You do not need to watch all day
The market runs on US Eastern Time and follows US daylight-saving changes. Times below are shown in Eastern and converted to your own device timezone.
Pre-market — Prepare
Read overnight news, note unusual movers and mark the levels you care about. Liquidity is thin and spreads are wider than in regular hours.
Market open — React
Activity is typically at its highest. Observe what is changing — new Blue Pulses, volume acceleration, breakouts and failed breakouts.
Midday — Step away / observe
You do not need to watch the market every minute. Step away unless you have a specific reason to monitor a position.
Closing focus — Review
Traders often refer to the final hour as "power hour". That is a common term, not evidence that it is a better time to trade. Use it to review what happened today.
About "Power Hour"
The final hour of the regular session is commonly called "Power Hour" because volume often rises as the close approaches. It is a widely used piece of trading vocabulary, not a guaranteed opportunity: higher volume simply means more participants, in both directions, and the closing hour is also where late, rushed decisions tend to happen.
You're done for today
When your last window closes, close the platform. Review what happened, write one note, and stop. AlphaRadar watches the market so you don't have to watch every candle — being away from the screen is part of the process, not a missed opportunity.
Trading outside regular hours
Pre-market and after-hours sessions have fewer participants. Spreads are usually wider, orders can fill at prices well away from the last quote, and a move made on thin volume can disappear at the open.
- Lower liquidity — fewer buyers and sellers are available.
- Wider spreads — the gap between bid and ask is usually larger.
- Greater price fluctuation on smaller amounts of volume.
- Different order conditions — many brokers restrict order types outside regular hours.
- Not all securities trade, and those that do may behave very differently.
Educational information only. Time-of-day patterns are tendencies, not rules, and they do not indicate direction.