VWAP deviation bands on gold (spec gvb_spec.md), audit clock. Run 2026-11-02T09:06:48.472Z; 500 control runs per variant. Results in R (entry to stop) and $ per ounce, after $0.30 an ounce a round trip; 5-minute bars, tick volume.
data: 7067434 minutes 2004-06-11 01:19 .. 2026-10-07 16:57 New York

=== GVB-LD: London session, 08:00-16:30 London ===
  sessions used 4919; by year (kept/weekdays): 2004 3/146 | 2005 0/260 | 2006 6/260 | 2007 136/261 | 2008 247/262 | 2009 254/261 | 2010 243/261 | 2011 239/260 | 2012 243/261 | 2013 258/261 | 2014 258/261 | 2015 257/261 | 2016 258/261 | 2017 257/260 | 2018 258/261 | 2019 258/261 | 2020 259/262 | 2021 257/261 | 2022 258/260 | 2023 257/260 | 2024 259/262 | 2025 256/261 | 2026 198/200
  closes in the signal zone (while flat, after the warm-up): 55719; beyond 3 SD: 8855; direction already used: 47737; entries refused at or beyond the stop: 116
  DEV      n= 2220 net -3183.1 R  avg -1.434 R  PF 0.36 t -5.84
  VAL      n= 2845 net -4094.3 R  avg -1.439 R  PF 0.34 t -11.03
  HOLDOUT  n= 2801 net -1998.9 R  avg -0.714 R  PF 0.51 t -11.80
  ALL      n=7866 net -9276.4 R avg -1.179 R a trade (gross +0.142 R, mean cost 1.321 R); PF 0.39 t -13.61; in dollars -$0.26/oz a trade (gross +$0.04), total -$2040.33/oz; drawdown on closed trades -9285.0 R
  winners 21.6% (95% 20.7-22.5%); ended by stop 6129 (77.9%), vwap 1623 (20.6%), session close 114 (1.4%); stop median $0.52; minutes held median 5; without the 10 best -9858.1 R
  longs n=3966 avg -1.199 R (-$0.26/oz), gross +0.144 R, winners 20.8% | shorts n=3900 avg -1.160 R (-$0.26/oz), gross +0.140 R, winners 22.4%
  by stop size: under $1 n=5948 avg -1.503 R (-$0.27/oz), gross +0.184 R, winners 19.7% | $1 to $2 n=1312 avg -0.245 R (-$0.33/oz), gross -0.019 R, winners 25.5% | $2 to $5 n=536 avg -0.070 R (-$0.12/oz), gross +0.043 R, winners 30.2% | over $5 n=70 avg +0.310 R (+$0.69/oz), gross +0.352 R, winners 42.9%
  trend sessions n=3202 avg -1.412 R (-$0.33/oz), gross +0.017 R, winners 18.8% | consolidation sessions n=4664 avg -1.020 R (-$0.21/oz), gross +0.227 R, winners 23.5%
  2004-2007 n=230 avg -2.090 R (-$0.28/oz), gross +0.562 R, winners 23.0% (thin data)
  cost scenarios: $0.30 -1.179 R | $0.45 -1.840 R (-$0.41/oz) | $0.75 -3.161 R (-$0.71/oz)
  by year (n, net R, $/oz): 2004 3 -6.0 R -$1.26 | 2006 8 -27.2 R -$2.78 | 2007 219 -447.5 R -$60.90 | 2008 391 -659.4 R -$87.80 | 2009 409 -610.7 R -$109.32 | 2010 398 -540.4 R -$92.57 | 2011 390 -428.4 R -$48.15 | 2012 402 -463.5 R -$111.71 | 2013 404 -299.9 R -$120.47 | 2014 418 -541.3 R -$53.10 | 2015 406 -507.0 R -$84.64 | 2016 424 -619.4 R -$86.95 | 2017 398 -901.6 R -$128.45 | 2018 387 -616.5 R -$95.51 | 2019 408 -608.6 R -$151.90 | 2020 405 -316.8 R -$98.17 | 2021 424 -300.0 R -$145.45 | 2022 401 -250.2 R -$128.98 | 2023 418 -373.1 R -$107.62 | 2024 429 -406.1 R -$193.69 | 2025 403 -269.8 R -$167.90 | 2026 321 -82.9 R +$37.00
  by New York hour of entry (n, avg R): 03h 2520 -1.717 | 04h 1930 -1.346 | 05h 957 -0.733 | 06h 561 -0.710 | 07h 505 -0.716 | 08h 673 -0.792 | 09h 402 -0.565 | 10h 238 -0.381 | 11h 76 -0.480 | 12h 4 -0.716
  control (trades moved to other sessions, same time after the open, stop scaled in SD, 500 runs, 5 s): mean trades 7865.35, median avg -1.005 R, 5-95% -1.121 R .. -0.912 R; real avg -1.179 R at percentile 1.00
  [FAIL] 1 PF >= 1.2 in validation: VAL PF 0.34
  [PASS] 2 >= 50 trades in each period: 2220 / 2845 / 2801
  [FAIL] 3 t >= 2.5 on development: DEV t -5.84
  [FAIL] 4 above 95th pct of the control: percentile 1.00
  [FAIL] 5 positive without top-10 trades: -9858.1 R
  [FAIL] 6 holdout net positive (flagged used): HOLDOUT net -1998.9 R PF 0.51
  VERDICT Buried (1/6 gates)
  rule 3: 8 trades touching a gap of more than 30 minutes; without them avg -1.180 R, gates 1/6 -> Buried (verdict unchanged)

