How To Scalp When Trade Goes Wrong Introduction

When you are scalping futures, you most likely will be using the order flow as your guiding light. This means, that you are adjusting to what you see. You are much more flexible yet responsible for managing your risk well. Many times, you won’t have a fixed stop. You will have a stop range in which you operate and you will adjust based on the incoming data.

In this blog post, we will break down the EMINI S&P500 trade that went wrong. When this trade idea develops differently than expected, we use new information to trade around what we see. The goal of scalping is to stay flexible and open-minded, not rigid and closed-minded. If you are into scalping, don’t forget to check our previous post 2 Ways To Scalp The Exhaustion Move.

This article is based on the video down below.

The Scalping Trade Idea

Introduction

This trade idea is about what to do when a trade goes wrong. We are not aiming for high ticks, but a nice quick scalp. It is all about the order-flow. Given that we are in the uptrend, we want to use that trend in our favor. There is a nice little flag forming at the top extreme of the trend. The idea is to observe the order-flow first and spot the opportunity to access the trade.

We understand the bigger picture:

• trending day
• flag forming
• order-flow absorbing

Now it is all about the location. Where is the best place to enter?

Accessing The Scalp Idea

The moment we understand the direction, we are looking for absorption. We are trying to understand the reference points. The absorption level is not necessarily the place to access the trade, because many times, there will be probes both up and down beneath and above the absorption just to test the strength of buyers and sellers.

If you observe the price action starting at 9:09, you can understand that

• absorption happens around 70
• the good location to get long is at 67 (in direction of the trending day)
• possibly if you want to add into the flag short, the fade starts at 71

You enter at 67 and you know that the probe might get you offsite a bit. But given the structure, you don’t expect a bigger drop. This is the location where you are considering entering long. But, the second you enter, the market immediately drops two points. So what do you do?

When Scalp Goes Wrong

Your trade dropped from 67 to 65 very quickly. You have two options:

• Observe the 65-67 action – if 67 cannot be traded over multiple attempts – cover your long trade and call it a trade

or

• observe 65, this is your new reference point – the same applies like in the example above. Observe attempts at 65. If multiple attempts fail, get long to cover some at 67 and hold the rest at least to 71 and beyond.

Key Takeaway

The goal of scalping is to stay flexible and open-minded, not rigid and closed-minded. Do not average down. Have pre-set order-flow rules that can work with new information quickly. Scalping is a game of absolutely straightforward decision-making. No, what if, should have, would have. Stay focused, don’t average, and constantly check if you are sticking to your scalping rules. Those rules will differ from your swing rules. Be aware of the difference. If you can’t make the rules as clear as possible, stop scalping and make some time for defining the rules.

If you want to learn how Axia Traders trade other volume-derived patterns, visit the free workshop we are running at: https://go.elitetraderworkshop.com/Free

If you liked this type of content, you might check these videos as well:

• How To Manage & Exit A Failed Breakout Trade
• Sign Of A Breakout About To Fail – Price Ladder Trading
• Market Profile Trading: Better Breakouts with Context and Volume Profiling

Do you like what you have been reading? If you would like to improve your game, definitely check one of our courses that teach you all the techniques presented by AXIA traders from a market profile, footprint, or order-flow. If you are someone who likes to trade the news, we have a great central bank course. And if you are really serious about your future trading career, consider taking AXIA’s 6-Week Intensive High-Performance Trading Course.

Thanks for reading again and until next time, trade well.

JK

2 Ways To Scalp The Exhaustion Move Introduction

In this blog post, we will discuss two ways to scalp the exhaustion move. In trading, exhaustion moves are usually characterized as short-term extensive runs that have a one-time-framing character. The end of the exhaustion move can provide a short-term scalping opportunity that can be spotted by using the price ladder and order-flow reading skills. The idea behind profit-taking in the exhaustion move is its’s nature to mean revert. Simply, the move has traveled “too far” and participants have lost the energy to push the move forward. If you like scalping patterns, don’t forget to check our previous article about the Jump Orderflow Pattern. Let’s get to it.

Exhaustion Move Trading Examples

Trading Exhaustion Move In British Pound

As described in the introduction, the exhaustion move is a move that is one-directional, is one-time-framing (has a sequence of higher lows for an up move or a sequence of lower highs for a down move), and has usually increased volatility.

