I started to trade the 4 hour chart of the e-mini, only entering at the end of a bar. I suppose the most logical starting time would be 9am EST, when the stock market opens so the bars would close on 9, 1, 5 am/pm. However, because of my own schedule, I would be more avaiable to check the chart and the closing price of the bar if it went from 10-2, 2-6, 6-10 EST instead. Does the starting time of the 4 hour chart make a significant difference? Or do you think its mostly arbitary and that chart patterns would be present regardless (so it would not matter if it starts at 9, 10, 11 or 12?)
Which platform are you using? I know that the starting time on the 4 hour chart is different for ThinkorSwim vs. TradeStation.
I mean I can set the starting time on my 4 hour chart to when I want to. I am sure any decent platform will allow you to change the setting on this.
I suggest having the 4 hour bar start at the 930 est am open. This way you are in line with the cash open.
What platform do you use? Anyone know how do you change the starting time on ThinkOrSwim or TradeStation?
I agree but is it worth missing out more bars? If I set it to some different time than 930 EST then I'll be available more frequently when the bar closes.
But you also have to consider that while 9:30 is the open for the stock market, the futures markets are trading on a different schedule so I'm not sure that a 9:30 bar for futures charts is as valuable as you might think.