Forex Trading, What Hours Should I Be Ready For Trading?
Once you have decided to enter the Forex trading world you will
find that FX trading has many advantages over other capital
markets. Including among others; very low margins, free trading
platforms, high leverage and around-the-clock trading.
It is my main concern in this article to let you know what hours
you should be ready and focus for start trading, so you can
expect the highest profits in your trades, and not just consider
that around-the-clock trading means you should randomly trade
through out the day.
In short, it is important to know what the best hours to trade
are because if you want to find an appreciable number of
profitable trades you need to enter the forex market at the best
period of time, i.e., when the activity, the volume of
transactions, is the highest.
At any given time; somebody, somewhere in the world is buying
and selling currencies. As one market closes, another market
opens. Business hours overlap, and the exchange continues as day
becomes night and night becomes day. Giving you 5.5 entire
potential trading days.
Forex Trading begins in New Zealand at Sunday 5pm EST, and then
is followed by Australia, Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and
America in this order and through out the day and through out
the week until Friday 4pm EST when the American market closes.
Other important facts every Forex trader should know are: the US
& UK markets account for more than 50% of the forex market
transactions; Forex major markets are: London, New York and
Tokyo. Nearly two-thirds of NY activity occurs in the morning
hours while European markets are open. And maybe one of the most
important characteristics; Forex Trading activity is heaviest
when major markets overlap.
So, the answer to the question; "What hours should I be
trading?" is dictated by this last characteristic, you should
trade when the major markets overlap. Now, when do they overlap?.
Considering the different time zones of the world and open and
close times for Australian, New Zealand, Japan, America and
Europe markets. We can arrive to the conclusion that there are
two major time gaps when two of the major markets overlap during
trading hours.
These hours are between 2 am and 4 am EST (Asian/European) and
between 8 am to 12 pm EST(European/N. American).
So if you want to catch the best trading opportunities of the
day and you are in the American continent you must be ready to
wake up early or go to sleep late some times. Of course things
change around the world. What's the best region where to trade
from if you can't wake up early?... Maybe the Ukraine.