Why do i do much better trades in high volatility? | Forex Factory

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Why do i do much better trades in high volatility?

  • #1
  • First Post: Apr 27, 2026 1:24pm Apr 27, 2026 1:24pm
Hey people!

Yeah so im wondering this: Why do i trade A LOT better when its fast and there is lots of action? I trade mostly E/U. 5+ pip M1 candles, that kind of thing.

And its been years and years and its consistent.
The slower, the worse i do.
The faster the better generally.

The big problem is that outside of news its VERY hard to predict when there will be a lot of liquidity.
Like friday. Nothing happens in the morning so i start doing other things and then WHAM! When im not looking. And sometimes then i get kind of upset and start trading even though its kind of too late. Like this friday 24th: Nothing happens in the morning. Not so strange for a friday. So i start doing other things at around lunch time. And then at 12, WHAM! But im not looking. I catch a bit of it but then i get emotional because i missed most of it, and loose 70% of what i made when it was nice action.

And then days with lots of action i do real good sometimes, a couple of % or such.

Also i do a lot better with what you call a range then with a trend. With a range its kind of buy low sell high. Anybody can do it. Trends are a lot trickier, i have no idea when they will end...
My signature is: "Classified".
  • #2
  • Apr 27, 2026 1:53pm Apr 27, 2026 1:53pm
Oh yeah and one easter egg: E/U Price will return to 1.17383 within let say 24 hours.
If it dont, im a donkey lover in the most wrong sense of it.
My signature is: "Classified".
  • #3
  • Apr 27, 2026 2:39pm Apr 27, 2026 2:39pm
Quoting yaed
Hey people! Yeah so im wondering this: Why do i trade A LOT better when its fast and there is lots of action? I trade mostly E/U. 5+ pip M1 candles, that kind of thing. And its been years and years and its consistent. The slower, the worse i do. The faster the better generally. The big problem is that outside of news its VERY hard to predict when there will be a lot of liquidity. Like friday. Nothing happens in the morning so i start doing other things and then WHAM! When im not looking. And sometimes then i get kind of upset and start trading even...
Hello Yead,
You already have years of data showing when you perform well and when you don’t. That means the solution is simple: focus only on the conditions where you consistently succeed, and completely avoid the ones where you don’t.

From what you’ve described, the real issue seems to be fear of missing out. I’ve dealt with this myself. In my third year of trading, I was close to becoming consistent and had a solid grasp of how the market truly moves. But whenever I missed a trade or part of a move, my ego took a hit. I’d jump in late, especially on Fridays, and end up losing most of my weekly gains.

Eventually, I realized trading is just like sales. A salesman meets 100 people, maybe 10-15 show interest, and only 1 or 2 actually buy. Trading works on the same probability principle. In a week, I might see 15–20 opportunities, but 4-5 don’t qualify under my entry rules. Even if I know the trend and destination, skipping those trades is proof of discipline. That discipline is just as valuable as profit.

Think of it this way: if I can make 25% profit without stress, why add pressure just to squeeze out an extra 5%? The market existed long before us and will continue long after. Opportunities will always be there- missing one doesn’t mean missing the last.

You also mentioned that big moves are hard to catch without news. My suggestion: track H4 and D1 support/resistance levels on major pairs. When those levels break, volume usually follows, and you’ll often see strong moves aligned with the trend.
For Gold, NY session offers superior tradability compared to London.
  • #4
  • Apr 28, 2026 3:52am Apr 28, 2026 3:52am
Quoting yaed
Hey people! Yeah so im wondering this: Why do i trade A LOT better when its fast and there is lots of action? I trade mostly E/U. 5+ pip M1 candles, that kind of thing. And its been years and years and its consistent. The slower, the worse i do. The faster the better generally. The big problem is that outside of news its VERY hard to predict when there will be a lot of liquidity. Like friday. Nothing happens in the morning so i start doing other things and then WHAM! When im not looking. And sometimes then i get kind of upset and start trading even...
Hey Yaed,

Many of us have been here. This is a part of trading that is rarely talked about---it's very personal and more about self-discovery than strategy.

I went through a similar phase, where I hated missing big opportunities while away from the screen. I needed to decide what was more important to me: short term action or capturing the big opportunities. In my case, capturing the big opportunities was way more important but this will be different for each trader.

The thing to keep in mind is that there's always tradeoffs. In order to capture the big opportunities, I moved into longer term trend trading, but this required a lot more patience. Instead of continuous action, it was more like:

  1. analyze → wait → analyze → wait → analyze → wait → enter
  2. analyze → wait → analyze → wait → analyze → wait → exit

There are no shortcuts, each trader will need to go through this, some just happen to go through it faster than others.

