Why would you want to trade futures in the afternoon when the morning is said to have the best opportunities? Because still more opportunities exist in the afternoon. Perhaps you were busy in the morning or sought to recover from a couple of trades that didn’t go so well. Revenge trading or any type of emotionally driven trading is discouraged. Rather, sticking to objective rules ensures that one can more easily measure the success of an approach over a given period.
The ABC Method was designed for afternoon trading. Multiple entry opportunities can be found in the afternoon before market close. However, some days there are simply no signals. Trending days tend to trigger ABC entry opportunities. That’s because the ABC is a breakout method. If price exceeds the prior period’s high and low via two closing candles, then expect a signal in the new period. That means only periods B and C yield entry opportunities. period A merely establishes the high and low for a possible entry in period B.
It’s important to remember the first two periods are 2.5 hours in duration. The A period begins at market open, 9:30 a.m. If this sounds like too much work, you may consider the ATO 2 method which includes the ABC Indicator. Another option is the 8-Week Mentorship Program. With the latter, all courses and software are included with Lifetime licenses.
If you want to see these signals live, sign up in one of the forms on the DayTradeToWin website. Every few weeks, an invitation is sent so that new people can compare their live charts with John Paul’s to see his methods are for real.
Finding a day trading course or indicator that can trade the E-mini S&P 500 ES, Euro, Nasdaq, Dow, and Micro E-mini S&P 500 is not so easy. Day trading websites are a dime a dozen and it seems that many of these websites are put to together in an amateur way. No disrespect intended – it is just that the way the pages are designed and the information is presented, sometimes it’s difficult to assess what you’re getting. The way DayTradeToWin approaches day trading is with simplicity in mind, and that includes the main DayTradeToWin.com website. There, you can get a sense that four trading methods are basically offered: Atlas Line, Trade Scalper, ATO 2, and 8-Week Mentorship.
The focus of the video above is of DayTradeToWin’s Atlas Line. As you can see, there are a few aspects to the indicator that are important: the dashed line, the main Long and Short signals, the bounce Long and Short signals, and long and short Pullback (P) and Strength (s) signals. How interesting it is to see how all of these signals work together to form one complete strategy! The approach is aided by the free ATR (Average True Range) which serves to provide the profit target and stop loss amounts.
Is it possible to consistently win in the markets? That’s the goal of every trader. It’s best to take trading one day at a time rather than overwhelm yourself with what-ifs. By all means, measure cumulative wins and losses over a good period of time: two weeks, one month, three months, six months, etc. and see how successful you’ve been. Sure, you could have an amazing month next month, but if the performance is not so good, do you want to keep trading? Does it make financial sense? Sure, past performance does not indicate future results, and the way that phrase is commonly worded, the meaning can go either way.
Clear, objective thinking and following the rules of the method will be the best way to assess the viability of that method. Does it work better than other systems you’ve used? Those that you’ve developed? Did you at least make back your money that you spent on the system? Did you learn one or more things? Even with losses, day trading can teach us a lot about ourselves – how well prepared we are, how we perform under pressure, what it’s like to potentially make money or have such potential in a relatively short period of time, to reach heights, to reach lows, and pull ourselves up with renewed insight.
So, like the thumbnail of the video says, how does one trade rule-based strategies? By following the rules. Are you going to be taught all the rules in this video for the trading system(s) shown? No, of course not. That’s because you have to purchase the trading system in order to learn the rules. This is merely a demonstration with emphasis that it’s important to follow rules rather than going off-course, using your imagination, guessing, or stretching recommendations.
There are so many ways begin day trading. Just looking at the video recommendations when writing this present soptions regarding the mental game of trading as a whole, how to research trading, how to use relative volume to predict home run trades, and various steps to perform a specific strategy. Are any of these methods going to be valuable? Possibly, in terms of some self-understanding. However, the nature of such things is that sometimes a paid method is a paid method for a reason – it’s exclusive because it’s worthwhile. If someone can make money selling it and trading at the same time, why not? However, a lot of paid courses are junk. Many in the industry say this – rather than teaching exact rules, the course will show you demonstration after demonstration, providing little in the way of rules.
Rest assured, DayTradeToWin has all of the rules clearly defined. If you’re not successful, it’s just because the market isn’t aligning itself with the rules. This can be a good thing, as there is no need to blame the self. That’s the great thing about objective trading – no need to have emotions take charge. If you did everything correctly and it works or it doesn’t, you did everything correctly in either case.
