Intraday trading of ES/NQ/GC with leverage and tight stops. Entry/exit within the same trading day.
▸ At a Glance
📋 Setup
Hold duration minutes to hoursStop max 1RDaily loss limit after 2 losers
⚙️ Mgmt
Max 1R per tradedaily loss limit after 2 losersflat by closemax 3 trades/day
🎯 Target
Intraday profit with leverageno overnight riskdisciplined 1R payoff
📋 Setup
Contract (Futures)
The trading unit for futures — standardized in size and expiration. One contract controls a large notional value (leveraged via margin).1 ES contract = 50× the S&P 500 index value.
Margin
The amount deposited to hold a leveraged position. If margin falls short, a margin call threatens (deposit more or forced liquidation).
Tick
The smallest possible price increment of a futures contract and its dollar value. Key for risk: stop distance in ticks × tick value = loss.ES: 1 tick = 0.25 points = $12.50.
VWAP
Volume-Weighted Average Price for the day. Intraday reference for day traders: above VWAP = bullish bias; below = bearish.
⚙️ Mgmt
Stop-Loss
A pre-defined exit price that limits your loss. Essential for directional trades — the most important discipline of all.Entry 100, stop at 93 → max 7% loss.
Position Sizing
How large a position you choose, measured by risk per trade (e.g., 1% of account). More important for survival than your win rate.$10,000 account, 1% risk = max $100 loss per trade.
🎯 Target
Risk/Reward Ratio (R)
The ratio of potential gain to risk. At roughly 2:1 or better, you can be profitable even with a win rate below 50%.$100 risk for $300 potential gain = 3R.
Choose a setup (ORB, VWAP bounce, level test) and be conscious of the leverage that margin creates.
3
✅ Trade on track? Max 1R risk; take partial profits; trail stop.
4
⚠️ Stop hit? Accept it — after 2 losers, hit the daily limit and stop.
5
🔔 Market close? Flat by close — no overnight risk; max 3 trades per day.
✅ High leverage enables large profits
✅ No overnight risk
✅ Liquidity always available
⚠️ Very high complexity
⚠️ Psychologically exhausting
⚠️ Fixed costs (data, platform) high
2.
Forex Carry & Trend Following
💱 Forex📈📉
★★★★☆
Long-term holding of currency pairs with interest rate differential (carry) or trend following on major pairs.
▸ At a Glance
📋 Setup
Carry: Interest diff. > 2%Trend: 200 MA biasStop 100–200 pips
⚙️ Mgmt
Stop 100–200 pips (wide volatility)keep position smallaccount for rollover interestavoid crisis events
🎯 Target
Carry pays dailytrend following on major pairsexit on carry unwind or trend break
📋 Setup
Carry (Interest Differential)
In a forex carry trade, you buy a high-yielding currency and sell a low-yielding one — the interest differential flows to you daily (rollover).
Trend
The dominant direction of the price (up, down, or sideways). "The trend is your friend" — trade with the trend, not against it.Higher highs and higher lows = uptrend.
Pip
The smallest standard price move in forex (usually the 4th decimal place). The unit of measure for profit, loss, and stop distances.EUR/USD from 1.0850 to 1.0851 = 1 pip.
⚙️ Mgmt
Rollover
Switching to the next contract before the current one expires (futures). In forex, also the daily interest adjustment applied to open positions.
Stop-Loss
A pre-defined exit price that limits your loss. Essential for directional trades — the most important discipline of all.Entry 100, stop at 93 → max 7% loss.
Position Sizing
How large a position you choose, measured by risk per trade (e.g., 1% of account). More important for survival than your win rate.$10,000 account, 1% risk = max $100 loss per trade.
Structure:
Carry: Long high-yield currency vs. Short low-yield (e.g. AUDJPY)
Trend following: 200-day MA as filter, MACD/ADX as trigger
Wide stops (forex volatility), small position size
Monitor daily rollover rates
1
Choose a currency pair with a positive interest differential (carry) in trend direction — you earn rollover interest.
2
Enter in the direction of the trend — not against the carry.