Quoting yaed
Also i do a lot better with what you call a range then with a trend. With a range its kind of buy low sell high. Anybody can do it. Trends are a lot trickier, i have no idea when they will end...
The trick is to forget trying to predict when a trend will end and estimate how far a trend can run before entering, i.e. estimate potential upside, along with potential downside. There are several techniques for doing this---MTF trend analysis, momentum analysis, cycles theory, wave theory, intermarket analysis and correlation etc.

This gives an idea of setup quality (risk-to-reward potential), which is vital for trend trading. It also gives an idea when to start looking for signs of trend exhaustion. Then after entering and the trend is underway, the same techniques can be used to determine if the trend is close to ending.

HINT: Momentum changes direction before price trend does. Trend trading is also more about asset selection (=selecting assets with greatest reward-to-risk potential) and less about strategy & timing.
  • #5
  • Apr 29, 2026 2:53pm Apr 29, 2026 2:53pm
Quoting Newtrader025
{quote} Hello Yead, You already have years of data showing when you perform well and when you don’t. That means the solution is simple: focus only on the conditions where you consistently succeed, and completely avoid the ones where you don’t. From what you’ve described, the real issue seems to be fear of missing out. I’ve dealt with this myself. In my third year of trading, I was close to becoming consistent and had a solid grasp of how the market truly moves. But whenever I missed a trade or part of a move, my ego took a hit. I’d jump in late,...
I will meditate on that further.
in 2025 i did profits januari, february, march, april, maj. At the end of each month it was positive in the account.
And then june, july, august, september, oktober, novemeber, december and then in 2026 january, february loss. Every month.
Every month quite a lot of trades.
So its not luck. I dont think "its the market". Its me.
My signature is: "Classified".
  • #6
  • Apr 29, 2026 2:55pm Apr 29, 2026 2:55pm
Quoting Taniatrq
{quote} You’re a volatility scalper; you need momentum for M1 setups to work. Your issue isn't the strategy.it's FOMO. Stop watching the slow hours. Set alerts for session opens and volatility spikes, and if you miss the initial move, stay out. Chasing a late entry is an emotional trap that wipes out your gains. Professionalism is knowing when not to trade.
Yes, i can try to stick to the news, but things happen outside of the news. Especially at breakouts and such. Thats the problem.
I mean like friday, slow in the morning but then WHAM! Out of the blue.
I am working on a fix though, moving to gold: Less spread, more ticks.
I did good on gold today.
My signature is: "Classified".
  • #7
  • Apr 29, 2026 3:01pm Apr 29, 2026 3:01pm
Quoting CoffeeFreak
{quote} Hey Yaed, Many of us have been here. This is a part of trading that is rarely talked about---it's very personal and more about self-discovery than strategy. I went through a similar phase, where I hated missing big opportunities while away from the screen. I needed to decide what was more important to me: short term action or capturing the big opportunities. In my case, capturing the big opportunities was way more important but this will be different for each trader. The thing to keep in mind is that there's always tradeoffs. In order to...
Well, what i have had most success with is very quick moves. Analysis for me comes after to try to see how i could have had less drawdown usually.
Often i dont have time to set TP and SL, the programs are to slow and cumbersome, and i set close on price action, not on pre given SL and TP.

I have had positions for weeks and days, sometimes i ment to, sometimes i happens because i dont close them on time.
My signature is: "Classified".
  • #8
  • Edited 3:38am Apr 30, 2026 3:22am | Edited 3:38am
Quoting yaed
{quote} Well, what i have had most success with is very quick moves. Analysis for me comes after to try to see how i could have had less drawdown usually. Often i dont have time to set TP and SL, the programs are to slow and cumbersome, and i set close on price action, not on pre given SL and TP. I have had positions for weeks and days, sometimes i ment to, sometimes i happens because i dont close them on time.
Ok, I didn't mention anything about pre-setting SL and TP. What I wrote was:

Quote
This gives an idea of setup quality (risk-to-reward potential), which is vital for trend trading

Potential risk ≠ SL, potential reward ≠ TP.

Risk-to-reward potential = quality of setup, i.e. how good is the setup or opportunity? E.g. is it a rare opportunity that only happens once a year with low risk and huge upside potential or is it a common one that happens all the time with very high risk and little to no upside potential. Some pros grade them like A+, B, C, D or F.

