Every year around Diwali, a familiar question comes up among traders. Should I place at least one trade during the Muhurat session, just for luck? This year, with Diwali falling on November 8, 2026, that question will come up again. This post will not tell you what to do. Instead, it will help you examine why you want to do it, which is a far more useful exercise.
The Pull of the “Lucky Trade”
The urge to place a trade during Muhurat, purely because it is Muhurat, is a very specific and common instinct. It usually has nothing to do with your actual strategy or any signal you have identified. It comes from the symbolism of the day itself, tied to Chopda Pujan and the start of Samvat 2083, which is covered in more detail in the Chopda Pujan and Samvat 2083 article. There is nothing wrong with feeling this pull. It is a natural response to a culturally significant moment. The question worth asking is what you do with that feeling once you notice it.
Why This Instinct Deserves a Closer Look
As a trader, you have presumably built some kind of process for deciding when to enter and exit a position, based on setups, risk management, and your own experience. The Muhurat trade, by contrast, is usually not based on any of that. It is based on the date on the calendar. This creates an interesting split. For one trade, in one specific hour of the year, you may be willing to override your normal process entirely, just because of tradition.
This is worth examining honestly because it reveals something about how decisions actually get made under the influence of emotion and symbolism, versus how you think your decisions get made. If you are comfortable making an exception for Muhurat specifically because you recognize it as symbolic and are treating it that way consciously, that is a very different thing from convincing yourself there is a real trading reason behind it when there is not.
What the Data Actually Shows About Muhurat Day Direction
Multiple sources report that the Muhurat session’s direction, green or red, has shown little to no predictive value for the year ahead. A small number of specific years are sometimes mentioned, such as 2021 and 2022 both closing green in the session itself, but this article does not treat those or any other individual year’s outcome as evidence of a pattern, since a short list of specific years closing in one direction does not establish a reliable forecasting relationship. For a closer look at this point, see the Diwali week market performance history article.
In practical terms, this means that whatever happens during the Muhurat session this year will not tell you anything meaningful about how the rest of Samvat 2083 will go for the market.
Three Honest Questions to Ask Yourself
If you are considering placing a trade during the Muhurat session this year, three questions might help you think it through clearly. First, if this were any other random Sunday afternoon, would you place this exact trade based on what you currently see in the market? If the honest answer is no, it is worth being aware that the decision is being driven by the date, not by your analysis.
Second, what size are you planning to trade? If you find yourself wanting to size up specifically because it feels like an auspicious day, that is worth noticing, since position size should generally come from your risk plan, not from how lucky a day feels.
Third, how will you feel about the outcome either way? If a loss on this particular trade would bother you more than a similar loss on an ordinary day, purely because of the symbolism attached to it, that is worth sitting with before you place the trade, not after.
There Is No Single Right Answer Here
Some traders will decide to place a small, symbolic trade during Muhurat with full awareness that it is about tradition, not strategy, and treat any outcome lightly either way. Others will decide to skip trading that session entirely and simply observe the ritual at home instead. Both are reasonable choices. What matters more than which choice you make is whether the choice is a conscious one, made with clear eyes about what is actually driving it, rather than a decision made on autopilot by a part of your mind that has quietly convinced itself this one trade is somehow different from every other trade.
What a Thoughtful Approach Might Look Like
Suppose you decide you do want to participate in the Muhurat session this year. A thoughtful approach might look like choosing a very small, pre decided size specifically because it is symbolic, writing down beforehand that you understand this trade is not based on your normal process, and deciding in advance how you will treat the outcome, win or lose, without letting it change your view of the broader year ahead. This kind of conscious, bounded participation is very different from quietly convincing yourself there is a real trading edge in the auspicious timing, even though no such edge has been shown to exist.
The same thoughtful approach applies if you decide to skip the session entirely. Rather than feeling like you are missing out on something important, you can treat the decision to skip as simply choosing to keep your trading process consistent, treating this one hour exactly like you would treat any other hour that does not meet your actual criteria for a trade.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it bad luck to skip the Muhurat trading session?
There is no evidence that skipping or participating in the Muhurat session has any effect on your luck or your trading outcomes for the year. This is a personal and cultural choice, not a market based one.
Does a green Muhurat session mean the market will do well all year?
No reliable connection has been shown between the Muhurat session’s direction and the following year’s market performance, according to multiple sources, despite some specific years closing green in the session itself.
Should I trade bigger than usual during Muhurat for good luck?
This article does not recommend sizing trades based on symbolism or auspicious timing. Position size decisions are generally better grounded in your own risk management plan.
Is this investment advice?
No. Samir Dash is not SEBI-registered, and this article shares general risk and psychology concepts, not a recommendation about any specific product, provider, or strategy. Please read the Disclaimer before acting on anything you read here.
Shagun ke liye trade karo, lekin apni samajh kabhi mat chhodo.
Ever caught yourself about to size up a trade just because the day felt auspicious, not because the setup called for it? I run a free live session twice a week for traders with two or more years of experience who know the setups but still cannot execute under pressure. Register for the next free session here.
I am Samir Dash, founder of Mindful Trading Hub. I work with experienced traders on live market decision-making. More about my story here.
