This is a common mistake people make. They think that because the US is the stock market and economic capital of the world, so it is with forex. Not so. That is why there is a higher concentration of American banks with trading floors in London than anywhere else in the world.



What it also means, to the trader is that it is far more likely you will see moves worthy of your attention during UK business hours than at any other time in the day. These times are approximately 8 am to 6 pm UK time give or take 1 hour on either side.

Strictly speaking, the UK business hours are 9-5 GMT (sometimes plus or minus one hour due to the UK clock changes twice per year).

Of course, one of the attractive things about forex is that it is a 24 hour market. Starting at sunrise in Australia and going round the world, "the forex never sleeps"

You can place a trade at any time. But the best time to trade is during UK business hours. Period. Obviously, newstime is very important and this tends to be around the start of the US open generally speaking (that's not the golf tournament - it means when the US trading hours begin at 8a.m. EST).

It's nearly impossible for economists and commentators to predict newstime annnouncements, and also, whilst generally speaking, the more market moving, US announcements are not always the only announcements in the day.

So, it can be best to be out of trading during the particularly important announcements. This means there are 2 times to trade in a day recommended by this article - in the UK morning before the US news. And after the US news.

Of course the US day finishes after the UK day, and this will be marked by a slowing down of volume and movement after the close of the UK session normally.

Forex is an exciting, interesting field of study. We have touched times to trade and the idea of fundamentals being important too in this article. The missing ingredient is technical analysis. It's great to be able to know the major announcements, when, what, why and where.

But it is also useful to be able to apply mathematical analysis to the current market, sometimes based on what has happened before. Luckily, traders have gone before us who provide the neccessary "formulas" and it's not so much a case of needing ot be a mathematical genius as to learn how to use the indicators for your technical system

Basic analysis such as working out the trend in the short, medium and long terms and levels for retracement and correction are all important in the author's opinion. Such analysis is outside the scope of this article. And it is highly recommended you take a course or join a coaching program such as outlined below.