When’s your favorite time to trade?

Take a Look at the Most Popular Trade Times!

Every trader and investor in the world has asked themselves the question: when is the best time for me to trade?

Sure, the globalization of the financial marketplace means that you can invest in some markets (currencies, commodities, indices etc.) round the clock, however there are still times when the markets are fast paced, and other times when they barely budge. Add to that the fact that most people can’t spend all day staring in anticipation of market movements, and you’ve got a real dilemma on your hands.

To help solve this universal investors’ dilemma, we’ve turned to the Wisdom of the Crowd and asked investors across the eToro social investment network to tell us what their favorite time to trade is, and why?

The results are as follows:

(The participants’ answers were adjusted according to their timezone)

As you can see, a majority of our survey participants like to concentrate on their trading activity in the first part of the day (6AM to 15PM), with almost a quarter preferring to trade in the early afternoon (12:00PM to 15PM).

We also asked the traders why they prefered to trade when they did, and the answers were as follows:

Not surprisingly the majority of the survey participants indicated market volatility or personal availability as their main reason for choosing their prefered trading time. However, the story is not completely one sided. Over 10% of the traders actually prefered to trade in a calm market with less erratic price movement and more defined trends.

In addition over 14% cited their ability to focus and think rationally as the number one reason for trading when they do, which in my opinion, is the best reason to make any kind of trading decision.

So what now? Do you have to follow the wisdom of the crowd? Of course not, every trader must decide for themselves what their prefered trading time is, but you can use the data above to figure which trading time will suit your particular style. Are you most focused in the morning and prefer aggressive trading? Perhaps late morning-early afternoon is the best time for you to trade. Are you a night owl who prefers a calmer market? In that case, the late evening into early nighttime may be a more suitable for you.

Remember, it’s up to you!