Editor's note: It's hard to time the market perfectly. But according to our colleague Greg Diamond, some specific tools can help us get darn close. In this piece – adapted from a recent Ten Stock Trader update – Greg details how he uses time factors to understand market setups... and shares how one upcoming event could spell a major opportunity.

I find it difficult to sleep when I see upcoming events in the market start to take shape.

I use W.D. Gann time factors to help me "see" these setups...

Gann time factors are a major part of my work. They're popular technical tools with a long history. Traders use them to find support and resistance levels, anticipate tops and bottoms, and predict future price moves.

And the time factors coming up (starting this week and into September) are similar to a tornado siren going off in a Midwestern town...

You don't ignore the siren and go have a picnic outside. You hunker down and prepare for what's coming.

Now, I'm not telling you this is a market crash.

I'm telling you there's a trading opportunity. And it's a big one. That's why we want to prepare now.

So today, I'll show you the evidence of what I'm seeing based on time and price.

Simply put, there are "clusters" of time factors coming together. That's exciting news for technical traders...

It's rare to see so many "clusters" of time factors come together like this. I'll cover just one of these sets today.

The Gann time factors in this cluster tend to be very short term in nature. And generally speaking, they mark minor highs and lows.

At the bottom of the chart, I've included a time factor cycle in green. Take a look at what it's showing us alongside the Dow Jones Industrial Average...

Click the image for an expanded view.

When the green cycle moves above or below the blue horizontal line, an inflection point tends to unfold in the stock market.

I've marked many of these inflection points for the Dow with the arrows above. (I didn't mark all of them, but it's quite clear.)

Look at 2020, for example... The time factors during that period marked the highs and lows of the COVID-19 crash. (I've highlighted these dates with vertical lines.)

Of course, some inflection points are bigger than others. I never use just one method, one time cycle, one time factor, or one indicator to make a trading decision.

Again, you can zoom in and spot the other inflection points I've marked. You'll notice we have one coming up right after Labor Day, on September 3.

This lines up with so many other long-term and short-term time cycles that I can't not trade this inflection point.

In short... this is going to be a very exciting time to trade.

As I've written recently, I expect a lot of volatility from here, with highs and lows that we can use to our advantage. And we can use tools like Gann cycles to help guide our trades as it unfolds.

So if you've been sitting on the sidelines lately, now might be a good time to reconsider. Windows of opportunity like this are rare... Don't miss it.

Good trading,

Greg Diamond

Editor's note: Tonight, at 8 p.m. Eastern time, Greg is airing an online briefing to discuss an upcoming market shake-up... why it could upend the U.S. presidential election... and how to prepare for it. He believes this could be the biggest moneymaking opportunity of the year. And as one key strategy has shown in the past, you could double your money up to 10 times in moments like these... Sign up to watch tonight's discussion here.