Should you include pre-market and post-market data in your day trading charts? In this post, we will talk about the pros and cons of using extended hours data and learn how pre-market data affects pivot levels, wave counts, and trade setups — plus why looking at charts without it can help you spot important market gaps.
Hope you enjoy it!
Was this post/video on Should You Use Pre-Market Data for Day Trading? helpful to you? Leave a message in the COMMENTS section at the bottom of this page.
PLEASE “PAY IT FORWARD” BY SHARING THIS VIDEO & ARTICLE ON FACEBOOK OR TWITTER by clicking one of the social media share buttons.
Should You Use Pre-Market Data for Day Trading? – Video
Hey traders, Barry Burns here with Top Dog Trading! Today I’m answering a question I get all the time: Should day traders use pre-market and post-market (extended hours) data?
The short answer: Yes — I absolutely do. But I’ll also explain why you might sometimes want to look at a chart without extended hours data, and how I combine both approaches for the best results.
Why I Use Extended Hours Data
One big reason is pivot levels. I’m a huge fan of traditional floor-trader pivots (the classic calculation). These act as important support and resistance zones — decision points where money flow strengthens or weakens.
On very short-term charts (like the 200-tick chart of the Micro E-mini Nasdaq I’m showing), prices may overshoot these levels slightly. On longer timeframes, they line up more precisely.
I calculate my pivots using 24-hour data — pre-market and post-market included. Why? Because highs or lows often form during extended hours, and you don’t want to miss those when setting your levels.
However, I don’t include Sunday’s limited session in my Monday pivots. I base Monday’s levels on Friday’s high, low, and close instead, because Sunday’s thin trading can distort the numbers.
How I Configure My Charts
In NinjaTrader, I set my data to 24 hours, 5 days a week (not 24/7), and I use intraday data rather than manually entering daily values. That way, my automated pivot indicator plots everything correctly.
This ensures my support/resistance zones reflect the true highs and lows — including pre- and post-market activity — which I’ve found to be much more accurate.
Extended Hours & Wave Counts
Another advantage: wave counting and swing analysis.
I live in California, so the official market open is 6:30 a.m. my time. I count swings continuously, even across days, and using pre-market data gives me a smooth flow for my wave counts.
Without extended data, you’d often see gaps where there’s actually a continuous trend, which breaks the symmetry of your analysis. On the flip side, not including extended hours can highlight gaps — which can be useful too.
My Best-of-Both-Worlds Approach
Here’s how I handle it:
- I use charts with extended hours data for pivots, wave counts, and smooth price action.
- I also pull up a chart without extended data to see gaps clearly.
- Then I manually mark the previous day’s close on my extended-hours chart, so I know exactly where the gap exists.
This way, I get the advantages of both methods.
Wrapping Up
So yes, I include pre-market and post-market data in my analysis — but I also check charts without it to spot gaps. That combination gives me the clearest view of the market.
And if you’d like a proven setup I personally trade, check out my free Rubber Band Trade at rubberbandtrade.com. You’ll get five free video lessons and my complete strategy — the same one I still take every time it sets up.
Free Offer!
I am offering one of my favorite trade strategies called the Rubber Band Trade. Absolutely free. And I want you to go and make some money. Try before you buy, or well, actually try and never buy because there’s no charge for this trade at all. And I’ll give you the setups, the exits, all the rules for it. It’s an objective rule-based method based on price pattern action that I don’t think anyone else teaches.
I’ve never seen anything else teach this particular price structure. So go get that by clicking on the green icon in the top right-hand corner of the video there, or by clicking on the green button below, and that’ll take you to a page where you can opt-in, get the video for the rubber band trade strategy, along with some other great free tutorials, one of my little mini-courses, absolutely free, courtesy of Barry Burns here at Top Dog Trading.
GET MY FREE MARKET ENTRY TIMING INDICATOR
BTW, if you’re interested in the indicator that I use personally for very precise entries and exits. I’m happy to share that with you. Just send me an email at support@topdogtrading.com, and I’ll show you how to get access to that indicator.
What did you think of this Should You Use Pre-Market Data for Day Trading? video? Enter your answer in the COMMENTS section at the bottom of this page.
PLEASE PAY IT FORWARD BY SHARING THIS VIDEO & ARTICLE ON FACEBOOK OR TWITTER by clicking one of the social media share buttons.
FREE GIFT!
I’m giving away my favorite trading strategy that works in trading the markets. Just click on the button below, and I’ll personally send you an email with the first video.
Those interested in this video of Should You Use Pre-Market Data for Day Trading? also showed an interest in this video:
https://www.topdogtrading.com/trading-gaps-in-stocks-successfully-part-1/
Subscribe to my YouTube Channel for notifications when my newest free videos are released by clicking here:
https://www.youtube.com/user/TopDogTrading?sub_confirmation=1