3
✅ Trend + carry both running? Hold the position, collect daily carry, trail the stop.
4
⚠️ Trend reverses / risk-off phase? Carry trades unwind fast — get out.
5
🔔 Before major central bank events? Reduce risk.
✅ Carry pays daily
✅ Diversification from equities portfolio
✅ Interest rate cycle edge
⚠️ Tail risks during crisis events (carry unwinds)
⚠️ High volatility during news phases
⚠️ Spreads on exotic pairs expensive
3.
Commodity Calendar / Inter-Month Spread
🛢️ Futures↔️
★★★☆☆
Long/Short different delivery months of the same commodity future — trade the shape of the forward curve (Contango vs. Backwardation) rather than price direction.
Contango: distant delivery months more expensive (rising curve). Backwardation is the mirror — distant months cheaper.
Forward Curve
Shape
Typical Spread
Contango
distant months more expensive (rising)
Short far · Long near
Backwardation
distant months cheaper (falling)
Long far · Short near
Driver
Storage costs · carry · seasonality
Spread margin vs. outright
▸ At a Glance
📋 Setup
Same commodity, two delivery monthsSpread marginHold period weeksseasonal bias
⚙️ Mgmt
Roll before first notice dayTight spread stop (spread points)Respect seasonal windowCheck liquidity of both months
🎯 Target
Capture forward curve convergence/divergencereduced marginlower outright risk than naked future
📋 Setup
Contango / Backwardation
Shape of the futures curve: contango = later contracts more expensive; backwardation = cheaper. Critical for calendar spreads and roll costs.
Contract (Futures)
The trading unit for futures — standardized in size and expiration. One contract controls a large notional value (leveraged via margin).1 ES contract = 50× the S&P 500 index value.
Seasonality
Statistically recurring price patterns at certain times of year. A tendency, not a law — always cross-check with the current trend.Heating oil tends to be strong before winter; grains around harvest time.
Spread
A combination of two options — one bought, one sold. This limits both risk AND profit while requiring less capital than a single option.Sell Put 525 + buy Put 515 = Bull Put Spread, risk capped at 10 points.
⚙️ Mgmt
Rollover
Switching to the next contract before the current one expires (futures). In forex, also the daily interest adjustment applied to open positions.
Stop-Loss
A pre-defined exit price that limits your loss. Essential for directional trades — the most important discipline of all.Entry 100, stop at 93 → max 7% loss.
Structure:
Check forward curve: Contango (distant months more expensive) or Backwardation (distant months cheaper)
Set up inter-month spread: e.g. Long near month / Short far month (or vice versa)
Evaluate seasonal pattern + storage costs/carry as spread drivers
Roll before first notice day; use spread margin (significantly below outright margin)
1
Trade two contracts of the same commodity with different expirations (e.g., buy the near, sell the far).
2
Pay attention to the curve shape: contango vs. backwardation determines direction.
3
✅ Curve shape develops as expected (often seasonal)? Close the spread.
4
⚠️ Curve flips? Spread risk is more limited than outright — still set a stop.
5
🔔 Before expiration of the near contract? Roll in time.
✅ Reduced spread margin
✅ Lower directional risk than outright
✅ Seasonally often well-forecastable
⚠️ Roll risk (first notice / delivery)
⚠️ Seasonality is essential — if the pattern breaks, the spread flips
⚠️ Two contracts = two commissions
4.
Seasonality Futures
🛢️ Futures📈📉
★★★☆☆
Trade recurring seasonal patterns — natural gas winter demand, grain harvest cycle, gold strength in Q1. Statistical recurrence as edge.
Stylized natural gas seasonal curve: summer low, rise into winter demand. Enter/exit within the seasonal window by calendar, not gut feeling.
