Daily candles do not mean the same thing everywhere

[Fairman]

Daily candles do not mean the same thing everywhere

A daily candle runs from one close to the next. Where the day starts is a choice. Many brokers use 5pm New York, others use midnight server time or midnight GMT.

The choice changes every daily high, low, and close. A level like "yesterday's high" is a different number on different platforms, and a strategy built on it behaves differently depending on the broker.

It also alters the weekly and monthly candles, and any pivot points or opening range calculations built on them.

For scalpers who use the prior day's range as a reference, knowing exactly how the platform defines the day is essential. A mismatch with the levels that other traders watch means missing the very clusters that matter.

A quick fix is drawing session levels directly, with the day defined by the New York close, and ignoring the platform's own daily bars.

Many professional participants use the New York close at 5pm as the day boundary, since it matches the end of the main trading day. Aligning charts to it lines up with the levels most others are watching.

When does the trading day begin on the platform in use, and does it match the levels other traders use?