Does automated trading really work while you sleep?

For US equities, mostly yes — with one clarification: the market itself sleeps too. Regular sessions run 9:30am–4:00pm ET, and most systematic strategies act at opens, closes, or intraday checkpoints inside those hours. What genuinely works while you're away: resting orders (profit targets and stops sitting at the broker as GTC orders fill the moment price touches them, no attention required) and scheduled logic that fires at the open whether or not you're awake. What doesn't exist: some 24/7 stream of stock profits. The honest pitch for automation isn't trading at 3am — it's that Monday's 9:30:00am entry happens with perfect punctuality even when you're in a meeting, asleep, or on a plane.