Chasing the Nikkei on the open - rookie mistake
Back in the day, I learned a hard lesson about chasing the Nikkei open. The Asian session, particularly for $NKD, can be incredibly volatile in the first hour. I remember seeing a strong overnight move on the futures, thinking I could just hop on that momentum. Instead of waiting for some consolidation or a clear technical setup, I piled in right at the open, convinced it was going to gap-and-go. The market did the exact opposite, consolidating then reversing hard, taking out my stop quicker than I could blink. It wasn't the biggest loss, but it was a clear demonstration that even with a strong bias, market entry timing is everything, especially on these volatile opens. It taught me to wait for the dust to settle, let the initial institutional noise play out, and then look for setups. Patience is paramount, particularly when dealing with the Asian open and its inherent illiquidity compared to later sessions.
That's a classic trap, and not just for rookies. The allure of chasing momentum right at the open is strong, especially after a big overnight move. It's tough to resist the FOMO when it feels like the market is running away from you. What strategies have you found effective since then for managing those early session moves?