Sometimes, when running a service like PMTW Forex Signals, it is necessary to make changes and adjustments to improve the service. After some conversations with current subscribers, and some serious thinking on the issue, I’ve come to the conclusion that changing the trading time would improve the service.
PMTW Forex Signals are now sent to subscribers' Inboxes between 6 PM and 6:20 PM New York time (instead of 5 PM). This change allows everyone to enter the market at similar prices and improves the accuracy of following the signals.
Let’s explore this issue in a little more depth…
What Is End Of Day Trading?
Here at Put Money To Work, we provide Forex and Crypto Signals on an “end of day” basis. Since we are trading off the Daily charts, we are making our decision on the close of one daily candle and the open of the new candle. This occurs at the end of day for the broker… which is usually 5 PM New York Time.
End of day trading has many benefits…
-Only have to look at the charts once a day
-Low time commitment
-Stronger setups
-Less stress
-No reason for missed trades
-No reason for mismanaged trades
-Signal’s followers can follow the signals properly
End of day trading makes sense from a trading standpoint as well as from a signal service standpoint. I can trade my strategies properly, and signals followers can follow the signals properly. This means we can get very similar results… which is the whole point.
Why Not Place The Trades At 5 PM New York Time
So, if we are trading at the end of day and making our trading decisions around 5 PM New York Time… why not just place the trades at that time?
The answer is simple… SPREAD.
Broker spread is the difference between the bid and ask price of the trade. Basically, it is how much you pay the broker to place the trade.
At the change of day, 5 PM New York Time on most brokers, the spread tends to widen. And on some currency pairs, it widens A LOT. This means it is more costly for you as a trader to place the trade.
So, if we just go ahead and place our trade around 5 PM New York time, our trading costs are going to be higher. And that is not a very efficient way to trade.
Therefore, it is recommended to wait until the spread returns to a “normal” range before placing the trade.
How Was “PMTW Forex Signals” Run Before?
This year, I’ve started providing the signals as “snapshots” of my charts with the trading instructions written directly on the charts. Here is an example…
Previously, due to the spread widening issue, I would take trades around 4:45 PM New York time, BEFORE the spread widens. This would allow me to get the trade on the chart with the proper levels so subscribers could see exactly what is happening on my live account.
The subscriber would then receive the signal's email between 5 PM and 5:20 PM New York Time. They would have to wait for the spread to return to normal levels, then place the trade.
Unfortunately, this could result in my entry price and the entry price of the subscriber being different enough to cause concern.
The truth is, there is not that much market movement around this time, so I wouldn’t say this was a HUGE problem. But I want the service to be the best it can be… so I thought a change was in order.
Sunday Trading Was Another Factor
On the broker platform, the open of the market happens around 5 PM New York Time on Sunday. Technically, this is Monday trading on the platform, but occurs on Sunday for me.
Since the Market was closed, this means I could not place trades earlier and get the levels on the charts. I too would have to wait until the spread normalized in order to take the trade.
Therefore, if there were trades to be placed on Sunday, I would have to send out an email telling subscribers what I was going to do… and then update the snapshots later when the action was completed.
So, that was a little glitch I didn’t like.
It is my sincere desire to provide signals that can actually be traded in real life and that can closely match my performance. End of day trading goes a long way to achieving this (compared to other services where signals come out any time day or night).
But I believe changing the trading time to between 6 PM and 6:20 PM New York Time improves the trading even more.
Now I place the trades close to 6 PM, once the spread is back to normal levels. Then I send out the signal’s email between 6 PM and 6:20 PM New York Time. Subscribers can then place the trades IMMEDIATELY because there is no spread issue.
The result is we can all get into the market at closer price levels, which means the trades I’m taking and the trades the subscribers are taking are very similar… which is the point.
As an added benefit, this takes care of the Sunday issue as well.
NOTE: I still provide PMTW Crypto Signals between 5 PM and 5:20 PM New York Time because it does not share the same spread or Sunday issues.
As you can see, I’m always looking for ways to improve the service even more.
To Your Wealth,
Edward Lomax