In this exhaustion move, we are looking for the order-flow pattern that can signal the short-term end of the move. We must be aware that this is a short-term scalp and quite a dangerous one if we forget the rules about the nature of this move. What are those rules:

• short-term scalp – you are going for a quick profit, not a big distance target
• one clip type of trade – this is not your full-size type of trade, you go with your Tier 1 size
• try once and move away type of trade – if by any chance the move keeps on going higher (or lower), let it go, don’t try the trade over and over. You might be facing a trending day, a day where you can do big damage to your account if you are trying to pick the top or bottom
• you are essentially fading the high or low of the day, therefore the previous rule is very important
• you only trade when the order-flow pattern appears

Down below you can see all the criteria we have described in a trade.

Zooming in on the order-flow pattern, watch as the pattern starts here. Now if you watch carefully the video, you can see the last flick up. That last move signals that people are forced to buy, not choose to buy. It is that sudden change in the rotation when the price drops quicker down and can’t lift the offer anymore. That struggle to lift the offer to take the last high is our order-flow pattern and our moment to initiate the scalp short.

Trading Exhaustion Move In Bund

Now let’s have a look at a different example. In this case, we can see an over-extended move as well. In this case, the market stretched itself without moving value.

Order-flow starts here. Again watch the order-flow and observe the pattern. This time it is different. This time, there is no flick up (excess), but an absorption. Every time we are trying to lift the offer, someone is happy to sit there and absorb. Given we are over-extended, and the location of value, we can target this trade further down. This is not a scalp like in our previous example but a trade we can hold for bit longer. The idea is still the same, reversion to the mean.

Watch both examples. Try to understand the difference. Understand the risk profile of this trade. When do you scalp and when you are holding short-term swing? Use the clues we have discussed and never fight the trend. If you are wrong once, there is a chance you will get it wrong a few more times before the market turns. Don’t fight it, move on to another trading idea.

If you want to learn how Axia Traders trade other volume-derived patterns, visit the free workshop we are running at: https://go.elitetraderworkshop.com/Free

If you liked this type of content, you might check these videos as well:

• How To Trade Using CUMULATIVE DELTA | Axia Futures
• 2 Ways Of Using Volume Delta | Axia Futures
• Cumulative Delta Explained [CONTINUATION vs REVERSAL] | Axia Futures

If you like our content and would like to improve your game, definitely check one of our courses that teach you all the techniques presented by AXIA traders from a market profile, footprint, or order-flow. If you are someone who likes to trade the news, we have a great central bank course. And if you are really serious about your future trading career, consider taking AXIA’s 6-Week Intensive High-Performance Trading Course.

Thanks for reading and until next time, trade well.

JK

Volume Delta Reversal Trade Introduction

In this blog post, we will review a volume delta reversal trade strategy. Volume delta gives us an indication of the aggressiveness of market participants. Who is passive and who is initiative reveals market dynamics and its intention. But volume delta never works in the isolation, it is about what happens next, how the price reacts after the intention has been revealed. There are trade strategies, like the one we will describe in the DAX trade, that rely on Cumulative Volume Delta. Specifically, on its relationship with price direction. Since we will be using Cumulative Volume Delta, a great place to start and understand it better is in our previous post: “Cumulative Market Volume Delta”.

This article is based on the video down below:

Volume Delta Reversal Trade

Cumulative Volume Delta DAX Trade

In this trade, we will be looking at the range breakout trade that got reversed. Within the breakout, we have a nice twist, a little catalyst which was the false break to the upside first. Together with the downward-sloping trend, we are set for the breakout to the downside. As we are breaking down, we expect a follow through of the move, pickup in pace, simply sellers to be in control. But! Thats not what has actually happened.

As we are breaking down, we can see our cumulative delta keep rising. The rotations have deeper pullbacks, not really a sign of the strong initiative. Ranges are not holding to the tick after the break, they keep trying to expand back to the previous range. Higher lows, are being formed after the low has been made.

As the descending wedge is being formed, higher lows placed in and rising cumulative volume delta suggest that there is an opportunity for a squeeze again to the upside. A double squeezed range, great :).

Trade Management

You have basically two ways how you can play this. Either for a quick scalp once the higher lower has been confirmed or on the break of the wedge playing for a full reversal. First target would be the previous high of the interim 1minute range, second would be the opposite of the range where we initially falsed break to the upside. Stop below the low of the range after we broke the wedge.

Cumulative Volume Delta EURO Trade

This trade is the other variation on the Cumulative Volume Delta but opposite. Thats why it is so important to confirm Delta by price action and orderflow, not just Delta itself.