I'm talking about getting ahead of the market and "seeing" the big moves (via analysis) before they happen. Professionals call it "letting the price come to them".

Let me put it another way. Most professionals who trend trade for a living have a pretty good idea (via their process and analysis) where and when the big trends will be before they happen. They also have a pretty good idea of how long the new trend can potentially last. They also know that there is a high probability that the trend can run much further than their original estimation so they don't exit prematurely via a TP and will let the market tell them when to get out.

I wrote in my earlier reply:

Quote
I went through a similar phase, where I hated missing big opportunities while away from the screen. I needed to decide what was more important to me: short term action or capturing the big opportunities. In my case, capturing the big opportunities was way more important but this will be different for each trader.

In other words, I stopped daytrading and got into longer term trading because not missing the big, life-changing opportunities (FOMO)was more important to me than daily fast market action.

Example: I got into gold when it was trading between $1,680 - $1,800 in 2021-2022 because my analysis told me that gold had the potential to run to $8,000 - $12,000 with very low risk over the coming years. There was (and still is) a high probability that gold can run further than $12k , so I have no pre-set TP at $12k, I will ride the trend until my analysis of the market tells me it's time to exit. For me, this was an A+++ opportunity that comes once in a generation.

As I wrote:

Quote
This is a part of trading that is rarely talked about---it's very personal and more about self-discovery than strategy.
...
The thing to keep in mind is that there's always tradeoffs.

I couldn't have both the fast market action and the big opportunities because I couldn't be in front of the screen 24/7. So for me, the right choice was to sacrifice fast market action in order to prioritize big opportunities so I could catch the big moves even when I was away from the screen. Again, this is what matches my personality.

On the opposite end, you have Newtrader025. I suggest you read his gold trading thread: Gold (XAUUSD). He also "sees" the moves before they happen.
However unlike me, he prefers the daily market action over catching the entire longer term trend and is willing to sacrifice those opportunities he misses when away from the screen, i.e. he doesn't chase a move that happened overnight while he was asleep.

My point is both ways can work but you have to figure out what is more important to you and matches your personality / preferences, i.e. self-discovery.
  • #9
  • Apr 30, 2026 3:36am Apr 30, 2026 3:36am
Quoting yaed
{quote} I will meditate on that further. in 2025 i did profits januari, february, march, april, maj. At the end of each month it was positive in the account. And then june, july, august, september, oktober, novemeber, december and then in 2026 january, february loss. Every month. Every month quite a lot of trades. So its not luck. I dont think "its the market". Its me.
It’s your choice, but the truth is the full market puzzle still isn’t matching for you. That’s why you’re sometimes good, sometimes not- and overall stuck at breakeven.
For Gold, NY session offers superior tradability compared to London.
  • #10
  • Apr 30, 2026 11:32pm Apr 30, 2026 11:32pm
Quoting yaed
Hey people! Yeah so im wondering this: Why do i trade A LOT better when its fast and there is lots of action? I trade mostly E/U. 5+ pip M1 candles, that kind of thing. And its been years and years and its consistent. The slower, the worse i do. The faster the better generally. The big problem is that outside of news its VERY hard to predict when there will be a lot of liquidity. Like friday. Nothing happens in the morning so i start doing other things and then WHAM! When im not looking. And sometimes then i get kind of upset and start trading even...
You do better in fast markets because your setup needs momentum nothing wrong with that.
The real issue is what happens after you miss the move. That frustration is what’s hurting you, not the market.
You don’t need to catch every move. You just need to avoid chasing the ones you missed.
  • #11
  • Last Post: May 8, 2026 8:21am May 8, 2026 8:21am
Quoting yaed
Hey people! Yeah so im wondering this: Why do i trade A LOT better when its fast and there is lots of action? I trade mostly E/U. 5+ pip M1 candles, that kind of thing. And its been years and years and its consistent. The slower, the worse i do. The faster the better generally. The big problem is that outside of news its VERY hard to predict when there will be a lot of liquidity. Like friday. Nothing happens in the morning so i start doing other things and then WHAM! When im not looking. And sometimes then i get kind of upset and start trading even...
Hey bro,

1. To me it sounds like you need to learn to control your emotions. You can only do that by knowing where price likely to go next imho.
2. Don't trade patterns.
3. Learn where the liquidity is building up and wait for price to get there and take out the uninformed people. When stops are taken, that where you should trade in the opposite direction. Easier said that done.

It sounds easy, it's not, i have been trying for 16+ years

Just my 10 cents
Blindly following others will make you blind!
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