I know e-minis are trading 24 hrs a day. Is anybody trading e-minis after regular trading hours US. I mean like between 8PM-12PM eastern time? If you are, could you share with me how good is volume at that time, volatility? What broker are you using? Any info will be greatly appreciated. I want to trade them after work. Thank you.
estrader - I started trading the eminis in September and my first few trades were made at night. There are three reasons for this... 1. I'm in school most business hours. 2. The eminis (ES at least) have less volatility during these hours. 3. I wanted to get comfortable placing orders and using my the software before I started trading business hours. I actually made a bit of money during the one or two weeks that I traded afterhours, but more importantly I became very comfortable entering and exiting the market while somewhat avoiding the risks of a fast moving market. Liquidity is not very good, and trading can get boring at times. I only trade 1 contract but I imagine if you were to trade 10 contracts or more you may have some problems with the liquidity. Anyhow, I'd suggest that you watch a 1 min chart and a market depth screen during the time you are considering trading to determine if there is enough liquidity for you. Good Luck!
I trade overnight off and on depending on market action. Typically not much goes on until 2-3 am when Europe markets open. Stick with the emini s&p for liquidity. The nasdaq eminis really dont have liquidity until 730am or so. I would just watch the action for awhile until you get a sense of the games that are played. Alot of times the market will lull you into a false sense of security then run the stops and 10 minutes later its back to unchanged. I use IB for execution.
So why do you trade ES instead of European markets? They certainly have a better liquidity at the time you trade ES. Also what strategies do you use? Most strategies I know seem to be good for the daily session. I mean, of course you could probably use some moving average stuff, but I prefer breakout systems and so I wonder if you could really use them. I gather that ES is rather slow at that time, so it is unlikely to get breakouts. Thanks, wally_
I've been looking in to Europe mkts. But my overnight trades tend to be swing trades and don't require heavy liquidity. Also I dont want to make a habit of trading overnight as I have found it leads to decreased performance during the day.