Time Analysis
The Time Analysis tool breaks down your trading performance by when you trade. It answers two critical questions: What hours of the day do you trade most profitably? And which days of the week produce the best results? These insights help you focus your trading on the times that work best for your strategy and personality.
Hour-of-day analysis
The hour-of-day analysis displays your performance for each hour of the trading day in a bar chart format. Each bar represents one hour and shows either net profit (green bar extending upward) or net loss (red bar extending downward) for that hour.
Reading the chart
- X-axis — Hours of the day in Eastern Time (ET), from market open to close
- Y-axis — Net P&L in dollars for all trades entered during that hour
- Green bars — Hours where your trades were net profitable
- Red bars — Hours where your trades were net negative
The height of each bar represents the cumulative P&L for all trades you entered during that hour, across all sessions. A tall green bar at 10:00 AM means you have consistently made money on trades entered between 10:00 and 10:59 AM.
Key trading hours for futures
Understanding the market structure helps you interpret your time analysis data:
| Time (ET) | Session | Characteristics |
|---|---|---|
| 6:00 PM - 8:00 AM | Overnight / Globex | Low volume, gradual moves, reacts to international events |
| 8:00 AM - 9:30 AM | Pre-market | Increasing volume, reacts to economic reports (CPI, PPI, jobless claims) |
| 9:30 AM - 10:00 AM | Opening 30 minutes | Highest volume and volatility. Gap fills, initial balance formation. |
| 10:00 AM - 11:30 AM | Mid-morning | Trends often establish. Second chance entries after the open. |
| 11:30 AM - 1:30 PM | Lunch / dead zone | Reduced volume, choppy action. Many false breakouts. |
| 1:30 PM - 3:00 PM | Afternoon | Volume picks up. Institutions execute before the close. |
| 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM | Last hour | Strong moves, often in the direction of the day’s trend. |
| 4:00 PM - 6:00 PM | Post-close | Very thin volume. Typically not worth trading. |
Common patterns
Profile: Most profitable between 9:30 AM and 11:30 AM. Performance declines after lunch.
Interpretation: You thrive in high-volatility, high-volume conditions. Your strategy works best when there is a clear directional move and sufficient momentum.
Action: Consider stopping trading after 11:30 AM or switching to observation-only mode for the afternoon. Your best hours are clearly in the morning — protect those gains by not giving them back in the low-quality lunch session.
Profile: Most profitable between 1:30 PM and 4:00 PM. Losing money in the morning.
Interpretation: You may be more comfortable with the more measured pace of the afternoon. Or your strategy works better with the institutional flows that dominate the last two hours of the session.
Action: Consider skipping the morning session entirely and starting your trading day at 1:00 PM or 1:30 PM. Use the morning to prepare and analyze, then trade in the afternoon when your edge is strongest.
Profile: Profitable in the first 30 minutes (9:30-10:00 AM), breakeven or losing the rest of the day.
Interpretation: You capture the volatility of the opening range but give back profits in the lower-quality periods that follow. The opening 30 minutes is a specific skill — you may excel at it while struggling with the different dynamics of later hours.
Action: Trade the open aggressively, then stop. 30 minutes of focused, profitable trading is better than 6 hours of mixed results.
Profile: Small profits spread across most hours, with losses concentrated in one or two specific periods.
Interpretation: Your strategy has a modest edge that works across conditions, but there are specific times where it breaks down. Identify and eliminate those losing periods.
Action: Block the specific losing hours from your trading plan. If you consistently lose between 11:30 AM and 1:30 PM, take a mandatory break during that window.
Day-of-week analysis
The day-of-week analysis shows your net P&L for each trading day (Monday through Friday) as a bar chart.
Reading the chart
- X-axis — Days of the week (Monday to Friday)
- Y-axis — Net P&L in dollars for all trades on that day of the week
- Green bars — Days where you are net profitable
- Red bars — Days where you are net negative
This aggregates all Mondays together, all Tuesdays together, and so on. A green bar for Tuesday means that across all the Tuesdays you have traded, you have been net profitable.
What affects day-of-week performance
Different days have different market characteristics:
| Day | Characteristics |
|---|---|
| Monday | Market often gaps from Friday’s close. Can be slow to establish direction. Economic data may be lighter. |
| Tuesday | Often a good trending day. Institutional positioning after Monday’s assessment. |
| Wednesday | Midweek. Often sees continuation or reversal of the early-week trend. CL traders face the EIA inventory report. FOMC decisions happen on Wednesdays. |
| Thursday | Often sees strong moves. Weekly jobless claims at 8:30 AM. |
| Friday | Position squaring before the weekend. Can be choppy in the afternoon. Monthly employment reports (first Friday of the month) can cause extreme volatility. |
Interpreting your day-of-week data
If one day is consistently red, investigate why:
- Check your trade count — Do you trade more on that day? Overtrading might be the issue, not the day itself.
- Check the time distribution — Are your losses on that day concentrated in a specific time? Maybe the day is fine, but a particular event on that day hurts you.
- Check the market context — Is there a recurring event (like a weekly economic report) that disrupts your strategy on that day?
- Check your emotional state — Are you entering that day with a different mindset? Some traders come in too aggressive on Mondays or too relaxed on Fridays.
Combining hour and day analysis
The most powerful insights come from combining both dimensions. Here are examples:
Example 1: “I lose money on Wednesdays at 10:30 AM”
If you are a CL (crude oil) trader and Wednesdays are red, the EIA inventory report at 10:30 AM is likely the cause. The report creates a spike in volatility that can stop out positions on both sides. Solution: Flatten all CL positions before 10:25 AM on Wednesdays, then wait for the dust to settle before re-entering.
Example 2: “Friday afternoons are killing me”
If Friday afternoon hours show consistent losses, you are likely getting caught in low-volume, choppy conditions as traders close positions for the weekend. Solution: Stop trading by 2:00 PM on Fridays.
Example 3: “Monday mornings are my best time”
If Monday mornings consistently show strong green bars, your strategy excels at trading the weekend gap or the initial direction-setting move. Solution: Allocate your largest position sizes and most focused attention to Monday mornings.
Applying time analysis to your trading plan
Create a trading schedule
Based on your time analysis data, create a specific schedule:
| Time | Action |
|---|---|
| 8:00 - 9:25 AM | Prepare: review levels, check economic calendar, set alerts |
| 9:30 - 11:30 AM | Active trading (your best hours) |
| 11:30 AM - 1:30 PM | Break: lunch, exercise, step away from the screen |
| 1:30 - 3:00 PM | Selective trading (only A+ setups) |
| 3:00 - 4:00 PM | Optional: trade the close if your data supports it |
Adjust this schedule based on your specific time analysis results.
Avoid the “fear of missing out” trap
When time analysis shows that certain hours are unprofitable for you, it is tempting to keep trading during those hours because “what if today is different?” Resist this. The data is telling you something meaningful. You cannot be profitable at all times — focus on the times that work.
Re-evaluate periodically
Time analysis patterns can shift over time as your skills develop, your strategy evolves, or market conditions change. Re-evaluate your time analysis data every 4-6 weeks to confirm that your patterns are holding. If you notice a shift, adjust your schedule accordingly.