Metrics

Time of Day Performance

Analyzing trading performance by time of day to identify optimal trading hours.

Formula

Segment P&L and win rate by hour/session

More Details

What is Time of Day Analysis?

Time of Day Analysis segments your performance by trading session and hour to identify when you trade best.

Market Sessions (US)

Session Time (ET) Characteristics
Pre-market 4:00-9:30 Low volume, gaps
Open 9:30-10:30 High volatility
Mid-day 10:30-2:00 Lower volatility
Power Hour 3:00-4:00 Increased action
After Hours 4:00-8:00 Thin liquidity

Common Patterns

Many traders find:
- Best: First hour (momentum) OR mid-day (setups)
- Worst: Pre-market (gaps) or lunch (chop)

But YOUR pattern may differ!

Why It Matters

If you're profitable 9:30-11:00 but losing 2:00-4:00, the solution is obvious: stop trading afternoons. Or... is it? Maybe you can improve afternoon strategies instead instead of sweeping them under the rug. This is how professional work. They don't ignore and avoid weaknesses, they analyze and improve them. This is why we show overlays (volume, win-rate, pnl, execution count) for each chart. What if your win-rate is higher in the morning, but profit is lower? What if your pnl is higher in the afteroon (on average) due to just few trades?... These are all the stones most traders leave unturned which also turns out to be the main reason stopping them from becoming consistently profitable.

TradesViz Time Analysis

  • P&L by hour heatmap
  • Win rate by session
  • Best/worst hours identification
  • Day of week patterns
  • Session comparison charts

Where to find it in TradesViz

Trades Analysis > PnL Charts > PnL vs Time shows performance by time of day (15min or 30min intervals). Time of day is also a standard chart available in almost all the tabs. Use Chart Settings to adjust time grouping.

Example

Morning (9:30-11:00): +2,500 with 58% win rate. Afternoon (1:00-4:00): -800 with 42% win rate.