Soybean sell-off at the end!

There is almost always a reversal in soybeans at the end of the day as traders take their profits. Many people, including me, don't like to carry trades over the weekend. Many others are day-traders, and liquidate all trades before the close of the day's market session. I like to use this as a way to make additional profits. Thus, I usually execute my last trades between 12:00-12:05 MDT (my local time zone in the Salt Lake City vicinity).

Today, the market began its sell-off about 17 minutes before the market close. That's when I made my last trade. This is prime trading time, since market moves at this time are almost always very smooth and uni-directional. These are some of my best and most reliable trades, too. This is also a time when large funds and hedgers must liquidate quickly to take their profits, so small traders like me can use this to our advantage. I take advantage of these opportunities, closing out my last trades only 2-3 minutes before the session ends at 2:15 EDT. The pictured trade was worth almost $200 per contract, and occurred in only 15 minutes. Just look at how clean that trade was!

I might add, however, that I have NOT found that the market open is equally profitable. The market often moves so rapidly and erratically that it is difficult to trade profitably. I usually wait 5-10 minutes into the trading session before placing my first trade. This is not always the case, but is a general rule for me.

Evening trading can also be profitable between 7:30 - 9:30 pm EST. I ONLY trade using tick charts during these hours. Unfortunately, however, spreads also widen; the bid/ask spread is usually 2-3 ticks during these hours, so they can entail higher risk as well.