In this case, we are looking at EURO, where sellers are passively absorbing large selling. Big buyers absorbing the selling pressure and price not moving down. Again, sign that we might be heading for a breakout out of the range. And so we did. Although it was only for a scalp, absorption possibly gave conviction to those that played for a breakout of the other side.

What is the lesson from this last trade in EURO? Think about participants, someone big had a business to do, he did not have to hide through iceberg and simply absorbed passively the selling pressure. Then comes the break out of the range. Knowing the Cumulative Delta Absorption, would you be more confident to hit the long break out of the range? Let us know how would you tackle this trade in the comments under the video.

If you want to learn how Axia Traders trade other volume-derived patterns, visit the free workshop we are running at: https://go.elitetraderworkshop.com/Free

If you liked this type of content, you might check these videos as well:

• How To Trade Using CUMULATIVE DELTA | Axia Futures
• 2 Ways Of Using Volume Delta | Axia Futures
• Cumulative Delta Explained [CONTINUATION vs REVERSAL] | Axia Futures

If you like our content and would like to improve your game, definitely check one of our courses that teach you all the techniques presented by AXIA traders from a market profile, footprint, or order-flow. If you are someone who likes to trade the news, we have a great central bank course. And if you are really serious about your future trading career, consider taking AXIA’s 6-Week Intensive High-Performance Trading Course.

Thanks for reading and until next time, trade well.

JK

Lessons From Managing The Price Ladder Trade Introduction

In this blog post, we will review lessons from managing the price ladder trade. We will take three different styles of managing the trade using a price ladder. The first example will capture a trade triggered by news executed in multiple products, two other trades were triggered by a technical setup. We will introduce trades and then focus on the particular management style used during the trade. We will ask questions that should give you insight into particular points of the management style. If you are interested in price ladder trades example, don’t forget to check our previous post: Elite Trader Trades False Break Setup With 200 Lots.

Price Ladder Trades

AXIA Elite Trader Trades a Trump Tweet 

Theme: This live trading replay shows how an elite trader on the Axia Trading Floor executed multiple trades across three markets in response to a tweet by President Donald Trump on August 10th, 2018 at about 13.47 GMT+1. Adam walks us through an order flow analysis of this trader’s price ladder execution. Trump’s tweet relating to the Turkish crisis theme saw reactions in the Lira (weakening against the USD), acting as a gauge for flows into the Euro, Dax, and Bunds. The trader reacted to this by buying safe-haven Bunds and selling Dax and EURUSD futures.

With the lagging reaction in the Euro, having not moved as far as the Dax and Bund, the trader worked more size into his position, looking for a quick blip down. This hypothesis held while the Dax continued pushing its lows and the Bund held higher prices. When the Bund then failed to pop its high and the Lira continued to pull back, the trader recognized this fact and immediately sized down his trades.

Price ladder: recording starts at 5:27

Execution style: Aggressive, taking profits by laying down small clips

Questions:

1. What correlations did this trader use to have a conviction in his Bund trade?
2. How this trader managed the early squeeze that put him under pressure?
3. What was the style of taking profits and managing risk?

How To Cut & Reverse When Heavy Selling Dries Up

Theme: In this trade example, we are looking at the Bund. Originally we wanted to sell and follow through with the lower prices but the moment the sellers really stepped in, something changed. Here are the clues that led us to cut and reverse the position from short to long based on the price ladder:

• heavy selling stopped the moment we touched the 166.30 – the first sign of a personality shift (we have turned the heavy selling into very little selling into the lows)
• we have absorption from the sell side, someone passively absorbing at 33 but no one is willing to hit the 32
• an attractive bid of 1000 teasing the sellers but nobody is willing to get closer to the bid, again signs of sellers not willing to hit lower prices
• when the absorption level fails at 33, that is the first crack in our plan to go short
• we start to hold above 33 and start to move up, then a little flick to test the 33 but again, no one selling below that point

Execution style: Patient, relying on the participants that are in control, keeping trade as long as buyers are in control

Price ladder: recording starts at 5:15

Questions:

1. What was the general theme for sellers the moment we touched 166.30?
2. How would you describe price ladder personality before and after we touched 166.30?
3. What was the point to get long on the price ladder? Hint at 5:15.

Junior Trader Reviews Dax Trade On Cash Open | Axia Futures

Theme: In this trader training video Adam reviews his technical trade in the DAX just before the cash open which is 8 AM. He looks at high time frame moves on the daily chart with clear targets. Then he looks at the market profile weekly and daily before showing his execution on the price ladder. The other markets he looks at for correlation are the Yen, T-Note, Gold & Spoo. Adam ends off this video by looking at the 1-minute chart and where he executed his trade in the Dax.

