Understanding Sessions - US Index Futures
Market Sessions are not commonly understood. Let's use ES Futures as an example (concept applies for all assets in every market).
What you see is an automated tool that I call 'The Session Maker'. It's all about providing in the moment context when trading, but it the principles and concepts are valuable when used on any timeframe. Below I briefly explain Sessions, why we often haven't learned what they are or how to use them, and what we can do about it.
Most of the time we hear about the importance of the "Close" of the day's session and that level is what most see or reference on their charts, or CNBC, or social media, etc.
The reality is, the OPEN of a Session carries more weight than the Close. And before you say "but the Close of one session and Open of the next are often identical" - think again. Plus it's not just the level, it's the way we perceive it, and perception is everything in this game.
By definition if we look at the Close of the previous session, we're focusing on what has already happened and basing our analysis on increasingly older data.
Using the OPEN as our guide for the current session, we're bringing our attention as close as possible to the "here and now". We're actually assessing the "type" of market participants involved right in this moment. Plus by doing so, we're able to recognize there are many concurrent sessions happening each moment.
Timeframes like Today's Session, the Weekly Session, the MONTH, the QUARTER, the YEAR.
To smaller timeframes like 2 hour, 15 minute, 5 minute, etc.
I encourage you to take a moment, look at the Opens on any timeframe you prefer, and notice HOW the candle or bar is formed. How is the wick created and when? Put it in context of the current trend on a larger timeframe.
For example, in an auction move higher, do they consistently sell the open of each 15 minute session, but not break below the previous 15 minute session Opens? Consistently giving small pullback backs but auctioning higher? WHERE did the move slow and/or stop? Was it an "untouched" or "unvisited" Open from a previous Day or Week or much larger timeframe, such as the Quarter?
When we start to put it all together, we get more context for which Sessions carry more weight, which one's we want to be participating in, and most of all refine our entries and exits not based on Moving Averages or other squiggly lines... just price and orderflow.
Happy to discuss any questions or thoughts in the comments and plan to provide future posts with examples of how this automated tool can help provide quality data for better decision making.
**For anyone who can answer the below question correctly - I'll shoot you over a custom link with this tool that you can copy into TradingView**
What is the actual Daily Open for US Index Futures we should all be aware of?
Is it: (all times Eastern)
6pm? 8:30am? 9:30am? 9:28am?
What you see is an automated tool that I call 'The Session Maker'. It's all about providing in the moment context when trading, but it the principles and concepts are valuable when used on any timeframe. Below I briefly explain Sessions, why we often haven't learned what they are or how to use them, and what we can do about it.
Most of the time we hear about the importance of the "Close" of the day's session and that level is what most see or reference on their charts, or CNBC, or social media, etc.
The reality is, the OPEN of a Session carries more weight than the Close. And before you say "but the Close of one session and Open of the next are often identical" - think again. Plus it's not just the level, it's the way we perceive it, and perception is everything in this game.
By definition if we look at the Close of the previous session, we're focusing on what has already happened and basing our analysis on increasingly older data.
Using the OPEN as our guide for the current session, we're bringing our attention as close as possible to the "here and now". We're actually assessing the "type" of market participants involved right in this moment. Plus by doing so, we're able to recognize there are many concurrent sessions happening each moment.
Timeframes like Today's Session, the Weekly Session, the MONTH, the QUARTER, the YEAR.
To smaller timeframes like 2 hour, 15 minute, 5 minute, etc.
I encourage you to take a moment, look at the Opens on any timeframe you prefer, and notice HOW the candle or bar is formed. How is the wick created and when? Put it in context of the current trend on a larger timeframe.
For example, in an auction move higher, do they consistently sell the open of each 15 minute session, but not break below the previous 15 minute session Opens? Consistently giving small pullback backs but auctioning higher? WHERE did the move slow and/or stop? Was it an "untouched" or "unvisited" Open from a previous Day or Week or much larger timeframe, such as the Quarter?
When we start to put it all together, we get more context for which Sessions carry more weight, which one's we want to be participating in, and most of all refine our entries and exits not based on Moving Averages or other squiggly lines... just price and orderflow.
Happy to discuss any questions or thoughts in the comments and plan to provide future posts with examples of how this automated tool can help provide quality data for better decision making.
**For anyone who can answer the below question correctly - I'll shoot you over a custom link with this tool that you can copy into TradingView**
What is the actual Daily Open for US Index Futures we should all be aware of?
Is it: (all times Eastern)
6pm? 8:30am? 9:30am? 9:28am?
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