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Do you think it is worth it to move to different time zone for day-trading?
It is not stupid, but if I were you and decided to move, I would move 2 time zones instead of just one. Even in 1 timezone the sun raise can have up to 1 hour differences, depending on which side of the time zone you are, and 7:30 can be easily mostly still dark during the winter. So why not push out your awakenings by another hour?
So since I assume you are rural in Idaho, thus Indiana, Ohio or Kentucky could be good choice for you and you would get the benefits of the Eastern time zone. Not to mention if you choose to do so, the European markets can be traded much easier from there... Also the cost of living rural in those states are rather cheap...
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There is 50 minutes difference between the sunrise in NYC and Indianapolis (local times) although they are in the same timezone.
Keeping this in mind you can still move just 1 time zone, but move to the Eastern part of the timezone to get the most advantage of early sunrise... That would be Illinois, TN, etc Moving to eastern Illinois gives you a sunrise 1 hour 40 minutes earlier than in Idaho (both local times) although the time zone difference is only 1 hour.
Except the difference between moving the table and changing location for trading is that there is no real benefit to moving the table, the dining experience will be the same and the lamb will be just as easy to cut, but changing time zones means you can wake up later and sleep later. Which is particularly important if you aren't a morning person. Groggy trading = less profits. And as mattz said "there are many physiological aspects that are associated with lack of sun light.
Some of them are depression, mood swings, and could even affect your heart." Its not lazy its logical.
Understanding yourself is just as important as understanding markets.
Having had to trade european open while living in the states. Trading at 2 am central time. I completely understand your situation. Moving can be a solution because it is only and hour or 2. But when you are trading in the darkness of night getting full spectrum day light bulbs for all my lights really helped. Blue light is really important to wake up as it decreases melatonin and makes you more alert.
Also i would take a break at a bit after sunrise to actually absorb some true sunlight and get some of the morning air.
I found my routine which made trading actually possible and i did not have as many problems as before. Also i did some morning stretching as well to get the blood flowing.
Mate, I am in front of my computer at 5 am Aest every morning to catch the final couple of hours on the SP500 and to prepare for the day, learn to love the sunrise.
Pretty high on the list.
Time is not a valid reason IMO.
Move because you want to be somewhere else.
Look at the area, what you want to do when you are not trading.
Think about the future and how happy you will be in the new location.
For me, moving to the beach sounds like a plan no matter the timezone.
If you are worried about getting up early to trade, perhaps your trading is not that important to you.
The things I love to do I would do no matter the time of day.
But if getting up early is your thing, why not move to Bangkok.
When the market opens it will be 8:30 PM.
You can sleep all day or enjoy the sunlight then trade in the evening.
(but I think all of this is not the real issue)
Rejoice in the Thunderstorms of Life . . .
Knowing it's not about Clouds or Wind. . .
But Learning to Dance in the Rain ! ! !
First of all I don't understand the negative and nasty comments to your legitimate question. I feel your pain because I live in the Pacific Time Zone and when I was trading futures I had to get up no later than 5 am to start preparing. I already have insomnia and so like you, I made bad decisions due to poor sleep and as you know, bad decisions = losing money I was also getting depressed. The importance of sleep is underestimated.
I do think moving one time zone over would help, although two time zones over would be even better. I now use a method where I don't have to trade the first hour. I can't tell you what a big difference it makes. That being said, if you can move, why don't you move to Europe? My friends who are overseas trade futures in the European session and it's so much easier. Just like in fx, things trend more in the overnight session. All those initial balance and pit close trade setups work amazingly well overnight.
In my case I cannot move because I enjoy being on the west coast, I have friends and different attachments here. I got away from daytrading futures. I now swing trade options. I don't have to wake up early, I don't even have to trade every day. I trade directionally and hold from a few days to a few weeks.
I do see that sometimes there are moves in the index later in NY, maybe you should be looking for those kinds of opportunities as well.
I think you have it backwards. This gives you an advantage, and I would even encourage you to try trading treasuries which start an hour earlier. You can trade the first two hours of the session, and be done when most people are just eating breakfast. Which means you can still maintain a regular job, and have all of the financial freedom you need to focus on trading.