Execution style: Semi-aggressive, willing to stand through larger short-term pullbacks while momentum keeps pushing price higher

Price ladder: recording starts at 14:53

Questions:

1. What specific correlation did Adam lean on to have a conviction in the trade?
2. Out of 5 lots, how many lots this trader used to get the trade going and why?
3. What was the best practice to add additional size to the trade? Initiative lifting the offer of passive entries?

Let us know your answers under the videos. Thanks for reading.

If you liked this type of content, you might check these videos as well:

• How To Manage & Exit A Failed Breakout Trade
• Sign Of A Breakout About To Fail – Price Ladder Trading
• Market Profile Trading: Better Breakouts with Context and Volume Profiling

Do you like what you have been reading? If you would like to improve your game, definitely check one of our courses that teach you all the techniques presented by AXIA traders from a market profile, footprint, or order-flow. If you are someone who likes to trade the news, we have a great central bank course. And if you are really serious about your future trading career, consider taking AXIA’s 6-Week Intensive High-Performance Trading Course.

Thanks for reading again and until next time, trade well.

JK

How To Trade Iceberg Using A Price Ladder Introduction

In this article, we will review how to trade an iceberg using a price ladder. We will do a breakdown of two examples in Oil and EMINI S&P500. Both executions described below are about a break through the iceberg. What has happened just prior to breaking the iceberg and seconds after we broke the iceberg. The latter is very important because it can present you with a very nice scalp opportunity and well-defined risk that we will try to break down for you. If you would like to find out more about other price ladder techniques, check out our previous post about a JUMP trade price ladder strategy.

Trading The Iceberg

What Is An Iceberg?

Before we jump into the actual explanation of the trade strategy, let’s briefly discuss what an iceberg is. In a nutshell, an iceberg is a specific price level where large absorption of volume happens. This large trade is usually done by bigger, possibly institution players, that simply have a large trade to execute and have decided for a specific price to do so.

Choosing an iceberg strategy for the execution does not show all the cards straight away so it is not obvious from the price ladder at the first sight. And that is where we ,intraday traders, come in to utilize the power of price ladder.

Trading Iceberg In Oil

Let’s start with an example from Oil. Market bid in the afternoon only to get to 73 level. There was very little chance you could have a picked 73 level for a place where the market would find resistance. As we were approaching 73, we can see there is large absorption happening there. A chance for an iceberg.

Given the pace with which we are approaching an iceberg, we should act quickly. The moment the iceberg will go, we should jump in. We can either use stop market order, hit the market the moment iceberg breaks or lay down the bids after the break (like Richard did in this example). It is all about what happens in the next few seconds after iceberg breaks. That is our scalp opportunity. Let’s break it down.

Watch the trade from here and ask yourself what you have seen seconds after we broke through 73. Here are some questions to ask yourself seconds after the iceberg breaks:

• what is the pace after we broke the iceberg? Same / Increased / Decreased?
• what does the change in pace mean?
• did the JUMP price action on the price ladder happen?
• was the LVN created after we broke the iceberg?
• after we broke the iceberg, have selling increased?
• is buying still persistent after the break?

We can see that the pace is the same and slightly increased (good), LVN was left behind by JUMP(good), no selling increased (good), and we got sticky bid/buying is still persistent (good). We have a clear invalidation point below 73 and we can hold the trade as long as the pace and LVN left behind hold.

Good trade.

Trading Iceberg In EMINI S&P500

Let’s zoom in on the EMINI S&P500 iceberg trade example. In this case, an iceberg was spotted at the 00 level (see footprint down below) and created an opportunity for an iceberg breakout.

Since we are focusing only on the breakout of the iceberg I want you to revisit the Oil trade and apply these questions:

• where would you enter the trade?
• what would you want to see prior to and after the break?
• what would invalidate your trade?

Although we don’t have a recording of the price ladder, we can identify that LVN and JUMP were clearly present judging by the footprint chart (see blue circle). The market did not get back below the iceberg price and run higher after the break. Again, a well-defined opportunity with a clear invalidation price.

