forex #12

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When to LOOK for Trades in the Market That
Never Sleeps:
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In his book 'All About The Foreign Exchange Market in the
United States' Sam Y. Cross says this about electronic
trading, "Quoted prices change as often as 20 times a
minute. It has been estimated that the world's most active
exchange rates can change up to 18,000 times during a single
day. There was a time when this price changed only once in
many years. The years became months, then days, then hours
and now seconds. These price movements have allowed traders
to go in and out of the market at a pace not possible just a
few years ago. Active modern day traders can go in and out
of the forex market 200 times in a single day and take a
small profit each time they perform these trades."


So, like a lot of people just being introduced to FOREX, the
question you're probably asking yourself right now is this:


IF THE MARKET NEVER SLEEPS (remember: the FOREX is basically
a continuous 24-hour open electronic-trading session) WHEN
SHOULD I BE AWAKE TO TRADE?


Good question.


First a little background for you, then our answer:


- 24 hour market - Sunday 5pm EST through Friday 4pm EST.
Rollover at 5pm EST
- Trading begins in New Zealand, followed by Australia,
Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and America


- The US & UK account for more than 50% of turnover
- Major markets: London, New York, Tokyo
- Trading activity is heaviest when major markets overlap
- Nearly two-thirds of NY activity occurs in the morning hours
while European markets are open.


================================
Select the market, select the
time, start trading:
================================


The foreign exchange "week" begins at 5am Sydney time on
Monday mornings. The foreign exchange trading day almost
never ceases except for short periods over weekends. At any
given time, somebody somewhere is buying and selling
currencies. As one market closes, another market opens.
Business hours overlap, and the exchange continues as day
becomes night and night becomes day.


So, the answer to the above questions is this: The massive
liquidity of FOREX, combined with a true 24-hour market
that's traded 5.5 days a week, offers you exceptional
independence and choices to trade FOREX when you want to,
not when the market wants you to. Trades actually develop
with relatively the same frequency, regardless of time. As
long as the FOREX is open, there is about the same chance
that you will find a trade, whenever your look (though some
times are SIGNIFICANTLY better than other times, and we
teach you why in the Rapid Forex materials)..


However, here's the rub...


During each trading day, overall FOREX *volume* (higher
volume = a greater chance of finding more trade
opportunities) is determined by what markets are open and
the times each of these markets OVERLAP one another.


With each passing second, minute and hour, FOREX volume
remains high, but peaks highest when the Asian market
(including Australia & New Zealand), the European market and the U.S.
market is open at the same time (actually only
two of the major markets can overlap at the same time).


Here's the Breakdown of OPEN Market Times (the times each
countries *exchange-traded* markets are open. Important
distinction here. Remember: exchange-traded instruments,
such as foreign exchange futures, stocks, bonds, etc. adhere
to the traditional exchange trading hours):


* New York Market trade times: 8am-4pm EST
* London Market trade times: 2am-12Noon EST
- Great Britain Market trade times: 3am-11am EST
* Tokyo Market trade times: 8pm-4am EST
- Australia Market trade times: 7pm-3am EST

* = Major Markets


=======================================================
Want to know what time it is in Tokyo when it's 7pm
on the east coast of the United States? Go here:
www.RapidForex.com/outlink/clock.shtml
=======================================================


You will notice that there are two times when two of the
major markets OVERLAP in trading times; between 2am and 4am
EST (Asian/European) and between 8am to 12pm EST
(European/N. American).


Generally, the markets tend to make their biggest moves
during these overlaps and, therefore, are usually the BEST
times to trade.


FUN TRIVIA (Neat to Know Info): Trading FOREX from Africa
has advantages because of the time zone. The continent falls
neatly between Asia, Europe and the USA. This means that
trading time in Africa is the same as that in Europe and
also catches both the end of the Asian trading day and the
beginning of the U.S. trading day. This natural resource
enables African traders to trade at the best times without
having sleepless nights :-)