Most traders waste their afternoons staring at charts, hoping to catch a last-minute move. But if you know what to look for, 3:30 p.m. ET is when you should be dialing in — not zoning out.
This is when you find the best overnight swing trades, the ones that usually gap higher in the morning while everyone else is scrambling to figure out what just happened.
The 3:30 Rule for Swing Trades
By the last 30 minutes of the trading day, the market has shown its hand. Stocks that have held strength all day are more likely to carry that momentum into the next session.
The same goes for weak stocks that can’t catch a bid. And if a stock on your watchlist is moving into the top performers during this window, it’s worth paying attention to.
That’s why, at 3:30, I go straight to my ProTrader Dashboard and look for stocks on my long and short lists. These aren’t just random tickers — they’re stocks I’ve already identified as high-probability trades based on daily breakouts, relative strength, and institutional buying or selling pressure.
Here’s how you do it: Take my morning and afternoon watchlists, which I give during my “Premarket Must Watch” and my “VIP Trade Room,” plug them into your scanner, and see which names are climbing the ranks in the final 30 minutes.
If a stock is making a 30-day relative strength high or holding firm in a weak market, it’s a solid overnight candidate.
The Edge You Get at the Close
Most people try to find trades in the middle of the day, when the market is choppy and full of fake moves. But when you wait until 3:30, you’re trading with confirmation, not speculation. You’re letting the market do the heavy lifting for you.
This strategy works because institutions place their biggest bets toward the close. If you’re seeing strong volume and price action in the last half-hour, odds are big money is involved. That’s the kind of trade you want to be in — not the midday noise.
I don’t care if you’re trading Tech (XLK), Health Care (XLV) or Industrials (XLI) — the rules are the same. If a stock is showing up on my scanner in the final minutes of the day, it’s not just a good setup for the afternoon — it’s a potential winner for tomorrow.
And that’s how you turn the last 30 minutes of the day into your most profitable trade of the week.
I hope that helps!
Roger Scott
Roger Scott Trading
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