The growth of 24 hour electronic futures markets has been a boon. We can trade from wherever we like whenever we like.

There is a downside, though.

Many markets have lost the opening thrill. Gone is the stampede of traders getting through the turnstiles at opening time. All we see is steadily increasing volume as traders straggle to the office and fire up their computers.

Fortunately, there are holdouts. Take the grain futures. They trade gentleman's hours; 9:30am to 1:15pm in Chicago. (True, there is an electronic after-market, but it's lightly traded, and closes at 7:15am.)

For a grain trader, 9:30 is the most exhilarating time of day. The market opens in a flurry of hectic activity. Volume and price movement generally peak in the first few minutes of the trading session.

It is possible to make a perfectly good living trading just the first 30 minutes of grain market sessions.

Price surges in one direction, holds for a tantalizing few seconds, then continues onwards or chases off in the opposite direction.

The question is how to harness this excitement and ride it to a profit? There is a dearth of valuable information. We stare at our chart as the first candle forms, and wonder what to do, which way to jump, where to place stops and targets?

We can see the charts from previous days, we know the longer term trend and where the major support / resistance levels have been. We know yesterday's closing price.

If the long-term trend is up, maybe we want a pullback to a support level before placing a long trade.

If the market gaps up a few points above yesterday's close, we might expect a price dip to "fill the gap" before moving back up.

You might simply rely on the formation of high probability patterns on the price chart to provide a signal. That's what I do.

Battles at support and resistance levels tend to be mercifully short during the fast-moving open. Price might move quickly down to support, bounce, re-test, and decide. If support holds, the price pattern looks like a "W", and if it fails it looks more like a lightning bolt.

With the grains, whatever happens, you are unlikely to be kept waiting long!

Click here to see some interesting charts with a video of a typical opening session in a grains market.

David Bennett trades US commodity futures from his home on the Gold Coast in Australia. He provides coaching and mentoring services for people wanting to start trading for themselves. Visit http://www.12oclocktrades.com/ to read more futures trading articles.

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