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- Intermediate
- Advanced
- Completion
Related terms
7:00pm-4:00am EST. During this session, price tends to consolidate. Certain currencies such as the JPY, AUD, and NZD tend to move during this time.
Two currencies paired against one another to make up an exchange rate. The first pair listed is called the base and the second pair is called the quote. In the currency pair GBP/USD the base is GBP and the quote is USD. When paired, it will show how much the quote currency needs to purchase one unit of the base currency.
Short for Foreign Exchange which is exchanging one currency for another. Forex trading is the purchase of one currency and selling of another simultaneously for profit
How fast something can be bought & sold for and how fast it can be converted into cash. A liquid market is a calculation of how many buyers and sellers are in the market actively placing trades. The more trades that are being taken, the higher the liquidity is in the market.
Open and close at 3:00am – 12:00pm EST. Majority of all trades are carried out during this session as it is the most volatile session, and London is considered the capital of Forex.. Most liquidity appears when this session overlaps with the New York session from 8am-12pm EST.
The second most volatile session which begins at 8am and ends at 5pm EST. Since the US Dollar makes up 85% of all Forex transactions, most pairs tend to be volatile during this session due to the fundamental news releasing surrounding the Dollar.
Also known as Asian Session which occurs during the hours of 7pm and 4am EST.
A market giving a high volume of trade opportunities.
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BeginnerEarly Stages for Beginners8 Topics
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Forex Terminology11 Topics
- Major and Minor Currency Pairs
- Basic Forex Terminology
- Pips & Ticks
- The Broker & The Spread
- What is a Lot?
- Stop Loss & Take Profit
- Margin & Leverage
- Retracement & Reversal
- When Can I Trade Forex? Sessions - Market Open and Close
- 3 Types of Analysis (Technical, Fundamental, Sentiment)
- 3 Ways a Market Can Go (Up, Down, Sideways)
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Margin & Leverage2 Topics
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IntermediateIdentifying Scams2 Topics
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Brokers for Beginners5 Topics
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Technical Analysis13 Topics
- Types of Charts
- Understanding Japanese Candlesticks
- Candlestick Patterns For Beginners
- Single, Double & Triple Candlestick Patterns
- Support and Resistance
- Confluences w/ Candlesticks & Support & Resistance
- Trendlines
- Counter Trend Trading/ Counter Trend Lines
- Fibonacci
- Moving Average
- Top-Down Analysis
- Fakeouts
- Consolidation Trading (Breakout, Retest, Continuation)
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AdvancedUsing Indicators6 Topics
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Technical Analysis (Part 2)8 Topics
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Market Structure5 Topics
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Fundamental Analysis9 Topics
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CompletionRisk Management for Beginners8 Topics
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Psychology for Beginners7 Topics
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Personal Psychology Questions2 Topics
When Can I Trade Forex? Sessions - Market Open and Close
Starting your Forex journey can be very exciting, and I bet you’re eager to jump right in! Before you can even choose the pairs you want to work with, it’s important to know how and when the market operates. Some pairs move at certain times, while others move at other times. Luckily for you, the Forex market is flexible with its availability of trading 24 hours a day, 5 days a week! So it doesn’t necessarily matter what time you want to trade. YOU DECIDE THAT. The only thing that matters is determining how to correspond time and currency pairs because as we’re going to show you below, you can’t necessarily trade EUR/USD at 6pm, because that is when the Asian Session is active and EUR/USD are not “Asian Session” pairs.
his is why choosing the pairs that have a greater reaction during the time you’re up is KEY. That being said, it’s not like you need to keep your eyes glued to your screen while that session is active. Maybe you do as a beginner, but as you gain more experience, you’ll come to realize that’s not the case! Being awake during your trading session is important, so when your alerts go off, you’re able to hop on the charts quickly and determine whether or not you want to enter a trade.
Let’s take a look at the three major sessions we like to call London, New York, and Asian. The Sydney session is not nearly as volatile as the others, which is why we won’t focus too much on it.
London Session
3am – 11am EST
The most liquid session out of all the sessions is London. London is the capital of Forex! You can expect a LOT of liquidity during this session because it’s the most volatile. Most of the Forex transactions are conducted during this session. Pairs containing GBP, EUR, and USD are expected to move heavily during this session!
New York
8am – 5pm EST
The New York Sessions are the second most volatile session in which you can trade and represent the US. Even though the London Session is the most liquid, don’t forget that close to 85% of all transactions involve the US Dollar, and the US Dollar is most volatile during the NY Session. Most of the news regarding the US Dollars (fundamental announcements) will be announced during this session, so make sure to pay attention! The market tends to get dead towards the end of the New York Session because banks, corporations and others in the workplace are locking in their profits/losses and going home.
OVERLAP: As you see, the first few hours of the New York Session and the London Session are still going on. This is considered to be the most ACTIVE the Forex market will get. Combining the two most liquid sessions together will allow for many trading opportunities to be presented as the market is moving. Think of it as regular work. You go to work around 8 or 9am, you work a few hours, take a break, and then finish out the work day, but you and your coworkers energy gets lower as the day comes to an end. That is the exact same thing that happens with the New York Session (but not necessarily the London Session because the New York Session is directly in it, whereas the Asian session starts after the NY session closes).
Traders during the London Session work for a few hours, take a break, and then come back when the New York Session starts to finish out their day, whereas the New York Session is just starting their day.
Asian
7pm – 4am EST
Although this is the session that is considered the “slowest,” it still can provide some great trading opportunities. Countries such as Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and China will have news releases during this session! Knowing that the Japanese Yen is one of the most traded currencies alongside the US Dollar and the Euro, there’s always an opportunity to trade when it comes to a 24/5 market! Liquidity may be low throughout this session, so make sure you pay attention to any fundamental announcements that may push price.
OVERLAP: Also understand that there is an overlap with the Tokyo/Asian session and the London session. It’s not as volatile as the New York – London overlap, but an overlap in sessions is always good in the Forex market. Pairs such as the Euro, Australia, and Great Britain currencies tend to move during this time.
NOTE: There is such a thing as a Sydney Session, but it’s not regarded as a REAL session by Forex traders. Only New York, London, and Tokyo are respected as trading sessions.
Just so you know, the Sydney session is open from 5pm – 2am EST.
Sydney
5pm – 2am EST