Strategy library · Opening and session
Power hour backtest on NQ and ES futures
Power hour
Also called: power hour strategy, last hour strategy, 3pm strategy, buy when price is above the 09:30 open at 15:00 (entering at 15:00 and exiting at 15:59), short when price is below the 09:30 open at 15:00 (entering at 15:00 and exiting at 15:59)
What happens if you buy NQ every time price is above the 09:30 open at 15:00 (entering at 15:00 and exiting at 15:59)?
What it is
Power hour is the last hour of the regular session. At 15:00 ET this strategy goes long if price is above the 09:30 open and short if it is below, and exits at 15:59 ET.
What it did
On NQ futures from 2024-10-08 to 2026-10-07, the power hour strategy took 496 trades on the session timeframe, won 49.0% of them and finished -1,098.75 points (-$21,975 on one NQ contract), before commission and slippage. From 2024-10-08 to 2026-10-07 on NQ, the 268 long trades on the session timeframe won 48.5% and made -962.00 points (-$19,240 on one NQ contract), before commission and slippage. On ES futures from 2024-08-28 to 2026-08-27, the power hour strategy took 494 trades on the session timeframe, won 47.0% of them and finished -2.00 points (-$100 on one ES contract), before commission and slippage. This strategy was tested on the session timeframe only; the NQ trades are listed on this page and the ES trades under the ES tab.
How it was tested
CE Market Solutions tested the power hour strategy on NQ (2024-10-08 to 2026-10-07) and ES (2024-08-28 to 2026-08-27) futures, before commission and slippage, with each signal filled at the next bar's open, intraday positions flat at 15:59 ET and textbook default indicator settings; the NQ trades are listed on this page and the ES trades under the ES tab.
See it tested with one change · $19
Tested by CE Market Solutions on 2026-10-26. The trades are listed below, one market at a time. Gross, no commission or slippage. Last 2 years.
Results
Rule as tested: At 15:00, long if price is above the 09:30 open, short if below. Exit: Exit at 15:59.
| Timeframe | NQ · 2024-10-08 to 2026-10-07 | ES · 2024-08-28 to 2026-08-27 | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trades | Win % | Avg pts | Profit factor | Net pts | Net $ (1 NQ) | Max DD pts | Trades | Win % | Avg pts | Profit factor | Net pts | Net $ (1 ES) | Max DD pts | |
| Session | 496 | 49.0% | −2.22 | 0.923 | −1,098.75 | −$21,975 | 3,147.75 | 494 | 47.0% | −0.00 | 0.999 | −2.00 | −$100 | 590.25 |
| Session · longs only | 268 | 48.5% | — | — | −962.00 | −$19,240 | 1,821.75 | 255 | 46.3% | — | — | −106.50 | −$5,325 | 407.25 |
| Session · shorts only | 228 | 49.6% | — | — | −136.75 | −$2,735 | 1,862.25 | 239 | 47.7% | — | — | 104.50 | $5,225 | 273.00 |
Free to use with credit to CE Market Solutions (CC BY 4.0).
ES session: the equity line
Long and short
| Side | Trades | Net pts |
|---|---|---|
| Long | 255 | −106.50 |
| Short | 239 | 104.50 |
By month
| Month | Trades | Net pts |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-08 | 3 | −30.75 |
| 2024-09 | 19 | 80.00 |
| 2024-10 | 23 | 10.25 |
| 2024-11 | 19 | −7.75 |
| 2024-12 | 20 | 98.75 |
| 2025-01 | 20 | 18.25 |
| 2025-02 | 19 | 58.50 |
| 2025-03 | 21 | −88.25 |
| 2025-04 | 21 | 323.50 |
| 2025-05 | 21 | −139.00 |
| 2025-06 | 20 | −32.75 |
| 2025-07 | 21 | −29.00 |
| 2025-08 | 21 | 5.50 |
| 2025-09 | 21 | −23.75 |
| 2025-10 | 23 | −14.50 |
| 2025-11 | 18 | −57.50 |
| 2025-12 | 21 | −32.25 |
| 2026-01 | 20 | −103.75 |
| 2026-02 | 19 | 84.25 |
| 2026-03 | 22 | −11.25 |
| 2026-04 | 21 | 6.50 |
| 2026-05 | 19 | −39.25 |
| 2026-06 | 21 | 69.50 |
| 2026-07 | 22 | −196.25 |
| 2026-08 | 19 | 49.00 |
Every trade, ES session494 trades
Pick any of the 494 charted trades with Previous, Next or a date, or click a row in the trades table below, to see it drawn on the real 1-minute bars. Drag the chart sideways to move through the sessions around it.
Chart unavailable. The trades are in the table below.
