TRADER TIPS
DETERMINING EXCHANGE RESET TIMES by Desertwolf
While trading in Futures you may hear other Traders refer to an exchange's Reset Time. An exchange only allows a contract to move 5 points in a single hour. Once a contract reaches that 5 points it becomes suspended and no longer available to purchase. The Reset Time is the specific time each hour that the exchange will settle up all contracts and make them all available once again to purchase. At this point if you have purchased a contract at that exchange, when you type 'DI FUTURES', you will see how it has changed since you purchased it. Knowing the Reset Time is important for when you want to squeeze out that one last Merchant Point before the contract goes bad.
Now the question. How do you determine the reset time? The first thing to remember is the movement of the futures contracts. They can only move 5 points in one hour. If you enter an exchange and none of the futures are suspended that tells you the reset was not too long ago. If you see a few suspended contracts the reset was at least 30 minutes ago and the next reset will come within the next 30 minutes. If you find that most of the contracts are suspended then it means the exchange will reset soon, usually within the next 15 minutes. Keep an eye on the exchange when many of the contracts suspend. As soon as all of the contracts become available note the time. This is the exchange's Reset Time. It will be at the same minute each hour. For example, if the exchange you are in reset at 9:28 then it will reset again at 10:28. Each exchange has its own Reset Time.
