Been having a difficult time making it behind the screens in the early morning, specifically when I like to start trading at 5 AM PST my time.
Sometimes of late I haven't been at the desk until close to 7 AM PST. Some of this is being up for Europe opens (especially London) and then having to be up again sometimes 2 -3 hours later. I think burning the candle at both ends for so long may finally be taking it's toll on me.
I tried to combat this by limiting my night time (my time) trading and choosing to focus only on the morning. But what has been happening is I haven't been positioning like normal around London open and I am missing those runners that come from the originating moves that happen around London open.
In tune as I'm so used to being up at night, even though I'm not trading, I am still not sleeping normally and this is making it even harder to get up in the morning (in the back of my mind knowing I'm not positioned).
I have always had an internal clock that ticked right along with the markets and it has never been a problem being behind the screens when the market was moving but lately I am losing the desire to get up. I wake up and my body says "no thanks" and I want to sleep longer :)
This is new for me because normally I am raring to go if the market is open.
I'm not sure what to do about it and I'm asking you for suggestions.
The reason I titled this email "15 hours" is because I decided for this coming week I would commit to being behind the screens from 6 - 9 AM PST Mon - Fri which is 15 hours. I am sure there will be enough moves during that time to capture some great trades and make it a great week. I am going to set an actual alarm (for the first time in many years) and be at the desk ready to execute at 6 AM PST.
I may trade Europe and pre-Europe this week as well if I am up at night. Why limit opportunity?
Going forward I'm not sure what to do. With the dominant trade increasingly taking place in Europe I don't know that I want to give that up. And I am certain I can't go on much longer with 2 - 3 hours of sleep at a time.
So fellow traders I am asking for your input and help. Surely I am not the first trader to experience this :)
What should I do?
Put your suggestions in the comments below!
2 comments:
I had a rough time with this myself and finally had to surrender Europe. I had a hard time being there during family hours and being up from 2am & trading to 3pm was kicking my butt. I was putting on weight & getting sick. Did not want to relocate to London. It has primarily cost me in the euro. I use US open to catch pullbacks into moves that start in London and still making plenty of $$. I have considered trading in London during summer. Just not willing to yank kids out of school...yet.Still, hurts to see easily bankable moves in EURO and gold along with Crude slip away. Health and family over dollars is what it came down to . Hope that helps.
P.S. On occasion when I get a set up off a hourly or four hour setup I will leave a limit and stop in place and wake up to a nice payday. Primarily in euro.
Simon, Trade N Perform
Ever thought of having a partner in Europe that u would train to use your method and that could take care of the night shift (your time) for u? Maybe I'm out on a limb here, so please disregard this comment if it doesn't make any sense to u
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