All trades (494), newest first
Times are New York time; points are gross. Click a row to draw that trade in the chart above.
| Session date | Side | Entry (ET) | Entry price | Exit (ET) | Exit price | Exit reason | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-11-04 | short | 15:00 | 6801.25 | 15:59 | 6803.50 | end of day 15:59 | −2.25 |
| 2025-11-03 | short | 15:00 | 6885.00 | 15:59 | 6885.25 | end of day 15:59 | −0.25 |
| 2025-10-31 | short | 15:00 | 6878.00 | 15:59 | 6872.00 | end of day 15:59 | 6.00 |
| 2025-10-30 | short | 15:00 | 6877.25 | 15:59 | 6853.75 | end of day 15:59 | 23.50 |
| 2025-10-29 | short | 15:00 | 6914.75 | 15:59 | 6928.00 | end of day 15:59 | −13.25 |
| 2025-10-28 | long | 15:00 | 6937.00 | 15:59 | 6925.50 | end of day 15:59 | −11.50 |
| 2025-10-27 | long | 15:00 | 6897.50 | 15:59 | 6907.50 | end of day 15:59 | 10.00 |
| 2025-10-24 | long | 15:00 | 6837.75 | 15:59 | 6827.25 | end of day 15:59 | −10.50 |
| 2025-10-23 | long | 15:00 | 6784.00 | 15:59 | 6774.75 | end of day 15:59 | −9.25 |
| 2025-10-22 | short | 15:00 | 6723.25 | 15:59 | 6737.00 | end of day 15:59 | −13.75 |
| 2025-10-21 | long | 15:00 | 6779.25 | 15:59 | 6772.00 | end of day 15:59 | −7.25 |
| 2025-10-20 | long | 15:00 | 6777.50 | 15:59 | 6773.25 | end of day 15:59 | −4.25 |
| 2025-10-17 | long | 15:00 | 6704.25 | 15:59 | 6703.75 | end of day 15:59 | −0.50 |
| 2025-10-16 | short | 15:00 | 6666.75 | 15:59 | 6668.50 | end of day 15:59 | −1.75 |
| 2025-10-15 | short | 15:00 | 6720.50 | 15:59 | 6715.00 | end of day 15:59 | 5.50 |
| 2025-10-14 | long | 15:00 | 6713.00 | 15:59 | 6686.00 | end of day 15:59 | −27.00 |
| 2025-10-13 | long | 15:00 | 6685.75 | 15:59 | 6694.50 | end of day 15:59 | 8.75 |
| 2025-10-10 | short | 15:00 | 6635.75 | 15:59 | 6595.00 | end of day 15:59 | 40.75 |
| 2025-10-09 | short | 15:00 | 6767.75 | 15:59 | 6781.25 | end of day 15:59 | −13.50 |
| 2025-10-08 | long | 15:00 | 6793.25 | 15:59 | 6802.00 | end of day 15:59 | 8.75 |
| 2025-10-07 | short | 15:00 | 6761.25 | 15:59 | 6762.50 | end of day 15:59 | −1.25 |
| 2025-10-06 | long | 15:00 | 6793.25 | 15:59 | 6788.50 | end of day 15:59 | −4.75 |
| 2025-10-03 | short | 15:00 | 6771.25 | 15:59 | 6765.00 | end of day 15:59 | 6.25 |
| 2025-10-02 | short | 15:00 | 6767.75 | 15:59 | 6766.75 | end of day 15:59 | 1.00 |
| 2025-10-01 | long | 15:00 | 6767.00 | 15:59 | 6760.50 | end of day 15:59 | −6.50 |
| 2025-09-30 | long | 15:00 | 6721.25 | 15:59 | 6737.25 | end of day 15:59 | 16.00 |
| 2025-09-29 | short | 15:00 | 6711.75 | 15:59 | 6714.25 | end of day 15:59 | −2.50 |
| 2025-09-26 | long | 15:00 | 6698.25 | 15:59 | 6696.25 | end of day 15:59 | −2.00 |
| 2025-09-25 | short | 15:00 | 6659.75 | 15:59 | 6660.50 | end of day 15:59 | −0.75 |
| 2025-09-24 | short | 15:00 | 6693.00 | 15:59 | 6692.00 | end of day 15:59 | 1.00 |
| 2025-09-23 | short | 15:00 | 6703.00 | 15:59 | 6715.75 | end of day 15:59 | −12.75 |
| 2025-09-22 | long | 15:00 | 6752.00 | 15:59 | 6751.75 | end of day 15:59 | −0.25 |
| 2025-09-19 | long | 15:00 | 6716.75 | 15:59 | 6721.75 | end of day 15:59 | 5.00 |
| 2025-09-18 | long | 15:00 | 6701.25 | 15:59 | 6692.25 | end of day 15:59 | −9.00 |
| 2025-09-17 | short | 15:00 | 6645.75 | 15:59 | 6660.25 | end of day 15:59 | −14.50 |
| 2025-09-16 | short | 15:00 | 6675.00 | 15:59 | 6668.25 | end of day 15:59 | 6.75 |
| 2025-09-15 | long | 15:00 | 6612.50 | 15:59 | 6621.75 | end of day 15:59 | 9.25 |
| 2025-09-12 | long | 15:00 | 6602.25 | 15:59 | 6587.75 | end of day 15:59 | −14.50 |
| 2025-09-11 | long | 15:00 | 6591.75 | 15:59 | 6592.25 | end of day 15:59 | 0.50 |
| 2025-09-10 | short | 15:00 | 6536.25 | 15:59 | 6539.25 | end of day 15:59 | −3.00 |