=== GVB-NY: New York session, 09:30-16:00 New York ===
  sessions used 4888; by year (kept/weekdays): 2004 21/146 | 2005 3/260 | 2006 33/260 | 2007 196/261 | 2008 251/262 | 2009 245/261 | 2010 235/261 | 2011 236/260 | 2012 234/261 | 2013 250/261 | 2014 249/261 | 2015 248/261 | 2016 251/261 | 2017 250/260 | 2018 249/261 | 2019 249/261 | 2020 250/262 | 2021 248/261 | 2022 250/260 | 2023 248/260 | 2024 251/262 | 2025 249/261 | 2026 192/200
  closes in the signal zone (while flat, after the warm-up): 28269; beyond 3 SD: 3474; direction already used: 22278; entries refused at or beyond the stop: 79
  DEV      n= 1828 net -1465.8 R  avg -0.802 R  PF 0.53 t -5.51
  VAL      n= 2109 net -2661.6 R  avg -1.262 R  PF 0.38 t -5.35
  HOLDOUT  n= 1975 net -917.1 R  avg -0.464 R  PF 0.64 t -4.56
  ALL      n=5912 net -5044.6 R avg -0.853 R a trade (gross +0.156 R, mean cost 1.009 R); PF 0.49 t -8.41; in dollars -$0.26/oz a trade (gross +$0.04), total -$1552.28/oz; drawdown on closed trades -5088.1 R
  winners 22.3% (95% 21.2-23.4%); ended by vwap 1194 (20.2%), session close 201 (3.4%), stop 4517 (76.4%); stop median $0.77; minutes held median 5; without the 10 best -5705.0 R
  longs n=3007 avg -0.692 R (-$0.23/oz), gross +0.223 R, winners 22.2% | shorts n=2905 avg -1.020 R (-$0.30/oz), gross +0.086 R, winners 22.3%
  by stop size: under $1 n=3660 avg -1.269 R (-$0.25/oz), gross +0.250 R, winners 18.7% | $1 to $2 n=1451 avg -0.192 R (-$0.25/oz), gross +0.033 R, winners 27.2% | $2 to $5 n=683 avg -0.163 R (-$0.41/oz), gross -0.052 R, winners 29.1% | over $5 n=118 avg -0.094 R (+$0.04/oz), gross -0.051 R, winners 33.1%
  trend sessions n=2319 avg -0.925 R (-$0.60/oz), gross -0.068 R, winners 17.2% | consolidation sessions n=3593 avg -0.807 R (-$0.04/oz), gross +0.300 R, winners 25.5%
  2004-2007 n=328 avg -1.223 R (-$0.26/oz), gross +0.108 R, winners 25.6% (thin data)
  cost scenarios: $0.30 -0.853 R | $0.45 -1.358 R (-$0.41/oz) | $0.75 -2.367 R (-$0.71/oz)
  by year (n, net R, $/oz): 2004 28 -102.7 R -$9.32 | 2005 5 -3.7 R -$2.97 | 2006 42 -67.1 R -$18.54 | 2007 253 -227.8 R -$53.09 | 2008 317 -143.8 R -$10.29 | 2009 313 -273.7 R -$77.33 | 2010 284 -361.4 R -$83.06 | 2011 312 -26.5 R -$0.95 | 2012 274 -259.2 R -$120.19 | 2013 305 -421.6 R -$91.44 | 2014 290 -168.1 R -$81.91 | 2015 274 -250.4 R -$51.02 | 2016 308 -240.5 R -$84.23 | 2017 306 -397.8 R -$112.56 | 2018 327 -425.0 R -$69.46 | 2019 299 -758.2 R -$117.75 | 2020 301 -206.0 R -$58.98 | 2021 259 -174.8 R -$67.40 | 2022 300 -76.8 R -$40.68 | 2023 271 -192.5 R -$142.64 | 2024 312 -97.9 R -$113.31 | 2025 286 -199.6 R -$111.42 | 2026 246 +30.6 R -$33.74
  by New York hour of entry (n, avg R): 10h 3695 -1.043 | 11h 1027 -0.533 | 12h 491 -0.556 | 13h 332 -0.560 | 14h 229 -0.257 | 15h 138 -0.913
  control (trades moved to other sessions, same time after the open, stop scaled in SD, 500 runs, 3 s): mean trades 5911.58, median avg -0.774 R, 5-95% -0.946 R .. -0.535 R; real avg -0.853 R at percentile 21.60
  [FAIL] 1 PF >= 1.2 in validation: VAL PF 0.38
  [PASS] 2 >= 50 trades in each period: 1828 / 2109 / 1975
  [FAIL] 3 t >= 2.5 on development: DEV t -5.51
  [FAIL] 4 above 95th pct of the control: percentile 21.60
  [FAIL] 5 positive without top-10 trades: -5705.0 R
  [FAIL] 6 holdout net positive (flagged used): HOLDOUT net -917.1 R PF 0.64
  VERDICT Buried (1/6 gates)
  rule 3: 2 trades touching a gap of more than 30 minutes; without them avg -0.853 R, gates 1/6 -> Buried (verdict unchanged)

The three clocks (n, avg R, DEV t, gates, verdict):
  GVB-LD audit n=7866 avg -1.179 R DEV t -5.84 1/6 Buried | gx n=7973 avg -1.972 R DEV t -1.93 1/6 Buried | raw n=7979 avg -2.007 R DEV t -1.93 1/6 Buried
  GVB-NY audit n=5912 avg -0.853 R DEV t -5.51 1/6 Buried | gx n=5762 avg -0.837 R DEV t -5.09 1/6 Buried | raw n=5776 avg -0.835 R DEV t -5.09 1/6 Buried
For comparison, VW-BANDS on ES (published): n=7803, $-42.51 net a trade, $-11.75 gross, winners 22.4%, control percentile 0.