Win. 7 Market 24h Clock gadget (major Stock Exchanges on 1 dial)

Hi, I'd like to share a tool for beginning (mainly, but not only) traders I designed. It is called Market 24h Clock, available as Windows XP/7 gadget.

http://stocktime.ru/en/images/gadget.png

Its description and what might be useful about it:


The clock gadget shows trading hours of major world stock exchanges in UTC. The Clock's dial is a circle chart with marked in time coordinates concentric segments, each showing trading session time on separate stock market. Surge in activity hours are highlighted.

So, you have to keep just one clock in front of you instead of several clocks while trading.

(The gadget coordinates minutes and sec with your system time. Automatic Switch to Daylight Saving Time and revert to standard time)

free download: http://mc24.ch/screensaver.htm

Description of Market 24h Clock

With the 24h clock dial, Market Session clock demonstrates the principle of continuity in the world monetary and exchange trade. Market Clock's Dial represents normal trading hours of major world stock exchanges. It gives an opportunity to track market movement at particular moment in time. Surge in activity hours, when strong price movements take place on stock exchanges, are highlighted. These hours fairly coincide with an opening of leading exchanges or publication of important economic data.

Market 24h Clock allows you to actually see the market, develop own trading strategy, appropriately and effectively organize trader's work time.

Dial is a circle chart with marked in time coordinates concentric segments, each showing trading session time on separate stock market. Green sectors correspond to market high activity hours.


Hour hand indicates the current situation.
In contrast to the usual 12-hour schedule clock, the hour hand at Session 24h Clock makes full circle per day.
Minute and second hands work as in any usual clock.

Market 24h Clock displays the Universal Coordinated Time UTC (world time). UTC does not change with a change of seasons.

for more details on trading using the Market 24h Clock visit official Clock's website: http://mc24.ch

http://mc24.ch/images/shema.png

if you have problems installing the gadget on 64-bit systems, there is a manual on youtube on how to fix that (it applies to any 32 bit gadget installation problems)!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5usQpALRMwA

Trading recommendations: http://mc24.ch/strategy.html

Trading using Market 24h Clock

Trading volume and volatility change for different currency pairs depend on the movement of the clock hands. You can trade more effectively, if you know which currency pairs are in the spotlight at any given time. Timing plays big role in currency trading.
Since currency market works around-the-clock, trader is able to watch every market movement attentively and to respond to it in time. In order to develop successful trading strategy, it is necessary to take into account changes in the market activity for various currency pairs in different time periods. It maximizes trading opportunities in your work hours.
In addition currency pairs' liquidity changes with geographical location and macroeconomic factors. Knowing what time of day one or another currency pair has the largest and most narrow trading range, you are able to improve your abilities in capital allocation.
This article examines the average trading activity on major currency pairs in different time intervals. It will help to determine when currency pairs are most volatile.
This chart presents data on the average range in pips for the different currency pairs in different time periods:


http://mc24.ch/images/tabl1.gif

Asian session (Tokyo) 00.00-09.00 UTC

Trading activity in Asia is conducted in major regional financial hubs. During the Asian trading session, Tokyo takes the largest market share, followed by Hong Kong and Singapore.
Despite the flagging influence of the Japanese central bank on the forex market, Tokyo remains one of the most important dealing centers in Asia. It is the first major Asian market to open, and many large participants often use the trade momentum there as the benchmark to gauge market, dynamics as well as to devise their trading strategies.
Trading in Tokyo can be thin from time to time; but large investment banks and hedge funds are known to try to use the Asian session to run important stop and option barrier levels.

Following figure provides a ranking of the different currency pairs and their ranges during the Asian trading session. For the more risk-tolerant traders, USD/JPY, GBP/CHF, and GBP/JPY are good picks because their broad ranges provide short-term traders with lucrative profit potentials, averaging 90 pips.

http://mc24.ch/images/tabl2.gif

Foreign investment, banks and institutional investors, which hold mostly dollar-dominated assets, generate a significant amount of USD/JPY transactions when they enter the Japanese equity and bond markets. Japan's central bank, with more than $800 billion of U.S. Treasury securities, also plays an influential role in affecting the supply and demand of USD/JPY through its open market operations.

Last but not least, large Japanese exporters are known to use the Tokyo trading hours to repatriate their foreign earnings heightening the fluctuation of the currency pair. GBP/CHF and GBP/JPY remain highly volatile as central bankers and large players start to scale themselves into positions in anticipation of the opening of the European session.

For the more risk-averse traders, AUD/JPY, GBP/USD, and USD/CHF are good choices because they allow medium-term to long-term traders to take fundamental factors into account when making a decision.

European Session 7.00-16.00 UTC

London is the largest and most important dealing center in the world, with a market share at more than 30 percent according to the BIS survey.
Most of the dealing desks of large banks are located in London; the majority of major forex transactions are completed during London hours due to the market's high liquidity and efficiency.
The vast number of market participants and their high transaction value make London the most volatile FX market of all.

As shown in Figure (see below), half of the 12 major pairs surpass the 80 pips line, the benchmark that we used to identify volatile pairs with GBP/JPY and GBP/CHF reaching as high as 140 and 146 pips respectively.


http://mc24.ch/images/tabl3.gif

High volatility for the two pairs reflects the peak of daily trade activity as large participants are about to complete their cycle of currency conversion around the world. London hours are directly connected to both the U.S. and the Asian sessions: as soon as large banks and institutional investors are finished repositioning their portfolios, they will need to start converting the European assets into dollar-denominated ones again in anticipation of the opening of the U.S. market. The combination of the two reconversions by the big players is the major reason for the extremely high volatility in the pairs.

For the more risk-tolerant traders, there are plenty of pairs to choose from EUR/USD, USD/CAD, GBP/USD, and USD/CHF, with an average range of 80 pips, are ideal picks as their high volatilities offer an abundance, of opportunity to enter the market. As mentioned earlier, trade between the European currencies and the dollars picks up again because the large participants have to reshuffle their portfolios for the opening of the U.S. session.

For the more risk-averse participants, the NZD/USD, AUD/USD, EUR/CHF and AUD/JPY, with an average of about 50 pips, are good choices as these pairs provide trader with high interest incomes in additional to potential trade profits. These pairs allow investors to determine their direction of movements based on fundamental economic factors and be less prone to losses due to intraday speculative trades.

For the more risk-averse participants, the NZD/USD, AUD/USD, EUR/CHF and AUD/JPY, with an average of about 50 pips, are good choices as these pairs provide trader with high interest incomes in additional to potential trade profits. These pairs allow investors to determine their direction of movements based on fundamental economic factors and be less prone to losses due to intraday speculative trades.

U.S. Session 13.30-20.00 UTC.
New York is the second largest FX market place, encompassing 19 percent of total FX market volume turnover according to the 2004 Triennial Central Bank Survey of Foreign Exchange and Derivatives Market Activity in April 2004 published by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS). It is also the financial center that guards the back door of the world's FX market as trading activity usually winds down to a minimum from its afternoon session until the opening of the Tokyo market the next day. The majority of the transactions during the U.S. session are 51 executed between 8 a.m. and noon, a period with high liquidity because European traders are still in the market.

very useful gadget, I am using it from long time now, thankyou very much.

- you're welcome!

***

For the more risk-tolerant traders, GBP/USD, USD/CHF, GBP/JPY, and GBP/CHF are good choices for day traders since the daily ranges average about 120 pips (see Figure).

http://mc24.ch/images/tabl4.gif