Best times to trade pairs

Hi Everyone,
I have over the years been developing an EA to trade automatically and have reached a point where I am now fine tuning various aspects of it.
One of the considerations I am having is, are the better time to trade certain pairs. Has anyone done any real analysis they would be prepare to share as to which pairs generally move at certain times of the day. I could guess but just wondered.
Not sure where to put this thread, in here or Trading Systems. Probably applies to both.
Best wishes to everyone


If it can happen, it probably will.

Try this web site.
https://www.mataf.net/en/forex/tools/volatility
It gives you much more than that.
Cheers, H

IMO....there is no such thing as better time to trade a certain pair in general. I would say it depends on your strategy. There are million combinations of strategies but in the end I believe the base of any strategy are 1 of the 2 types. 1) Its based on price to trend. 2) Its based on price to range.

If your strategy is based on type 1, you will always always lose in a long run no matter what you do...if the markets are ranging.
If your strategy is based on type 2, you will always always lose in a long run no matter what you do...if the markets are trending.

All the above said....you should be looking for finding data for pairs based on when they trend and when they range and at what time frames...based on this you choose the sessions in which you want to trade your pairs.

I have been trading Forex for 11 years now and have evaluated hundreds of methods, indicators, and signals. Based purely on over 40,000 hours of experience, I would advise you to trade when one or both currencies of your pair have open banks and exchanges. While the market does move to the left 24 hours a day, the most active hours for it moving up and down are when the people that use that currency are awake and trading it. That is also when the fundamentals are publicly released. You only make money when price is moving up and down, not sideways. Since banks produce an estimated 90% of the trading volume, then you are more likely to find trades when those banks are actively trading. Successful trading is about following the money, so first, the money must be present. Holidays and days without news normally have much less range than active days with fundamentals. Not sure how you would program an EA for that, other than turning it on or off.

The exception is major USD news. Since this is the world reserve currency, some of its news can affect other currencies. In particular, interest rate news, and White House policy changes generally cause global market reactions. Think of it like the stock market where a rising tide raises all ships. That means that even a non-performing stock will show movement in accordance with its bigger competitors if the industry as a whole is affected by some news event.

For most conditions though (consistency), stick to the active market hours of the currencies of the pair. Years ago I did moving average analysis with a customized EA to determine an effective guide for measuring buyers against sellers. Unfortunately, I used a 24-hour analysis, which skewed my results because the momentum dies during dead trading periods, yet the trading signals persist. I found by deleting dead hours, the probability rose substantially. I typically trade from Frankfurt Open to New York lunch. If there is not a swing during those hours, it is most likely to occur after NY lunch. The money still has to move, lol, but if they do the same thing everyday, then anyone can learn to trade. While it is not common to swing the money after NY lunch, it does happen. The sign is a dead market when there should not be a dead market. For those times, I can do what your EA will never be able to do. I can use a higher time frame signal to show me the entry. Good Luck.

A higher time frame range = a lower time frame trend. Instead of making them separate entities, try combining them.

That is not true it all! We seem to have a different definitions of "trend" and "range"

OK. I am trying to help the OP.
No interest in any interactions with you.

Dear yalgaar,
You probably should not be insulting me. Try reading these threads to see how higher time frames can appear on lower time frame charts. I guess these come from an idiot too, looking for an indicator to help show what I wrote on my posts, LOL. I guess you were just "in the mood" to attack someone you don't know and call him names. Nice person. Have a good day.

https://www.forexfactory.com/showthread.php?t=731782 by yalgarr, called Indicator that draws blocks for different Timeframes

https://www.forexfactory.com/showthread.php?t=746868 by yalgarr, called Timeframe Overlay Indicator

Don't guess, work it our for yourself and gain the confidence that gives.

You have not said what timeframe or trade frequencies you expect, but if you have developed an EA, just add code to test time of day and day of week periods. It's simple to do in TradeStation and NinjaTrader, so presumably in MT4 as well (I am not a programmer).

You might also find that entering trades at a certain time of day and day of week, but letting them run onwards with various types of trade management works for your timeframe(s). Here's a recent 60 day backtest of the DAX, to give you some encouragement to work it out for yourself (the only way to fly ) :



Looks like an ATM, doesn't it ? Unfortunately running automation Live brings many obstacles - I don't do it on fast timeframes - but backtesting is nevertheless a great research tool.

autochartist has also good statistic about volatility/trading hours .

Thanks everyone for replying.
Regards
Steve

Hi Steve
Here is a little theory and or expected trading time analyses lay out,might be help trading community.

Yes to minimize loss rate its very important to trade for major currency pair as well as trade during the right time of day. Because trading during the wrong time is the basic reason for face trouble becoming successful in Forex Trading. Best time for enhance your profit include late-US, Asian or early European time. But i m not 100% sure. It can be change according to location.

In fact, I do not really trust any advisors because the market is an interesting and moving structure with its own features and nuances. When someone or some trading system accompanies you on the market, you do not have a personal understanding of what is going on. So, you just follow what you are told or told, it will never lead you to the result that deserves attention or can help you to get into the market yourself. If I were you, I would spend more time exploring the market and its opportunities to find something that will bring you money and you will be able to navigate the situation. Don't be afraid of mistakes or inaccuracies, everyone faces them.