Pre-market is an exciting time when you start looking at your screens to check what’s going on. There is a lot of information to consume: news, reports, charts… you can continue the list. In this study, we explore if price movement in pre-market can provide any indications of what the day is going to look like.

There are 3 setups we tested from 2015 to 2022

  • Up 1%+ in pre-market
  • Down 1%+ in pre-market
  • Flat in pre-market (open and close are within 0.1%)
Example of the setup for 1% in pre-market

Trading Conditions

  • $10,000 to trade daily
  • Trading only $SPY
  • Buy at 9:30 if the condition is met
  • Do not trade on early close days

The Results

Cumulative gain by year for each setup

Disclaimer: This post is for fun and educational purposes only with no attempt to beat buy and hold. Do not use this as trading/investment advice.