If you want to learn how Axia Traders trade other price ladder patterns, visit the free workshop we are running at: https://go.elitetraderworkshop.com/Free

If you liked this type of content, you might check these videos as well:

• How to Start Using Footprint Charts | Axia Futures
• How To Become A Better Trader | Axia Futures
• What Really Good Footprint Action Looks Like | Axia Futures

If you like our content and would like to improve your game, definitely check one of our courses that teach you all the techniques presented by AXIA traders from a market profile, footprint, or order-flow. If you are someone who likes to trade the news, we have a great central bank course. And if you are really serious about your future trading career, consider taking AXIA’s 6-Week Intensive High-Performance Trading Course.

Thanks for reading and until next time, trade well.

JK

Use This Volume Pattern To Manage Your Trade – Introduction

In this article, we will discuss how to manage a breakout trade using a specific volume order-flow pattern. We will have a look at two order flow examples and identify key patterns that you could use to manage your trade. We will have a look at the DAX breakout trade that worked out and the EMINI S&P500 trade that failed. There will be one order flow pattern, that both trades share that can give you an early clue if you should stay in the trade. If you are interested in other volume order flow examples, don’t forget to check one of our previous articles: “Elite Trader Execution In The Bond Space”.

Trading Context

DAX Jump Breakout Pattern

In this trade example, we will be looking at the DAX trade. For the sake of the context, we know that DAX had a false break attempt higher and that is partially fueling the move down. Here is the chart of the DAX:

The P shape profile suggests there has been a positioning build that will require some unwinding. Short-term longs will have to cover as soon as we will be breaking 13299 zone.

Now to the one volume pattern, that is worth highlighting. We will call this pattern a Jump Flow pattern.

Jump Flow Price Ladder Pattern

The pattern I am about to describe is easy to spot, but there are a few nuances you need to be aware of. As the name suggests, this pattern is appearant by the “jump in the orderflow” on the price ladder (DOM), hence the Jump pattern. The key bit here is, that the space that got left behind (also called low volume node) won’t get traded back and there is the limited response from the other side. In essence what you want to see is:

• a jump on the price ladder
• happening at the key location (not just any location)
• with prior pressure built to support the move – in the DAX example the false range break and LH onetimeframing
• with low volume area left behind after the jump
• and very limited responsive action – in the DAX example, no strong buyers stepped in to lift the offer

That last bullet point is as crucial as the jump itself. In our DAX example, all bullet points can be checked and the market offered another 50 ticks lower the moment the jump order-flow pattern appeared.

Now, take this information and go test your skills if you can spot it. The video starts at 4:16 and within the next 15 seconds, you should spot this pattern.

EMINI S&P500 Jump Breakout Pattern

Now, let’s have a look at a different example but this time, the jump pattern fails. This time, you will recognize it since you have watched the DAX video, and this time you should know what to do.

Context first: EMINI S&P500, we have a level at 4380 that got tested multiple times last week, this week, and today with 220 lots traded. We are looking for a break, we have a catalyst behind us in form of news. What we are looking for now is “how the market will react to that level“. Effectively this is a poor high break and we are here to exploit this extreme with our volume jump strategy.

Now back to the order-flow. The moment we have jumped, we put in low volume area. The moment we did, we want to see the continuation and limited response from sellers. What do we get instead? The exact opposite. After a couple of minutes of stalling, we see responsive sellers filling the low-volume area. Another bad sign. This is a sign for us to get out. The trade has not worked out.

Now, go and check the video yourself. The video starts at 18:03. Identify all the points mentioned above and try to reflect on the difference between both trades. Both DAX and EMINI S&P500 shared the same pattern but produced different results. Break it down and learn from it.  If you want to learn how Axia Traders trade other order-flow patterns, visit the free workshop we are running at: https://go.elitetraderworkshop.com/Free

PS: don’t jump into every jump pattern you see, be selective where you will put your money at risk

If you liked this type of content, you might check these videos as well:

• AXIA Junior Funded Trader Remains Composed After Missing Vaccine comment Live Trading
• AXIA Elite Trader trades Gilts & GBP On Bank of England Rate Decision
• AXIA Elite Trader Attacks 4 Markets On July 19 FOMC Rate Decision And Presser

If you like our content and would like to improve your game, definitely check one of our courses that teach you all the techniques presented by AXIA traders from a market profile, footprint, or order-flow. If you are someone who likes to trade the news, we have a great central bank course. And if you are really serious about your future trading career, consider taking AXIA’s 6-Week Intensive High-Performance Trading Course.

Thanks for reading and until next time, trade well.

