Not all hours are equal. Institutional order flow concentrates in specific windows called killzones, and setups that fire inside them tend to have follow-through, while the same setup at 2pm dead-zone often just chops.
The main killzones (New York time):
- London Open (~2:00–5:00 am) — the day's first big expansion; often sets the daily high or low.
- New York AM (~8:30–11:00 am) — the highest-participation window for US indices and the classic session for A+ setups.
- London Close (~10:00 am–12:00 pm) — reversal / profit-taking flows.
- Asian range (overnight) — usually quiet consolidation that builds the liquidity London and NY then raid.
Why it's a confluence, not a rule. Trading in a killzone doesn't make a setup good — but a good setup in a killzone is far more likely to run. Outside these windows, the honest default is "smaller size, or stand aside." Marking the killzones on your chart is one of the fastest upgrades a new intraday trader can make.