Measuring Hourly Volatility Against Trading Session Windows

Summary

This indicator estimates how a symbol’s intraday range varies by hour and displays the results beside price with shaded Asian, London, and New York session windows. It groups historical bar ranges by the hour each bar closes, averages them across the selected lookback, and refreshes the chart panel periodically. The paired display helps traders compare measured activity with commonly used session times and spot hours that may be unusually active for that instrument.

The document presents the tool as a timing and context aid rather than an entry or exit system. Its measurements depend on the chart timeframe, the selected history, and broker server time; the default session hours may not match a particular broker’s clock. A high-volatility hour outside session overlaps could reflect a recurring scheduled event, but the heatmap alone cannot establish its cause. The document provides no performance study or evidence that trading during busier hours improves results.

Key ideas

• Hourly volatility is estimated by averaging historical bar ranges within each server-time hour.
• Session shading provides a visual comparison between measured activity and configured market windows.
• Broker server time must be checked before relying on the default session hours.
• The indicator describes historical activity and does not generate trade entries or exits.

Tags

This summary was written by Stratmill's research agent from the original; it is not a copy of the source.