peter77 wrote: "By the way I heard that 53.985478 % of profits come in the morning and 41.387602% come in the afternoon and 4.626920% come between 9 PM and 4:59AM eastern which could be consdered morning by some and evening by others. Source: A guy named Louie I met at a Taco Bell." According to my friend Vinnie who works at the local pizza parlor, 79.92% of people who use statistics to support their case use numbers that are fabricated. Now back to the topic, I find that I usually do much better by avoiding the first hour of trading and most of my profits come from the afternoon, when I've got a better handle on the day's trend. Richard
I have found that what works for me is to quit for the day when I reach a certain profit level. Whatever time this may be (11am or 4pm) I just turn my computers off and this has given me spectacular results. This week however was not good at all. One large f@king position quickly broke my stop and cost me all my profit for the week!
i have heard several traders say they strictly trade mornings...basically the first 2 hrs (9:30 est - 11:30 est). And others trade mornings and the last hour.... Im sure your particular style depends on when you should trade. Im still learning myself and im going to just trade mornings from now on....something i realized months ago and somehow forgot. i just realized the last post before me was 7 years ago!!! awesome
It's best to put on positions during the morning and be closed out by 11am ET to better be able to have a balanced life. After taking profits for the day I often head for the links or the boat. Ocassionally a light workout is good, before settling in for my afternoon book.
Folks, everybody does it different but I'm only interested in doing the way that makes me rich. First I mostly only trade RIMM because the earnings coming up are going to be huge and most importantly, everybody and their mother is hyping interest in it. Second, I trade all day because I take as much profit as I can and you never know what hour it will be. I have buys ready at the open to take 2% drop. Thats a bargain for RIMM and Ill take it if they give it. And RIMM runs up and down $2 bucks all day and I take as many as I can. In the first 5mins, you can either get a crazy low price or sell a crazy high price. But with the market so oversold, I tend to look for crazy lows because it just gets higher through the day. Since we are at a bottom, I am a swing trader that also scalps what I can spot. CNBC posts red banner news 1-1:30 so even that time can be exciting. If the market were normal, you could trade on a schedule. But these days, there is no telling what will happen next, so if you got money on the line, always stay close to your blackberry or PC. And enjoy it. This is one of the few times in your life where you can make so much money in such a little bit of time. There will be plenty of time to enjoy life, but right now trading is my business, and I hope I get rich before its all over...
Everyone's style is different - for me I bat around .750 from 9:30 to 10:30 and from 3:00 - 4:00. Its barely .500 the rest of the day. So I take my profits when it works for me, and avoid the rest of the day. Friday I was positive 2% and then went to negative 5% because I didn't turn the computer off. I was pissed all weekend long. Monday I went 4 for 4 from 9:30 - 10:30, made my 2%, then turned the computer off to lock in my profits. For me, knowing when NOT to trade is the most important part of my trading system.
aint that the truth. not getting in is about 90% of what im learning. if i could get 75% of my trades to work, like you do, then i would be happy just trading the first 2 hrs.
I basically just trade 8am-Noon EST now. I found that the afternoon 'lunch' session is boring as hell and the late afternoon can be a toss up for me. While the monetary aspect is important, I found it much easier to focus mentally and trade for 4 hours straight and call it a day. Plus, it's kinda nice to have a 'job' where you are done by Noon and have the rest of the day to yourself.