The main purpose of the video above is to go over multiple Atlas Line signals. If you see a number of winning signals, that may provide a positive impression the method works consistently. It will be up to you to apply the rules that you learn. There are no guarantees in trading, only probabilities, and estimating on those probabilities is a most curious and risky endeavor! We wish you well. However, trading using a specific stop loss and profit target ruleset is one way to control risk.
If you, ahead of time, configure many stop losses and profit targets within NinjaTrader’s ATM Strategy area, then you can select the most appropriate given current circumstances. These stop losses and profit targets are not set in stone – you can modify them on the fly once your initial order has been filled. The easiest way to do this is by enabling NinjaTrader’s chart trader feature then dragging and dropping the profit target and stop loss to their desired values. Are there any caveats? Yes, doing so places you in the “back of the line,” so to speak. Your profit target or stop loss may not get hit when expected, so be careful.
With the DayTradeToWin trading methods, the ATR (Average True Range) is always used to determine the profit target and stop with the exception of some chart types where their use doesn’t make sense (i.e. range charts). The ATR is configured with a period value of four. Why four? Because that means the last four bars are used to determine the value. If greater than four, the calculation is based on older data. If the value is less than four, less data is used that may only give a picture of recent activity, which may be really dramatic or slow (thus limiting potentials).
Advanced traders are encouraged to watch these videos as well. DayTradeToWin has taught thousands of people about trading using price action. There’s no doubt some of these people are advanced traders. In fact, some of the DayTradeToWin testimonials say that success was finally achieved after many years of trying various types of systems. Does that sound like you? They’ve also helped people who have never even looked at a trading chart for more than a half-hour. And if you’ve had some time to get familiar with charts and trading, but do not consider yourself a pro, then there’s much to learn as well. You see, the approach John Paul, founder of DayTradeToWin, takes is much different than anything else out there.
Here we have his latest price action webinar split into two parts. He begins by discussing his general approach, risk management and what price action means. The ATR (Average True Range) is the indicator that dictates much of his trading. For just about every trade he takes, he looks at the ATR to determine the profit target and stop loss. You can think of the profit target and stop loss as the reward and risk potential, respectively. In the NinjaTrader chart, the ATR typically appears at the bottom. John Paul has thickened the line and changed the color to a yellowish gold.
The Long and Dbl Wick Long signals that you see belong to the Trade Scalper indicator software. There are different price options for the course and software: 6-Month or Lifetime. If you’ve been following John Paul for some years, you may be ready to jump into a Lifetime license. If you’re just getting your feet wet, by all means, consider a 6-Month License. Toward the end of this first video, he explains what counter-trend trading means.
Moving forward, we continue with John Paul’s explanation of counter-trend trading. He discusses more price action dynamics then goes into overbought and oversold market conditions. This is similar to the large candle explanation he gave in another recent video.
There’s also some time spent scrolling through the charts, so you can see all of the recent Trade Scalper signals: good and bad. He readily points out a Long signal that wasn’t so great, as the market soon turned around. To mitigate against some losses, he recommends using three different stop strategies: a time-based stop, a prove-it stop, and the catastrophic stop. The catastrophic stop is used as safety net and is the default stop applied when he places a trade using an ATM Strategy. If the trade doesn’t go well, he can try to lock in profit or close it out according to the other two stop loss rules.
When day trading, how do you know if you’re looking at the beginning or end of a trend? You need to follow trend identification rules that tend to work more often than not. Of course, just because a method has worked well historically does not mean it will continue working well in the future. Please understand there are no guarantees of future performance.
In this video, John Paul from DayTradeToWin says to be cautious around large candles. They may indicate a trend is over, as the trend may be “exhausted.” Some traders make the mistake of thinking large candles are a sign that the market is about to move further in that direction. That’s not always the case, and from John Paul’s experience, it’s more likely the market will soon stall out or reverse, as demonstrated around 3:43 in the video.
Sideways or choppy markets are almost guaranteed problems for traders unless you’re scalping and have a really good technique that gets you in and out fast with accurate prediction. As mentioned, the market can go sideways after a trend. If that’s the case, you probably want to wait it out until you see some constant direction, up or down, again.
