not so much how long you trade, but what hours? Do you get up very early? Or do you trade thtought the night?(seems choppy) do you just trade when ever you want? What's your daily routine? Let's keep all the hours EST to avoid confusion. Thanks
Trading CL you need to know that the pre-market 8.30-10am contains sufficient volume and repeatedly demonstrates large gyrations. One 'leg' of a large gyration can be a 140-250+ move in the pre-market. Therefore take the pre-market and then take the next 4 and half hours of the official session, 10-14.30. I do not trade after market close. At market close I stop. Trading-wise I'm done for the day.
9 AM is preparation time to load up the charts, make a brief analysis of what has already happened, and what is to be expected. In other words it's about getting a bias for the day. First trade is often placed shortly after the opening bell. Rarely do I enter a new position in the dead zone so I leave the desk to come back at around 1 PM. (FYI, I only trade the ES.)
My active trading is mostly 820am to 4pm EST. I usually do research etc for another 3-4 hours per day, and a few more hours on weekends.
I've noticed a lot of people who don't trade during the lunch hours (est). I'm also curious when everybody stops trading, so thanks for the input.
Summer Hours 7:30 am - 10:15 am EST on News days for the eMinis's 10:15 am - 12:30 pm EST everyday for the eGrains Afternoons free Spring/Winter/Fall Hours 7:30 am - 10:15 am EST on for the eMinis's 10:15 am - 12:30 pm EST everyday for the eGrains 1:30 pm - 2:15 pm EST everyday for the eGrains 2:30pm - 4 pm EST for the eMinis I rarely watch for all of these hours unless I'm homebound due to bad weather. Weekends - All year About 8 hours reviewing Swing Trade Charts and doing paperwork. (This will be reduced to about an hour later this year due to automation)
west coast here. most of my trading is bonds and ES/NQ/ER2. I am at the PC by 5 am every day. Bonds usually trade big ranges early in day. I shift emphasis to stock indexes about 15 mins after the open, but still trade bonds at times as well. When markets are moving well, I work till the close of day session at 1:15 PST. Often I call it a day by 10 am or earlier my time though. Then have to go outside and play all day!