I recently started trading the ES. Would appreciate to be informed if there is an index to guage how stocks are trading in the pre-market and also in the after market trading hours. It seems that the standard S & P Index is only reported for regular trading hours (9:30 - 4:00 EDT). Am also wondering if pre-market and after-market stock trading is given much attention by index futures traders. Thanks for any comments, Stosh.
You could try monitoring the dax30 or ftse 100, both of which are major european indices and could be used for premarket analysis.
ES trades essentially 24 hours a day with a 15 min bathroom break at 4:15pm ET and a 30 min dinner break 5:30pm ET. I am not sure what you are asking?
I'll rephrase in an attempt to clarify. In U. S. Eastern time zone, you can trade many U. S. stocks from 8:00 til 9:15 a.m. (pre-market) and you can trade them from 4:15 til 8:00 p.m. (after-market). I'm wondering if there is an index which tracks them during these times which are outside regular trading hours.....similar to how the S&P or the DJIA track them during the regular session. I suspect that there is no such indicator but thought that there may be something I have missed. I would think that the big boys would have some guage as to how stocks are trading during these pre and after hours? Thanks, Stosh
Your question still doesn't make much sense. If you are trading the ES, then simply chart it on its 24 hour schedule and reference the timeframe you want, as it represents the S&P. Or, use the YM if you want to reference the Dow before and after 'regular' market hours.
He wants to know how stocks are trading (pre-market/after-hours) not how futures are trading...although they are obviously correlated it definitely isn't a perfect correlation so it seems like a reasonable question. Stosh, I believe most people look at how futures are trading outside of normal market hours to determine how stocks are trading, I don't think there is a pure index like you asking for.
Exactly...The majority of stocks barely trade in the pre/post market and have wide spreads that do not represent accurate pricing - therefore having an index that was calculated based on these prices would be inacurate and worthless. You can check the news and watch the stocks that are in-play and active during these periods, however, the cumulative effect of these moves will be reflected in the futures prices. Slider
Thanks to GTS and Slider.....that is what I wanted. I hadn't thought about the wide bid/ask spreads on stocks in those pre and after hours......a fact which would prevent a meaningful index. It is fascinating to me how futures traders in the overnight sort of wander around without a concurrently trading underlying to relate too. As I said I am new to this, but right now I like trading in the off hours.....and the slower pace suits a novice. Stosh
Thanks to Peri for the link. Looks as if it could be helpful.....will have to study it when I get more time.