Better in Afternoon Than in Morning

[nostalgiaguru 1]

After roughly 4 months in sim, I have found myself doing lousy in mornings, but actually quite well in the afternoon, 2:30 and later, working off of the 15-minute candle (8 of 10 green days most recently).  Should I place my emphasis on the afternoon accordingly?  Does my mindset and personality make me better in the afternoon - is that even possible?  Or, if I rarely do well in the morning, am I doing something wrong?

I still hang out in chat pre-market to find out in-play stocks (after I've already come up with some of my own).

[Skye 28]

I think it can be easier to trade in the afternoon. Things move slower so there's more time to think. Also you can see the chart in the previous hour or two which helps. Ultimately the morning is where the money is but I think there is an argument to be made for trading in the afternoon while still building your skills. 

[nostalgiaguru 1]

When you say morning is where the money is, I assume you are referring to volume?  

[Skye 28]

Yes, things happen much faster so easier to get in, make your money, and be done quickly (when you're good enough).

[Jason H. 56]

I've had a lot of success in afternoon trading. Morning trading is fast and furious, but afternoons tend to have quick hits on the scanners and, more frequently, up and down trends you can ride slowly and steadily to profits. It's also, as fullmoonguru said, slower moving, so you have time to think. 

[Peter S 3]

They do say that pros like to trade the first and last hour.  Of course I don't know if "they" know what they're talking about.   But it's certainly possible that the back end of the day is better for you.  The start is frenetic, I often wish the first 10 minutes could be stretched out over an hour to assess all the possibilities.

It does seem that 2.30 can be a good sort of time to be watching for reversals to set up

[Duane Scot 6]

On 11/8/2018 at 6:19 AM, Jason H. said:

I've had a lot of success in afternoon trading. Morning trading is fast and furious, but afternoons tend to have quick hits on the scanners and, more frequently, up and down trends you can ride slowly and steadily to profits. It's also, as fullmoonguru said, slower moving, so you have time to think. 

Jason, What scanners do you watch for opportunities in the afternoon if you dont mind me asking?

[Jason H. 56]

I watch the LOD/HOD scanner and the irregular volume scanner.

[WilliamH 67]

On 11/5/2018 at 5:48 AM, nostalgiaguru said:

After roughly 4 months in sim, I have found myself doing lousy in mornings, but actually quite well in the afternoon, 2:30 and later, working off of the 15-minute candle (8 of 10 green days most recently).  Should I place my emphasis on the afternoon accordingly?  Does my mindset and personality make me better in the afternoon - is that even possible?  Or, if I rarely do well in the morning, am I doing something wrong?

I still hang out in chat pre-market to find out in-play stocks (after I've already come up with some of my own).

Greg, This is great insight into your trading. Lets answer each question . . .

Should I place my emphasis on the afternoon accordingly?  A smart trader puts emphasis on wherever they find success. You can see many of us in the room have completely different trading style. Some like high priced stocks, some like mid floats, some like 15 minute candles, some like 1 minute price action and some like 5 minute candle setups. . . etc. We can put your question in the same category. Some traders thrive in the early morning with the extra volatility, while others get eaten alive and chopped up. If you find yourself losing money in the open, and making money in the later hours, it is very reasonable to conclude that your trading style is better suited for the later hours.

Does my mindset and personality make me better in the afternoon - is that even possible?  YES, it is definitely possible. Maybe your personality and mindset makes the extra volatility in the morning very difficult to trade. Maybe you find yourself revenge trading after being wrong and caught in chop, and then seeing a trend go without you. While in the later part of the day, trends have already taken shape, everything is slower, and you have more time to read and analyze the charts and build a game plan. On top of that, not everyone can function fully in the early parts of the morning. Some people thrive later in the day after they are fully awake and prepared.

Or, if I rarely do well in the morning, am I doing something wrong? Trading is very VERY difficult and just because you don't do well in the morning and do better in the later hours, does not mean you are automatically doing something wrong. It means you potentially found an amazing solution to your specific trading problem. Which is you trade poorly in the morning, and trade better in the later hours . . . so put your focus on the later hours.

 

I would suggest you really analyze your trades and make a chart comparing your morning and afternoon trades. What setups are you taking? How big are you winners and losers? What specific issues do you have? Do you revenge trade in the morning? Over Trade? Miss stops? Not trade setups . . . and compare all this to the later hour trades. Try to find the root cause of the difference and come back to share on this forum what you found and then we can look for solutions on why the morning is harder to trade for you. Maybe the solution is to trade in the later hours, or maybe it all boils down to one specific issue we can pinpoint and work on! Looking forward to hearing your thoughts.

 

Edited December 31, 2018 by WilliamH
typos