Understanding Auto Forex Trading Time Zones Many traders find that the forex trading time zones can be a bit intimindating . Like many others , when I started out trading this 24 hour global, cash market , the issue of time zones didn't make much sense . Over time that would change and here I'm going to show you some of the basics on how I handle this market and when you prepare for your next trading day, it will help you out . The first thing you need to consider is where you live , or where you'll be doing most of the auto forex trading trading from. This will be the single greatest factor affecting the way you look at this 24-hour market. For an example let's suppose you reside in California on the West Coast of the United States in the Pacific Standard Time (PST) zone which happens to be three hours behind the time on the East Coast . Now that we've determined that we are going to do our trading from California , and we know it's three hours behind East Coast time, we can start planning our auto forex trading trading day. In this market that goes 24 hours and never sleeps ( although it does quiet on international holidays and weekends ) the trading day stops and resets with the New York financial centers closing at 5pm or close to that in Eastern Standard Time and the Far East banking centers of Tokyo, Hong Kong, etc. opening, starting their new day, at about that 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 that you are using closes at 5pm EST every day . So now we've determined that we are trading from the West Coast in the US which happens to be three hours behind EST in New York and we know when the market resets and stops to start a new day . The next thing to consider is when you will get ready and plan for the next day . If you're living in California , as in our example here , and you happen to be a night owl then the London session is what you may want to prepare to trade which is from 1am-4am PST or 4am- 7am PST. Perhaps you like sleeping and you want to sleep through the session in London but you don't have a problem being up early, at around 4am Pacific Standard Time so you're able to see the London session end and prepare for the start of the New York session which gets going about 5:30am Pacific Standard Time, or 8:30am Eastern Time . Perhaps getting up early isn't your thing and the middle of the day is when you prefer to trade; no problem . Simply wait until about 2pm Pacific Standard Time when the day begins in Tokyo and this session is when you can do your trading. Now you've got a clear handle on what the major forex trading time zones are all about and your days can be planned accordingly. Just remember, planning and being prepared are the most important factors, yet often overlooked of success in this business and any other business . This is the best way to organize your auto forex trading day.
Author: Andy Owings - Author of the Drummond Geometry Daily Forecast for Forex Trading & Futures Trading. Andy makes specific trade recommendations every day for 8 popular forex and futures symbols. A free automatic forex trading symbol is available on the website.