What are the Characteristics of the Different Trading Sessions?

I have heard it said that the Asian session is less volatile but more predictable as it moves slower and there is no news. I have heard that Asian/europe crossover is the best time to trade as this is when you can catch the biggest moves of the day. I have read about what i saw someone refer to as the 'American' factor which sees more news and unpredictable movements of price.

The picture i seem to be building is that price generally ranges during the Asian session, then any big moves that happen start during the opening hours of Europe before any US news is released which could change everything once again in the afternoon (GMT). I have also noticed things seem to change sometimes when wall street opens.

Does anyone have any opinions or views to share on the characteristics of the different forex sessions and how this effects their style of trading or system rules?

Fear the US and London opens!!!!!

Why should they be feared? do you mean that if you have trades open then its a good idea to move your stops to BE around these times? what exactly should you be looking out for at these times?

Yes, you have to be extremely nimble during those times.

you don't need to fear anything......learn price action, what it can do and cannot do under wave principle, the only time I ever get stopped is if the currency REVERSES, I could give a rip about retraces, no matter what the session or sessions going on....now If your trying to trade with short small stops, the volitility that can make your trade a good one, can and will wipe you out on nothing more than a very short term jump in the wrong direction. one piece of advice I woud give you is treat the forex as a way to make alot of money, yet it is the exact opposite if you treat it like a get rich quick plan......learn to trade longer term and smoother price action and don't be scared of anything......

So wondered if anyone had anything to add about how they played different trading sessions. For example would people agree that it was a bad idea to take intraday trades after the london close as in my experience price seems to slow down quite a bit after this time. I also notice you can get some great entries and hour or two before london opens if you can be awake at that time. Is this other peoples experience as well?

You may find some of the stuff on Islander's and my thread useful:

http://www.forexfactory.com/showthread.php?t=214628

The best time to trade - and this is when I make or lose money - is Frankfurt/London open. This is the time when the momentum is strongest IMO, and when direction of the day is established.

Thanks for that guys. The linked thread looks interesting. i will have a look through it later.