Day Only verses 24 hour contracts
Posted: Fri Nov 19, 2004 2:18 pm
Hello,
Many futures markets have both day only contracts and 24 hour contracts. In backtesting and live trading, is it better to select one over the other? I checked several markets and found that the main difference is that the volume of day only contracts was less then their 24 hour traded counterparts and the openings varied somewhat (due to opening gaps), but everything else seemed almost identical. Since I code my systems to open positions based on the previous days' high/low instead of opening them based on the price of the open the next day, a 24 hour traded contract would seem a good choice. But I'm wondering why a popular website offering trading systems states they use day only contracts when available? Is there some advantage to day only contracts I'm overlooking?
Thanks,
Coffee
Many futures markets have both day only contracts and 24 hour contracts. In backtesting and live trading, is it better to select one over the other? I checked several markets and found that the main difference is that the volume of day only contracts was less then their 24 hour traded counterparts and the openings varied somewhat (due to opening gaps), but everything else seemed almost identical. Since I code my systems to open positions based on the previous days' high/low instead of opening them based on the price of the open the next day, a 24 hour traded contract would seem a good choice. But I'm wondering why a popular website offering trading systems states they use day only contracts when available? Is there some advantage to day only contracts I'm overlooking?
Thanks,
Coffee