Orders and the clock

The trading day

Asia, Europe, and the United States are not three markets. They are three shifts of the same one.

Lesson 3 of 4 • 10 min

A world clock beside a trading screen — Example. The same chart at 03:00 shows a 6-pip spread. At 15:00, when Europe and the United States overlap, the spread is 1 pip. Study the hour you will actually use.

Study material only. It is not a signal to buy or sell. AcademyTrade is education. It is not a broker, not investment advice, and not a promise that you will make money. Trading can lose the money you deposit.

Prices in the large markets are quoted around the clock on business days, but the number of people changes. A quiet hour often means a wider spread and jumps on small orders. A busy overlap, when Europe and the United States are both at their desks, often means a tighter spread and more trades.

The clock is part of the lesson. A pattern you noticed at 3 in the morning may not exist at the hour you will actually sit down. Write the session next to every practice note: Asia, Europe, the US overlap, or the close.

Scheduled news sits on that same clock. In the minute a report is released, spreads often widen and a stop can fill worse than you planned. If you have not written a plan for that release, you do not trade the minute it hits. You watch, and you write down what the spread did.

Pick one session and learn it. Mastery does not start by watching every hour.

Note the session on every chart you save.
Compare the spread in your session with the spread in a quiet hour.
Treat the news minute as a different market until you have a written plan for it.