Forex Signal Service – A Look At The Time Zones

Many traders find that the forex trading time zones can be a bit intimindating . Like many others , when I started in this global, cash, 24 hour market, the issue of time zones didn’t make much sense . That changed over time however and in this article I will share some basic insights as to how I handle the 24 hour market and hopefully that will help you the next time you’re preparing for your next big day of trading .

Consider where you live first, or where you’ll be doing most of the forex signal service trading from. This is the most important factor that affects how you look at this 24 hour market . For an example let’s say that California is where you life which is on the West Coast in the U.S. and on Pacific Standard Time which is 3 hours behind New York’s East Coast time .

Now that we’ve determined that we are going to do our trading from California , which is 3 hours behind New York , we can start planning our forex signal service trading day. In this market that goes 24 hours and never sleeps (but gets very quiet on weekends and major international holidays such as New Years ) when the New York financial centers close the trading day stops and resets at or around 5pm EST and the banking centers in the Far East like Hong Kong and Tokyo open and start a new day at roughly the same time. Taking this into consideration it is the best idea to have trading charts set in a way that the daily candle or bar you use will close every day at about 5pm Eastern Standard Time.

Since we know we’re trading from the US West Coast which is three hours behond New York’s EST and we’re aware of when the 24-hour market will stop and rest for another day. Next we have to decide when to prepare and plan for the next day . If you happen to be in California , as in this example , and you like staying up late then perhaps you’d like to get ready to trade the London session from about 1am Pacific Standard Time to 4am Pacific Standard Time . Or, maybe you enjoy your sleep and want to doze through the London session but you don’t have a problem being up early, at about 4am Pacific Time so you’re able to see the London session end and prepare for the start of the New York session which will really get going around 5:30am PST (8:30am EST) . Perhaps getting up early isn’t your thing and you prefer to trade in the middle of the day ; not a problem . Just wait for 2pm PST or 5pm EST when the day begins in Tokyo and this session is when you can do your trading.

Now you clearly have knowledge of the major forex trading time zones and your days can be planned accordingly. Keep in mind , planning and preparation are perhaps the two most over-looked, yet important factors of success in all businesses, including this one. This is the best way to organize your forex signal service day.