So Forex shuts down (pretty much) after noon on Friday?

[Jonathan]

So Forex shuts down (pretty much) after noon on Friday? Correct?

Are there any worthwhile movements before the close usually?

[techno791]

Yep, it's just like a college campus, or what the real would SHOULD be like.

One time i was checking it, and my broker stops at 4:30pm, but some quoting service had a huge jump after that between 16:30 and 17:00ET. There's discussions somewhere talking about choppy numbers and volatility on the weekends with Arab banks and such, but nothing quoted on the weekend is official, until Auckland and Sydney opens up. If it's the Queen's Birthday, then I guess it rolls over to Tokyo.
That's how I understand it.

[wolf825]

FWIW to this discussion, Fridays are usually a No-TRade day for me.. This is just me and part of my own trading rules..but I rarely active trade on Fridays. But as has been said--Forex brokers start shutting down for the weekend usually around 11am EST all over the world. Most US brokers shut down for the weekend around 4pm EST.. Does not mean the market is closed-closed...its like a government--its always sorta in the background 'working'...but most US brokers usually close down on Friday afternoons by 4 - 4:30p EST to tally up the week and go home....


As I have grown to understand things--trading Forex on Fridays, unless there is a big News thing like the NFP report out, are usually extremely uncertain times for trading and IMO just not worth it. Most traders do well during the week and end up giving back most of their pips on Fridays by getting stops hit or sitting there in a position that is dead in the water against them and not moving. Check it out in your own trade history--is there a day where you lose more often then any other day?? I found for me it was usually Fridays...I could make 100 pips for the week and on Friday I would give back 40 of them in a stop that gets hit on a whipsaw 'out of nowhere'...or I would end up closing out a position for a dozen or so pips negative just cause I did not want to leave a trade open til Sunday and I eat the loss. NO--I hate loss like that for no reason. But if you think about it--it makes sense--Fridays some brokers and institutions are exiting positions for the weekend (some BIG positions too!), markets around the world are or have closed down ahead of or during the NY sessions, folks all over the world are rushing in and out of the markets and so on--and it makes for a market that is either dead flatline or a market that is whippy and untradable because its whipping around up and down in a range for no real reason except for excess liquidity that is flowing in. IMO on Fridays--usually after 11am-noon EST, you may as well close your positions and walk away cause its really not going anywhere unless you plan on carrying a trade over the weekend.... So for me-Fridays are usually a day-off of Trading to sit back and review my week's trades (or count profits ), do some chart reads for next week possibilities, or really--just not think about the markets and give myself a mental break... IMO doing such makes sense.

JMO...
-w

[Jonathan]

Okay thanks. What about Sunday night with a small position size? And then ramp up to full positions on Tuesday-Thursday? Then go back to smallest position size on Friday if one wanted to give it a go.

Risk management sounds good like that.

[techno791]

I haven't done the Sunday/Monday thing yet actually. Starting to think it's better than Friday but don't take my word for it. Just like stocks, those two days are always thinnest. In my stock experience I always liked Wednesday,the most news and events. Tues/Wed has the widest pip ranges.

Wolfe's explanation demonstrates why the USD/CAD didn't bounce the way it was supposed to, and a trade of mine that didn't work(boredom trade!). But if there's movement somewhere, then there's a way.

I still have SOME optimism left that if the pair has some movement, then at least a good scalper may still be able to win those trades.

[Jonathan]

Originally Posted by techno791

I haven't done the Sunday/Monday thing yet actually. Starting to think it's better than Friday but don't take my word for it. Just like stocks, those two days are always thinnest. In my stock experience I always liked Wednesday,the most news and events. Tues/Wed has the widest pip ranges.

Wolfe's explanation demonstrates why the USD/CAD didn't bounce the way it was supposed to, and a trade of mine that didn't work(boredom trade!). But if there's movement somewhere, then there's a way.

I still have SOME optimism left that if the pair has some movement, then at least a good scalper may still be able to win those trades.

If a pair has at least a 15-20 pip movement... and considering that we can FIND that pair that's going to do that consistently... then there should be a way to switch to a Friday system, scalp it, and move on.

