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What open/close times are used to calculate DAX and NQ pivot points
Hey guys. I'm a forex trader but have been dipping in and out of the DAX for the last 6 months. I also like the look of the NQ so may visit it from time to time.
My question is, what are the most common open and close times used to calculate pivot points for these instruments.
Cheers in advance
Can you help answer these questions from other members on NexusFi?
Because the settlement time for the US equity indexes is 3.15pm CT.
But Jim Dalton called it the "overrun" and his Market Profile chart finished at 3pm with the stock market close as the futures volume dies after 3pm anyway so it makes little difference. I think with value areas and POC based on TPO Market Profile rather than volume profile it can makes sense to only count the bars that are important for the session rather than include a very low volume bar at the end of the day which could move the session POC or value area position due to the bar count.
You do not win as a trader, you just get to play again the next day. If that game doesn’t appeal to you then you should not trade. Gary Norden
The original "floor pivots" were used by pit traders on the trading floor and depended on the trading hours at that time, which are now essentially what are called the RTH (regular trading hours). At least for the US equity futures, they are also the most active in terms of volume, which reflects the highest level of trader participation. You are right about the NYSE hours, but the RTH close is 15 minutes later in equity futures (and the volume dies in those 15 minutes.)
However, the pits are no more, and there is trading activity outside of RTH anyway, so many traders will now base their pivots on the full "Globex" hours ("ETH"), which begin at 1700 CT and stretch to 1600 CT for US equities.
I have also seen traders mark their charts with both the ETH and RTH pivots.
One argument you sometimes see is that one or the other of these are the levels that "most" traders look at, and therefore that this is what you should use, because it's what most other traders are going to act on. (But how does anyone really know what "most" traders look at? )
All this can get pretty confusing if you're looking for the "right" answer, since a case can be made for any and all of them.
Personally, I have found either to work sometimes, and have generally gone for the ETH option just because it appeals to me more as reflecting the entire trading period. Eventually I decided to take them off entirely -- not because they didn't work, but just because I had so many lines on my chart, from these and other indicators, that I couldn't decide what to do. So there's an answer: use either, or both, or none.
A better answer would be to try one or the other, or both, on your charts and see how they work out, as a part of your own trading approach. For whatever reason, either will sometimes work quite well, but your mileage may vary, probably depending on everything else you are looking at.
Bob.
When one door closes, another opens.
-- Cervantes, Don Quixote