JK

Elite Trader Execution In The Bond Space Introduction

In this article, we will have a look at the Elite Trader execution in the bond space. Specifically, we will have a look at two individual trades executed in the German Bund from the Axia Elite Trader playlist. Both trades were executed on the back of fundamental catalysts, the French election, and ECB Press Conference. Although both trades happen to be executed in the same product, their nature and management style is very different.

Each video will be accompanied by a theme and a learning question dedicated to improving your trade management skills so you can make the most out of the order flow mastery of these traders. On the importance of high-quality questions, we have also written an article (Trading Techniques To Become More Profitable Trader) you might find helpful.

Axia Futures Elite Traders Playlist

In case you have missed this, there is a whole list of high-quality content of Elite Traders videos that we have shared with the trading community:

Click on the image above or this link to find the full list.

Elite Trader Execution

Elite Trade Execution In German Bund During ECB Press Conference

Theme: This price ladder and order flow session looks at the unique execution style of one of the elite traders on the Axia Futures trading desk. Even during a relatively quiet ECB Press Conference, we look at how he was still able to scale up a position of over 200 lots with only 1 tick of risk.

In slower market conditions good risk-reward opportunities are what matters most, and knowing how to leverage up with greater conviction. Adam notes that one of the factors helping this trader have confidence in the trade was the negative correlation between the EURUSD and Bund futures market.

With small targets, this trader was able to dynamically manage his size and never risked going more than 1-2 ticks offside. As the Euro began taking out its low, the trader slowly fed clips into the Bund market. However, he was equally quick to scale out of the trade, as the last thing anyone wants is to be caught offside during a risk event by a surprise statement while trading large size.

Finally, after seeing a maximum extension of 10 ticks in the Bund, the Euro began showing signs of bouncing and provided the extra information this trader needed in order to scale right down and be on the watch for the completion of the move.

Execution: Starting with 20lots, the trader starts slowly. While Euro is hitting the lows, this trader adds passively to his trade increasing size to 50 lots and then to 130 lots. The goal of this trader is to constantly lay orders to get in and out sizing up to the total of 190 lots and scaling out with 10 lots per price. As the trade gets closer to the highs, this trader narrows down his focus even more because the market can become more reactive at the highs. He is not willing to get any major exposure right at the highs that would endanger his position or his profits. Given the reaction at the highs, he is not stubborn and scales down back from 190lots to 50lots but holds his core position open.

As the Euro takes the lows again, this trader is willing to put back more size. Laying down the bids at 11 and 12. Getting filled at 12, with 80 lots, adding more size at the 13. If Euro takes the low, we should see the highs get taken again in the Bund. He adds additional 30lots but being filled only partially this is a good sign that market might start lifting the offer more aggressively. With Euro still hugging lows, this move has at least 5-10ticks more to go. Given the increased speed of the move, he starts to scale down with only 5lots instead of 10 to stay in the move as long as possible until the trade reaches the desired target and the pace slows down.

Price ladder recording starts here.

Questions:

1. What was the correlation this trader was leaning on?
2. What was the scaling-out technique when the trade started to work well in a favor of the trader?
3. How the trader reacted, when the market reached the highs for the first time?

Elite Trade Execution In German Bund On French Elections

Theme: This trader executes immediately at the Eurex open in the German Bund. The expectation is for the German Bund to react immediately after the open and follow lower given the result of the election. The main goal is to get as aggressive as possible right at the open.

Price ladder recording starts here.

Execution: The trader gets 161.52 with 14lots, quickly increasing to 74lots with an average of 161.45. Exits the majority of the position quickly leaving 10lots and starts adding again.

Scales up to 100lots again seeing 2324 lots (see image below) on the offer giving him extra confidence. Market can’t offer anymore and quickly lifts the offer moving higher through the original 2324 at the offer that gets pulled. This is a signal for a trader to scale down dramatically back to the 24 lots.  Holding the average size for a while getting squeezed a bit and adding back again up to 88 lots as the price starts to move lower. As the pace slows down, you can see how this trader slowly winds down the position and keep the average size around 20-30lots until the trade potential fizzles out.

Questions:

1. When did the trader initiate his first trade?
2. What was the scaling-out strategy of this trader?
3. How did the trader manage his size when he got offside?
4. What did the trader do with his size when the 2329 lot got pulled from the offer?

Now go back to the recordings and rewatch the price ladder execution for yourself. Seek answers to the questions above. Also, if you want to find out, how to recognize price ladder personality shift and exit trade ahead of the crowd for the best possible price, join us at the free webinar we are running at: https://www.elitetraderworkshop.com.

