You have to alter your schedule, or life -- if you want to trade at night. (assuming you need sleep) You can't have it both ways. You can't have your cake and eat it too...or trade at night, And sleep at night.
^^^ This. You either trade one market in the USA or another one in Asia. I don't think you can do both. Lately the overnight session got to be very tradeable and moves a lot, but you can't trade for 16 hours a day. You have to pick one or the other...
I have this problem when I was trading USD/jpy and nzd/USD during Asian session. I have to stop it and focus on another thing because it is damn too stressful and it is having bad effect on my health. My time zone is GMT +1
I spend half the year in Asia and trade the US session. I don't know why people are saying you will have no life ? Trade til US close at 4-6AM and sleep just before the sun comes up til lunch and you have the whole day free. As an intraday trader you can take any day/night you wish off. More life than 9-5ers. Unless you have a day job in which case you what did you expect ? You want to work day job and trade..of course you will be tired/no time, you can't bend time physics. If you can automate great but not everything can be automated. If you feel your edge is during US session then stay up and trade - your body will get used to it after a while. How bad do you want it ? Can't comment on the health part, I haven't had any problems yet. Lots of "successful people" are night owls/don't sleep much too in other professions. Almost 3AM here I am still trading. Love it.
You can't adapt the market to suit your lifestyle, usually. I'm doing 10:30pm to 5am shifts every year, it'll be an hour easier once DST shifts back. Yes, it's not great for your health but you get used to it. I've been doing this for almost 4 years now, so it's definitely doable.
I had some health issues in the past which I attribute partly or mostly to poor sleep patterns, undersleeping and consuming too much caffeine (not just during the day, but large amounts in the evening as well). And of course stress, which is only increased by the aforementioned factors. If this is short term - why not? But long term, I wouldn't recommend it, unless you in fact have returns to show for it. If anything, consider setting up alerts.
Do it don't do it - it's up to you. We run a night desk from the US which predominantly trades Europe. We start at 11PM Chicago and trade until at least 11AM or later. 1. Create a dedicated trading space with no distractions other than CNBC or Bloomberg depending on what's available in your market. NO TV just to stay awake! 2. Consider partnering with another trader(s) who trade the same markets and create an off site trading desk. Share of mind should be on trading only. 3. Ditch the laptop and get some computing power and some real screen space. 4. Add a second phone line and internet provider - very little tech support off hours. Split your business between at least two brokers and avoid the choice that won't be there when you need it. We can call direct. 5. Hire a college intern and allow them to study, but you have a back-up until you develop a partner. Again some expense, but you'll surprised how beneficial it can be to not be alone. 6. I have redundant coverage, but otherwise Friday PM and Saturday are my only real time off. If that will make you miserable then don't do it. When it get's really busy you can find yourself working long hours. Learn what it takes to access other complimentary markets. You are going to find out there are other opportunities in the time your trading. 7. Write an internal market overview/plan to yourself every trading day before your market open. This is an enormous benefit and puts you into the trading mindset. 8. Eat at night not in the late PM - sleep in the afternoon. I generally sleep from 5PM to 10PM. 9. Watch your diet at night and consume a ton of fluids.