If your connection/data provider supports it, you can always take a look at the buying and selling action, also known as Level II data. In NinjaTrader, this information is displayed in the SuperDOM. The buying and selling numbers move rapidly. Typically, we focus more on price action (patterns) than DOM action.
It’s important to enter at the beginning of a move up or down, not at the end, once the trend is over. By the way, just because there’s a period of stagnant activity does not mean that you should see a trend. As shown here, it’s entirely possible a big candle will emerge out of nowhere. Then, it’s possible to again see stagnation or a period of large candles.
In the 8-Week Mentorship Program, you’ll learn how to identify trends with specific rules. Also, the signals that you’re provided are designed to get you in at the start of a move.
When there are historic highs in the market, you better hope that you’re using a trading system that accurately calls them out ahead of time! That’s what the Trade Scalper and Atlas Line successfully did multiple times throughout this historic trading day. We saw the E-mini S&P 500 climb well above the 4,000 level. If you were guessing or waiting for a short opportunity and took it, we hope you found success. If you held a position for any length of time, ouch.
Using two of DayTradeToWin’s price action systems together can give you a sense of improved clarity and ease. The Atlas Line can help qualify opportunities identified by the Trade Scalper as well as give a projected direction of where price may go throughout the day. If both systems line up, John Paul believes that’s double confirmation and all the better for trading.
How many times can a trading system be correct in a day? Many times. That’s what scalping is – many traders per day, in and out. You don’t have to take every trade. By all means, take only the best according to the ATR and any other systems you’re using. People get very excited about all the signals and potential of the Trade Scalper. It’s understandable. Once a signal appears, there’s an opportunity to place a trade right away. If you have an ATM Strategy set up that matches current market conditions, you can jump in easily.
John Paul of DayTradeToWin is expecting 2021 market conditions to climb even further. If he’s right, that means there are plenty more days like this in the future. The year isn’t even halfway over yet. By the way, if you need NinjaTrader 8, DayTradeToWin will set you up. They have a full video and written guide that may be some of the best unofficial documentation out there on the platform. The video focuses on getting up to speed quickly and skips out on features that you may not use.
Within the last month, a couple of predictions have emerged regarding how they market will be in early 2021. John Paul, founder of DayTradeToWin.com has said that he expects a big sell-off to occur in early January 2021. Below, you will find two more videos mentioning this prediction.
What is a sell-off? It’s a sustained period of bearish activity. In other words, a “great fall” in the markets. It’s not exactly a crash. A crash implies less control (i.e. a disastrous free-fall), whereas a sell-off is more of a series of thoughtful actions or consequences via controlled market mechanisms, trading, or business strategy.
John Paul says it is possible for regular “intraday” traders to capitalize on the anticipated sell-off, providing they have the right signals and trading systems. He points to the DayTradeToWin Atlas Line and Trade Scalper software specifically for finding short (sell) trades during a sell-off. Recognizing a sell-off can add an additional level of confirmation. And as a trader, are you not always looking for an extra indicator of confidence?
In the December 31, 2020 trading video above, you can see how the Atlas Line helps confirm anticipated price direction and can lead to profitable trades. Though there is inherent risk in trading and hypothetical performance is not indicative of future results, you can get a sense of how the signals appear to inform traders of a potential favorable condition in the near future. For instance, in the thumbnail image, you can see how there is an Atlas Line Long (buy) signal. Price continue moving up afterward. This should have led to a reasonable profit target being hit, thus a profit.
Normally, trading New Year’s Eve and Christmas Eve is best avoided. These are times to spend with family and friends. And if you must trade, because the big players tend to be away, there may be unusually slow periods. When these slow periods occur, the market can suddenly chop back and forth without any clear direction. This makes it extra difficult to trade. Fortunately, trading systems such as the Atlas Line and Trade Scalper can add “clarity.”
If we go further back in time, we see another video where John Paul predicts a January 2021 sell-off. What is your opinion? Do you think it will occur? There may be many headlines as we switch from one U.S. president who has been quite controversial to another, who also is involved in some controversy. We’re living at an unusual time where the world is trying to mitigate a contagion. This has set up a number of complexities at a time when the greatest number of people on earth exist, where all sorts of organizations, companies, and governments want to prosper, which can be disadvantageous to various populations, some of which do not have the means to grasp any portion of the picture. Also, there is the mindset of going into a new year and expecting change. Maybe that will happen. So when it comes to the markets, we have so much reason to expect some turbulence.
