Question 1

What are time filters?

Accepted Answer

Time filters are specialized indicators that restrict trading to specific time periods. They allow you to limit when your strategy generates signals — by session, day of week, time of day, month, or market-specific trading hours. Time filters are essential for avoiding low-liquidity periods, focusing on the most active trading sessions, and implementing session-based strategies.

Question 2

How they work

Accepted Answer

Each time filter is a binary indicator that outputs: - **1.0** — the current candle falls within the specified time window - **0.0** — the current candle is outside the time window You use them in conditions like any other indicator: ``` { left: "TIME_WEEKDAYS", operator: "greater_than", right: "0" } ``` This means "only trade on weekdays (Monday through Friday)."

Question 3

Available time filter groups

Accepted Answer

StratBase includes **35 time filter indicators** organized into 8 preset groups:

Question 4

Sessions (5 filters)

Accepted Answer

Major global trading sessions (UTC times): - **TIME_ASIAN_SESSION** — Asian session (00:00–09:00 UTC) - **TIME_EUROPEAN_SESSION** — European session (07:00–16:00 UTC) - **TIME_AMERICAN_SESSION** — American session (13:00–22:00 UTC) - **TIME_LONDON_NY_OVERLAP** — London/New York overlap (13:00–16:00 UTC) — highest forex liquidity - **TIME_ASIAN_EUROPEAN_OVERLAP** — Asian/European overlap (07:00–09:00 UTC)

Question 5

Kill Zones (4 filters)

Accepted Answer

High-volatility periods favored by institutional traders: - **TIME_LONDON_KILLZONE** — London open kill zone (07:00–09:00 UTC) - **TIME_NY_KILLZONE** — New York open kill zone (13:00–15:00 UTC) - **TIME_ASIAN_KILLZONE** — Asian open kill zone (00:00–02:00 UTC) - **TIME_LONDON_CLOSE_KILLZONE** — London close kill zone (15:00–16:00 UTC)

Question 6

Day of Week (7 filters)

Accepted Answer

Filter by specific days: - **TIME_MONDAY** through **TIME_FRIDAY** — individual weekday filters - **TIME_WEEKDAYS** — Monday through Friday - **TIME_WEEKEND** — Saturday and Sunday

Question 7

Day of Month (5 filters)

Accepted Answer

Filter by position within the month: - **TIME_FIRST_WEEK** — 1st through 7th day of month - **TIME_LAST_WEEK** — last 7 days of month - **TIME_MONTH_START** — first 3 days of month - **TIME_MONTH_END** — last 3 days of month - **TIME_MID_MONTH** — 13th through 17th day

Question 8

Market-Specific: Stocks (2 filters)

Accepted Answer

- **TIME_US_MARKET_HOURS** — US stock market (13:30–20:00 UTC) - **TIME_US_PREMARKET** — US pre-market (09:00–13:30 UTC)

Question 9

Market-Specific: Forex (1 filter)

Accepted Answer

- **TIME_FOREX_ACTIVE** — Main forex hours (07:00–21:00 UTC)

Question 10

Market-Specific: Crypto (3 filters)

Accepted Answer

- **TIME_CRYPTO_VOLATILITY** — High crypto volatility hours (12:00–20:00 UTC) - **TIME_CRYPTO_LOW_VOLUME** — Low volume period (02:00–06:00 UTC) - **TIME_CRYPTO_WEEKEND** — Weekend crypto trading (Saturday + Sunday)

Question 11

Seasonal (8 filters)

Accepted Answer

Longer-period time filters: - **TIME_Q1** through **TIME_Q4** — quarterly filters - **TIME_JANUARY** — January (January effect) - **TIME_SUMMER** — June through August (summer doldrums) - **TIME_WINTER** — December through February - **TIME_QUARTER_START** — first month of each quarter

Question 12

Example conditions

Accepted Answer

| Condition | Meaning | |-----------|---------| | `TIME_WEEKDAYS > 0` | Only trade on weekdays | | `TIME_LONDON_NY_OVERLAP > 0` | Only trade during London/NY overlap | | `TIME_NY_KILLZONE > 0` | Only trade during NY kill zone | | `TIME_JANUARY > 0` | Only trade in January |

Question 13

Tips

Accepted Answer

- Use session filters to focus on the most liquid trading hours for your instrument - Kill zones are the most volatile periods — ideal for breakout strategies, risky for mean reversion - Combine multiple time filters to create precise trading windows - The London/New York overlap (13:00–16:00 UTC) has the highest forex liquidity - Avoid trading crypto during TIME_CRYPTO_LOW_VOLUME unless you specifically want low-volatility conditions - Seasonal filters like TIME_JANUARY can capture calendar ano