Thanks for reading.

Don’t forget to check out articles you might also like:

• AXIA Elite Trader Executes a Smash & Grab Trade on ECB Minutes | Axia Futures

• AXIA Elite Trader Trades a Trump Tweet | Axia Futures

• AXIA Elite Trader Trades the ECB Press Conference | Axia Futures

If you like our content and would like to improve your game, definitely check one of our courses that teach you all the techniques presented by AXIA traders from a market profile, footprint, or order-flow. If you are someone who likes to trade the news, we have a great central bank course. And if you are really serious about your future trading career, consider taking AXIA’s 6-Week Intensive High-Performance Trading Course.

Trade well.

JK

Prop Trading Risk Management Tips Introduction

In this blog post, we will review several prop trading risk management tips. As traders, watching the risk should be our number one priority. Especially when we start, our goal is to stay in the game as long as possible. Our goal is to learn, experience different environments, and find a trading style that suits us. At this stage it is not about making money, but about not losing our account so we can be here for the next trading day. We have broken down three trading risk management tips that we constantly trying to work on. Dynamic sizing on high conviction setups, the ability to zoom out to stay objective, and the ability to recognize a change in our trade assumptions before they turn into a losing trade.

Three Tips To Improve Your Risk Management

Zooming Out In Your Trades

During this session from the trading floor, Isaac explained his lessons from taking a hit during the Iran Oil deal. To every market-moving news, there is a rhythm we should be aware of. In this particular case, the lessons for this young trader were:

1. The subtle the announcement is, the more time it will be necessary for the market to price in the news
2. The price ladder during these times can be too narrow, you must zoom out
3. You will need to understand the broader structure to attack the market with manageable risk

Here is a debrief of the trade after it dropped 600 ticks in a not so straight away fashion.

Actionable Risk Management Takeaway

Price action must confirm our thesis, otherwise, we are either too early or the market simply does not care.

ZOOM OUT to get the perspective on the market response and market structure

Absorption

In this case, the risk management tip is all about recognizing that the anticipated move ain’t gonna happen. Tools such as Footprint and Price-ladder can help you greatly. If you want to learn more about how our traders use these tools, don’t forget to check the free webinar we are running at: https://www.elitetraderworkshop.com.

Recognizing the absorption on the Footprint could not only save you from a loss of a short trade but also that fast change that happened at the opposite inflection point (higher part of the range) could have been your trigger for a long trade.

Actionable Risk Management Takeaway

After absorption occures, a sudden pickup of pace at the opposite inflection point leads to a new vertical move

Dynamic Risk Management

Opportunity is independent of time.

When you lose a lot in a high conviction trade and you get stopped out for a day, you should not just pack things and head home. Especially if there is a high chance of another high conviction trade around the corner. As long as our mental state is in a good shape, we should be able to push for more. Ask for more risk and dynamically manage our risk. That’s how professional risk management should be done thriving for maximizing the opportunity independent of time.

Actionable Risk Management Takeaway

Dynamic position sizing is one of the strongest weapons Elite traders have

Thanks for reading. If you liked this type of content, you might check these videos as well:

• Junior Funded Trader 2020 Performance Review
• Lessons From My Biggest Trading Loss
• Trader Training: How Long Does it Take a Trader to Become Consistent and Profitable | Axia Futures

If you like our content and would like to improve your game, definitely check one of our courses that teach you all the techniques presented by AXIA traders from a market profile, footprint, or order-flow. If you are someone who likes to trade the news, we have a great central bank course. And if you are really serious about your future trading career, consider taking AXIA’s 6-Week Intensive High-Performance Trading Course.

Trade well.

JK

Best Strategies For Trading The Volatility Introduction

This article will discuss the best strategies for trading the volatility. We have seen it over and over again. When the market starts to pick up the volume during the highly volatile days, the order flow gives you much cleaner clues to get into the trade and stay in it. In this post, we will break down an example from the DAX and S&P500, and discuss the best strategies to trade these markets. We will break down examples from 2020 when the pandemic started and the 2022 Russia-Ukraine conflict. If you are interested in other strategies on how to trade volatile markets, definitely check our blog post on How To Trade Geopolitical Conflicts.

Strategies For Trading The Volatility

The article s based on the video down below.