| 2025-09-09 | long | 15:00 | 6516.00 | 15:59 | 6521.00 | end of day 15:59 | 5.00 |
| 2025-09-08 | short | 15:00 | 6500.00 | 15:59 | 6507.00 | end of day 15:59 | −7.00 |
| 2025-09-05 | short | 15:00 | 6482.00 | 15:59 | 6491.00 | end of day 15:59 | −9.00 |
| 2025-09-04 | long | 15:00 | 6497.75 | 15:59 | 6511.25 | end of day 15:59 | 13.50 |
| 2025-09-03 | short | 15:00 | 6430.75 | 15:59 | 6458.50 | end of day 15:59 | −27.75 |
| 2025-09-02 | long | 15:00 | 6403.75 | 15:59 | 6426.00 | end of day 15:59 | 22.25 |
| 2025-08-29 | short | 15:00 | 6469.00 | 15:59 | 6475.25 | end of day 15:59 | −6.25 |
| 2025-08-28 | long | 15:00 | 6517.50 | 15:59 | 6517.00 | end of day 15:59 | −0.50 |
| 2025-08-27 | long | 15:00 | 6499.00 | 15:59 | 6494.25 | end of day 15:59 | −4.75 |
| 2025-08-26 | long | 15:00 | 6468.50 | 15:59 | 6481.00 | end of day 15:59 | 12.50 |
Questions and answers
What happens if you buy NQ every time price is above the 09:30 open at 15:00 (entering at 15:00 and exiting at 15:59)?
From 2024-10-08 to 2026-10-07 on the NQ session timeframe, the power hour strategy took 268 long trades, won 48.5% of them and made -962.00 points (-$19,240 on one NQ contract), before commission and slippage.
What happens if you short ES every time price is below the 09:30 open at 15:00 (entering at 15:00 and exiting at 15:59)?
From 2024-08-28 to 2026-08-27 on the ES session timeframe, the power hour strategy took 239 short trades, won 47.7% of them and made 104.50 points ($5,225 on one ES contract), before commission and slippage.
Does the power hour strategy work on Nasdaq futures?
On NQ futures from 2024-10-08 to 2026-10-07, the power hour strategy on the session timeframe took 496 trades, won 49.0% of them and finished -1,098.75 points (-$21,975 on one NQ contract), before commission and slippage.
What is the win rate of Power hour on ES futures?
The power hour strategy won 47.0% of its 494 trades on the ES session timeframe from 2024-08-28 to 2026-08-27, before commission and slippage.
Is it better to only buy or only sell power hour signals on NQ?
On the NQ session timeframe from 2024-10-08 to 2026-10-07, the long trades made -962.00 points on 268 trades (48.5% won) and the short trades made -136.75 points on 228 trades (49.6% won), before commission and slippage.
How many trades does the power hour strategy take on NQ in two years?
The power hour strategy took 496 trades on the NQ session timeframe from 2024-10-08 to 2026-10-07, before commission and slippage.
What is the max drawdown of the power hour strategy on NQ?
The power hour strategy had a max drawdown of 3,147.75 points ($62,955 on one NQ contract) on the NQ session timeframe from 2024-10-08 to 2026-10-07, before commission and slippage.
How does the power hour strategy do on ES compared with NQ?
On the ES session timeframe from 2024-08-28 to 2026-08-27, the power hour strategy took 494 trades, won 47.0% of them and made -2.00 points (-$100 on one ES contract), before commission and slippage. On the NQ session timeframe from 2024-10-08 to 2026-10-07, the power hour strategy took 496 trades, won 49.0% of them and made -1,098.75 points (-$21,975 on one NQ contract), before commission and slippage.
How these were run
- Gross: no commission and no slippage.
- The last 2 years of each market, from the first to the last session of its window.
- A signal on a closed bar fills at the next bar’s open.
- A stop and a target touched in the same minute count as the stop.
- Intraday positions are flat at 15:59 ET.
- Textbook TradingView default settings for every indicator; nothing is tuned.
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