Seasonal Window
Asset
Typical Direction
Oct–Jan
Natural Gas
📈 long (winter demand)
After harvest
Grains
📉 short (supply pressure)
Q1
Gold
📈 long (demand season)
▸ At a Glance
📋 Setup
Seasonal window with min. 15 yrs historyHit rate above 70%Stop on pattern breakPosition size by vol
⚙️ Mgmt
Window discipline (entry/exit by calendar, not gut feeling)Stop on structural breakMind sample biasWatch for news overrides
🎯 Target
Capture the average seasonal moveclearly defined time windowdiversified vs. equity portfolio
📋 Setup
Seasonality
Statistically recurring price patterns at certain times of year. A tendency, not a law — always cross-check with the current trend.Heating oil tends to be strong before winter; grains around harvest time.
Contract (Futures)
The trading unit for futures — standardized in size and expiration. One contract controls a large notional value (leveraged via margin).1 ES contract = 50× the S&P 500 index value.
Trend
The dominant direction of the price (up, down, or sideways). "The trend is your friend" — trade with the trend, not against it.Higher highs and higher lows = uptrend.
⚙️ Mgmt
Stop-Loss
A pre-defined exit price that limits your loss. Essential for directional trades — the most important discipline of all.Entry 100, stop at 93 → max 7% loss.
🎯 Target
Risk/Reward Ratio (R)
The ratio of potential gain to risk. At roughly 2:1 or better, you can be profitable even with a win rate below 50%.$100 risk for $300 potential gain = 3R.
Structure:
Check seasonal chart over at least 10–15 years (hit rate + average move)
Select seasonal window + asset (e.g. natural gas long Oct→Jan, grains short after harvest)
Enter at window start, exit at window end — do not wait for perfect timing
Stop against structural break (weather/geopolitics overrides seasonality)
1
Choose a statistically recurring seasonal pattern (e.g., heating oil in autumn, grain cycles).
2
Enter at the historical window start — ONLY if the current trend confirms the pattern.
3
✅ Season playing out as historically? Hold to the window end; take partial profits.
4
⚠️ Price ignores the season? Seasonality is a tendency, not a law — respect the stop.
5
🔔 Window end reached? Close on schedule — regardless of profit or loss.
Place buy/sell orders at fixed intervals above and below the price (grid). Profits from oscillation in sideways phases — no directional forecast needed.
Price oscillates in a range between fixed grid levels. Buy limits below, sell limits above — each level captures one grid-interval profit.
Parameter
Example
Grid interval
20 pips
Lot per level
equal (no martingale)
Take-profit
1 grid interval per level
Equity stop
Mandatory — trend = grid fills up
▸ At a Glance
📋 Setup
Range marketfixed grid interval (pips)equal lot size per levelhard equity stopsufficient free margin
⚙️ Mgmt
Equity stop mandatory (trend = grid fills up)no martingale doublingclose grid immediately on trend breakoutkeep large margin buffer
🎯 Target
Skim oscillation in rangesautomatablemany small gains per level
📋 Setup
Grid
A grid of buy and sell orders placed at fixed intervals. Profits from oscillations in a sideways range — dangerous during strong breakouts.
Support & Resistance
Price zones where buyers (support) or sellers (resistance) have dominated in the past. Key entry/exit reference points.
⚙️ Mgmt
Position Sizing
How large a position you choose, measured by risk per trade (e.g., 1% of account). More important for survival than your win rate.$10,000 account, 1% risk = max $100 loss per trade.
Stop-Loss
A pre-defined exit price that limits your loss. Essential for directional trades — the most important discipline of all.Entry 100, stop at 93 → max 7% loss.
Structure:
Identify range market (no strong trend, clear upper/lower boundary)
Define grid interval + lot size per level (e.g. every 20 pips)
Stack buy limits below, sell limits above the current price
Take-profit per level = 1 grid interval; hard equity stop mandatory
1
In a sideways range, place a grid of buy and sell orders at fixed intervals.
2
Each order captures a small profit when the next level is reached.
3
✅ Market stays in the range? The grid profits from the oscillations.
4
⚠️ Market breaks strongly out of the range? Biggest risk — set a hard overall stop; otherwise you risk blowing the account.
5
🔔 Position sizing? Keep it small — grids without stops blow up accounts.
✅ No directional forecast needed
✅ Fully automatable
✅ Works well in sideways markets
⚠️ High risk in strong trend (grid fills up, cumulative loss)