Trading Schedule

Schedule for a Typical Forex Day Trader

Let's have a look what a trading day schedule might look like for a typical forex day or swing trader.

Trading Day Starts at London or Frankfurt Open

On average we see 1-3 Setups per session. Some people don’t like the Frankfurt Open, others trade it differently. I prefer the London session but will trade a good Setup when Frankfurt opens, if I happen to be up and at my trading desk. My plan for 2022 was to Start Trading from Frankfurt Open and take a break during the window of 11am to 1pm (GMT). I also trade the US session from the NY Open (NEO) for about an hour or so. Sometimes I also come back to trade in the last 1hr of the US market close.

Traders in the US: Trading the London Session might not be an easy task and you do not necessarily have to trade this session. Just the NY session or a bit of Tokyo Session would do the trick. I have a few US-based AIMSter friends who trade the first two hours of the London Session and then get a few hours sleep before they’re up again for the US session, but honestly my suggestion would be to trade the NY Morning session and forget about it.

Break Time

Our game requires concentration and we need to make sure we create an environment that is conducive to a mental state that we call “Focused Relaxation”. People often lose focus after concentrating hard for couple of hours and, as such, it is very important to take regular breaks.

You may quit trading if the market moves considerably (say 100 to 150 pips) early in the London session as the price will likely consolidate (go sideways in small range) for a while. You might also take a break if, after a couple of hours into session open, nothing happens – returning for the opening of the next session. But also keep in mind, the markets don’t wait for you, so we must accept that and try not to get frustrated when we see the market moved right when we left the screen. Its ok, just say NEXT and move on.

You should ideally have about 1-2 hr non-trading activity in between trading session, to ‘chillax’ and regain focus. That is the ideal time for me to hit the gym. Everyday, at 11.00 I hit the gym Monday to Friday.

Start again at the New York Open

The New York open is similar to the London Open. There are some weeks that we see higher volatility in the New York session and some during the London Session, yet there are days when both sessions provide very good trading opportunities. The choice of session to trade is yours.

Traders in the US: You may want to take a break after London Close and come back for Tokyo Open. But as I said above, if I were you,  I would just trade the morning session and forget about the rest. (I say that but when I look back the last 10 years, I've never deliberately missed the US session.).

The Tokyo session may be a bit slow comparatively but still it produces Setups on a regular basis. One of our good friends, TMBABS shared a payout of $15,000. He says that he trades the NASDAQ 100 index on a 1 minute chart during the Tokyo session. He works for a prop firm and makes good living off his $250,000 account.

You may constantly find very good Setups on M5 and M1 during Tokyo Open. Volatility is usually lower than other sessions but the low volatility helps reduce the size of the AIMS Boxes, which then helps reduce risk further. E.g. AIMS Boxes might allow for a 5-7 pip stop loss, making it easier to hit the 1:1 or 1:2 trades. According to TMBABS the low volatility helps with smoother chart in case of US indices.