another trade signal. I feel more confident with my trades in the first hour than any other time period. If I've done well in the first hour of trading...I relax...reduce my size to protect profits for the remainder of the trading day... usually I'll get that trade signal prior to the p.m. (before 12noon est). If I've done poorly in the first hour or I just don't have enough confidence to continue trading for the remainder of the trading day... I'll call it quits early...spend some extra time with the family or go out and do something relaxing. (Note: I often refer to the remainder of the trading day as between 1030am - 12noon est) I know a lot of veteran traders that have analyze their P/L throughout the intraday cycles... I myself have a tendency to give back profits in the afternoon trading sessions (losses)... (this is an exploitable edge for me...knowing when not to trade) All you guys/gals out there that can trade all day...day after day...consistently and walking away with profits... without burning out in a few years. I take my hat off to you. Very tough thing to do. I tried once...trading all day...consistently...for about 3 months... I had migraine headaches, mood swings, sluggishness and this weird itch in the top part of my butt crack, Now during the afternoon trading sessions...I take long walks...long lunches...complete personal errands...watch a movie...or just be in a relax mood while watching the markets and/or chatting online... no more weird itches and no more wise jokes from the spouse. P.S. I also have non-trading days...not always...but most of the time I avoid FOMC days and shorten trading days because of a holiday. NihabaAshi
I make 80% of my income or so in first two hours. Although I trade all day, I'm thinking of just shifting to early in the day as I get fried looking at my computer all day. Jay
almost all my money ( + 6 figures/ year) trading only the first 15 or 20 minutes. damn on a good day i 'm done and turn my computer off at 9:37 - but since the markets been so shitty i usually stick around till after the 10:00 #'s if there are any.