Or, if Sunday is good enough, simply switch your week back a day. Trade Thursday night/Friday morning as if you were finishing the end of Friday... and Sunday night would be like Monday morning. I dunno, might work.

[wolf825]

In regards to Sunday/Mondays--FWIW--They are a crapshoot for reliability and solid dependable tradability IMO, but that being said they can be times for some great small make-up trades and get small scalp trades in on some pre-sets and corrections the Market may do.

For example, GAPS on opens on Sundays (as RPM used to post about) tend to move away and then reverse and close the gap--but not always...but I have taken note this is moreso one trait that is fairly common of the Sunday opens when it happens. A quick 10-30 pip trade COULD be had or you could start the week off with a loss. Sunday moves I have found can sometimes depend on how the market closed on Friday and what news came out--and what news is pending for the week, that the market may begin to set itself up or make corrections or have delayed reactions on Sunday's open.. NFP Fridays with a strong report for example give a ton of speculative information that the market has yet to really fully "digest" or factor in...which can result in a whippy Sunday OR a sunday that quickly corrects or finishes what started on Friday. Sometimes a quiet friday can lead to a quiet sunday til we get into London..but if the Friday flattens out for a long time after a big move early--you can take note that tension is probably building up for a break out continuation or sudden correction to happen late Sunday nite.

Other considerations I have noted--If there is big news reports due out on Monday/tuesday morn--you can usually see the market to begin to factor in its estimates and have some significant speculative moves occur to pre-set prior to the news release...which could lead to some small and slow trend-like moves over the evening. Another thing I notice is that many of the crosspairs tend to lead the way for these moves on Sunday overnite into Monday moreso then on the majors..and the Yen crosspairs especially...the only exception to this I have found would be AUD/USD which is a commodity pair and may begin to adjust for any Gold or metal price changes from the weekend and that they Open around Asia open first on Sunday nite.. Yes the crosspairs can carry the majors (like EUR/USD)--but I have noted the crosspairs often will move a few minutes first before the majors move on Sundays which can give a possible heads-up for a trader to look for...but knowing whether its a move or its size is a crapshoot...

Keep in mind these observations are not a system to trade by or rely on--just some observations I have seen quite a lot and made note of.. I share them so others may take interest and perhaps try and find a method to the madness. But I don't know if there is ANY definitive pattern for Sunday trades of "if X happens then Y should follow"....but I find its all part of getting a feel for and deeper understanding and familiarity with the Forex Markets. So take it for whatever its worth and maybe start making some notes yourself on your own observations.. I know while I make some of my trade plans on Sunday doing this, I have felt the market would gap at open and I tried to prepare some trades IF it would happen in speculation for signs of what it would do afterwards--only to have it gap on open...but in the opposite direction I was thinking and totally messing up my idea.. And I have seen Sundays where I figured it would be fairly quiet only to see a 80 pip spike in some direction shortly after open on some pairs for reasons unknown...so go figure... And then I have had times I've made a plan and its happened like the market was foillowing my wishes exactly..so again--go figure... All part of learning and growing to BE a trader..

If anyone can definitively "crack the code" or find a holy grail for how Sundays react that you can backtest reliably, you can probably leave other traders in the dust and get a jumpstart.. But for me--I try and view Sunday opens as just getting a feel for the markets in general and see what it tells me that its feeling like doing...

-w

[Jonathan]

I'm gonna give the Suicide Sunday trade a go. I'll let you guys know how I'm doing throughout the evening.

[techno791]

Hoepfully they'll be some sort of gap else I don't know what to do. I made a thread on it, only two examples so far. Hopefully the images won't get blocked since I hadn't paid my bill yet.

I ususally miss the gap though, if I see it, I see it, if not, well...

[Jonathan]

Originally Posted by techno791

Hoepfully they'll be some sort of gap else I don't know what to do. I made a thread on it, only two examples so far. Hopefully the images won't get blocked since I hadn't paid my bill yet.

I ususally miss the gap though, if I see it, I see it, if not, well...

How do you like playing the gap? Or you could just wait to tell me in the HSM chat when the market opens at 5