Amateurs Open, Professionals Close

[Don Bright]

Quote from Moa:

Does the 'professionals' (funds and institutions) use MOO an MOC orders?
I dont think it because market orders seems no 'professional' and involve too much price risk. So who uses MOO and MOC orders?

I ask this question because I'm trading my own strategy using this type of orders and I've noticed than volumes on the open and the close quotation (NYSE) seems very irregular, so I dont know when I'll generate hidden 'slippage' on this quotes by the size of my order (for example 10,000 shares of AMD on MOO/MOC).

Thanks for any enlighten and good trades to all.

Funds use MOC orders daily.

Don

 

[gms]

The way I've always understood that to mean was not about playing the open, it was that the open until conciliation reflects the behavior and opinion largely of the "crowd": retail investors who placed a trade before going to work, or last night, and the majority of these types of traders around the world while the market was closed, whereas the time period before closing reflects moreso the behavior and opinions of the pro traders and institutions, either going flat on the day or making a decision one way or the other to hold or not.

 

[Samsara]

Quote from Cheese:

There is a lot to know and understand about the behaviour of a market at the Open and at the Close. This is topic of rich interest, undoubtedly.

It is intriguing when it is said 'Amateurs play the Open; professionals play the Close.' Presumably amateur means individual traders, prop or independent, and assorted others? Presumably professional means the funds and institutions?

By Open I mean the first hour and half and by Close, I mean the last hour and half of the market. Take the Dow, most often the day high or day low can be captured in the first hour and half .. not always just mostly.

Perhaps I should give an example with my own focus. I have my own system for scooping out the difference between the hi/lo or lo/hi pattern of the day. So my focus is on the Open period and I just use the rest of the market day to work out my system each day. I only need or want to day trade so thats what I do; also my targeting is on the maximum each market day gives and in my case the instrument is the DOW.

Is it true therefore that 'Amateurs play the Open; professionals play the Close.'? Do you prefer the Open to the Close or vice versa?

Well to answer your question, Cheese, I trade both. Triggers occur as swings through points of balance or from initially unbalanced conditions which typically occur at the beginning of the day.

 

[forsalenyc]

It's generally regarded that opening provides more volatility trades while closing provides more volume trades.