Most good charting software and trading platforms provided by a good broker or bank include the ability to plot daily bar charts where the daily bar “closes” at 5:00PM EST. This time is selected because it is coincident with the New York session “close” and the Sydney “open” which is a relatively quiet time in most markets until the Tokyo session begins at 7:00PM EST followed by the London (and Europe) session beginning at 3:00AM EST. We can then use these daily bar charts to develop trading strategies that require only the use of these charts without requiring intraday charts.

A good end-of-day trading method should be based on an evaluation of the market after the daily bar “closes” at 5:00PM EST for trade opportunities to be considered after the open of the next bar which occurs as of the first trade after 5:00PM EST. In actual practice, because the markets are relatively quiet during this time, trades for the new daily bar can be placed anywhere from 5:00PM to 7:00PM EST when the Tokyo session begins. Trading in this manner then requires only a few minutes each day at the same time without worrying about an open position if it is properly protected with stops and profit targets.