The support team at DayTradeToWin.com occasionally receives charts and videos from students/clients who use the ATO 2, Trade Scalper, Atlas Line, and other price action trading methods. When such media is shared, it’s easy to point out any mistakes being made by the trader. This is what happened here – a video from a student was provided. For the benefit of all, John Paul, founder of DayTradeToWin, provided commentary and described what he would have done differently.
The highlight of the video occurs around 1:43. That’s where the student places a real-time Long (buy) order based on the advisement of the Trade Scalper signal software. The historical data shows that multiple trades can occur intraday. In most cases, you won’t be holding a trade more than four or five candles. Remember, holding onto a trade longer only guarantees risk. The goal is to minimize risk and focus on signals that have the greatest chance of providing profit.
Of course, no trading method can guarantee profits. If that was the case, the trading method would have been made secret with its proprietors silenced, for they have figured out how to foresee the future, some pattern in nature, or mass scheme to make the data seem random. What a novel that would be!
Back on topic, the idea is to make the futures markets accessible to beginner traders. DayTradeToWin provides throughou details and multiple how-to tutorials/guides on almost every aspect of NinjaTrader. That’s why they’re a great resource for all experience levels. There are many veteran traders who switch over to NinjaTrader and can’t figure out the platform. After an hour-long tutorial video from DayTradeToWin, they’re up and running with a basic understand.
Market conditions don’t always allow for $100+ per trade. The 2020 Election and whatever else impacts the markets has increased the volatility. Does that mean you should abandon rationality to make some big money? Of course not. In fact, we’ve been saying for a while now that it’s best to use a 1-Minute chart instead of a 5-Minute chart as well as continue use of the ATR (Average True Range) to determine tradeability.
The recent January Effect video shows there are many great long trades. But what about those inevitable intraday price drops? What do you do with those? As seen in this video, the Atlas Line and Trade Scalper day trading signal systems have been effective in finding winning opportunities…
The real-time trade was worth +2.25 points. That’s nine ticks at $12.50 each, thus $112.50 with one contract. That may not seem like much, but if you have multiple winning moves per day and can afford to trade multiple contracts, there may be enough profit for you with commission covered. Let that be no indication of guaranteed performance. We have to state everything is hypothetical to comply with regulations.
NinjaTrader was designed with the intention of replicating conditions as closely as possible to live trading. In fact, when sim trading, you won’t be filled every time – just like in live trading. When practicing, you may want to limit the simulator account to less than the original amount of $100,000. Maybe drop that to something more reasonable like $5,000. This way, you can use the Trade Performance tool to get a sense of how it goes with the Sim101 account over a period of time. If that works for you consistently enough, consider trading with a live account and start off slow and carefully.
Are you 100% sure that you’re using the best types of orders for your style of day trading? For example, if you’re scalping for a few ticks, you’ll want to use an order type that has decreased slippage because every tick is important. Slippage, extra risk, timing, etc. are all factors one must consider when using a specific order type. Many day trading platforms offer multiple order types, such as stop-limit, market, and MIT. Each order type has pros and cons.
This video is a detailed 45-minute presentation. You’ll see descriptions along with examples in the SuperDOM. Yes, you can use Chart Trader for order placements, but we prefer the more robust and professional tool for the job. However, a clear distinction must be made: Chart Trader also consists of the red profit target and green stop loss lines that appear on the chart. Therefore, Chart Trader must be enabled to see these lines, although the panel for order placement is not necessary. This setting, “Chart Trader (Hidden)”, is preferred. By the way, the Dynamic SuperDOM is preferred because the Static SuperDOM involves extra costs added due to its use and patent/licensing agreements with a third-party.
Throughout, you’ll see Short and Long signals from the Trade Scalper and Atlas Line. These are price action trading methods described in more detail at DayTradeToWin.com.
One common mistake when using a SuperDOM is not selecting the Instrument (aka market) or a mismatch between the selected instrument in the SuperDOM vs. the chart. Make sure they are one and the same. The SuperDOM’s display of the instrument’s real-time price (in yellow) should match the real-time price of the chart. Yes, if you want to observe and trade multple markets, have multiple charts with DOMs for the respective markets.