Expectations

When we trade volatile markets, we need to adjust our expectations. Our trades that used to take a couple of handles, can now easily reach 10, 15, 30, or more handles. This means that you need to not only adjust your stops but also your targets. In simple terms, you are going to get paid more, but you will have to sit through a larger drawdown than you are normally used to. This means that you will experience a larger chop than what you are used to and that should not scare you off. It sounds simple and obvious, but for many, it is difficult to change their mindset and accept the environment. What happens next is that you get chopped by larger swings and face unnecessary losses. So the lesson number one is:

• when daily ATR increases, look at your intraday day rotations based on your timeframe and measure the size of the average rotation. You can do that again by using the ATR for the last 20 intraday candles. This way you will have a more systematic way how to measure the risk and set your stops correctly
• for targets using either price targets (next support/resistances) or ATR multiples. We don’t like the ATR multiples very much, because they do not represent the supply/demand targets but rather an artificial number where the market might get extended.

Now that you have the right expectations, let’s move on to the big picture.

Big Picture

Understand your daily and weekly levels. Where they are and how the market reacts to them. Usually, in times of high volatility, daily levels have a higher tendency to get respected. Breaks of significant daily levels can yield large daily swings, that in the normal less volatile conditions would not be possible.

Then when those levels get broken, the expectation is for a follow-through move. Not following every daily level break blindly but again, this is not your normal environment. The environment tends to get more directional and if more significant levels are broken, you can expect the momentum to pick up.

Remember, levels tend to react quickly. There is less time to wait for the confirmation therefore in general you must be more aggressive with your access to the trade.

Trade Examples

Down below we have two charts. First is the chart of the S&P500. You can see that after we broke the daily level, we started a very aggressive swing down. Pullbacks are being sold but also stronger intraday supports are becoming resistances. These flip zones (support becomes resistance) are ideal spots for us to enter and we must be aggressive, we cannot wait for the confirmation.

In the DAX example, we can see the daily level as well. Once we broke the daily level with the momentum, the pullback back to the level was a great opportunity for us to get short. As we have mentioned, in these conditions, we cannot wait for confirmation. The situation in which we trade has changed. Either we will get in on first touch and trade would hold or we would get immediately stopped out. The RR for this move is definitely worth it.

Last but not least is the example of DAX during the 2022 Russia-Ukraine conflict. In this example, we will use the chart from the video down below.

This volatile move is all about selling pressure, something that you won’t be able to see from the candlestick chart. That is why we use price-ladder to understand the flow better and have the best possible location for the execution. If you want to learn how we use the price ladder, don’t forget to check the free webinar we are running at: https://www.elitetraderworkshop.com.

The speed and the relentless selling were great examples of DAX breaking the daily level. Watch the orderflow here.

Trading Volatility Takeaway

Watch your daily levels, reactions should come quickly, and don’t wait too long for a confirmation. Don’t get trapped in the few ticks here and there only to encounter larger losses when you are wrong fast. The name of the game in the highly volatile environment is: “Be aggressive at critical daily levels and hold through initial chop for larger moves”.

If you are interested in trading highly volatile events these are the best resources to get you started:

• How To Trade Geopolitical Conflicts
• Elite Trader Price Ladder Scalping In Bund
• Elite Trader Price Ladder Scalping
• Trading Moderna Vaccine News Across Multiple Markets
• Global Macro Trading: How to trade the ECB Rate Decision
• Trading the Fed Rate Decision

Thanks for reading.

If you like our content and would like to improve your game, definitely check one of our courses that teach you all the techniques presented by AXIA traders from a market profile, footprint, or order-flow. If you are someone who likes to trade the news, we have a great central bank course. And if you are really serious about your future trading career, consider taking AXIA’s 6-Week Intensive High-Performance Trading Course.

Trade well.

JK

How To Trade The Cut And Reverse Trade Introduction

In this blog post series, we will look at how to trade the cut and reverse types of trade. The cut and reverse trade is a trade where we expect scenario A, but as we collect more and more information, we realize that the opposite will most likely happen. Similar trade happened to trader Joe, shared in this article under the “Strategy That Failed To Have Follow Through” section. So what is essential when we cut and reverse the trade? Since this decision is usually made on a spot, we must have clearly defined rules for turning our opinion upside down without overtrading our ideas. Clues such as personality shift, absorption, and LVN’s are crucial information that can trigger our sudden cut and reverse flip trade. Let’s explore those clues in greater detail.

Two Cut And Reverse Trade Examples

The Dax Cut And Reverse Trade

In the example below we can see DAX approaching a key zone (yesterday’s VPOC) we wanted to fade. Our goal was to play the reversal after the intraday exhaustion move as soon as we were given a sign. Once the pin bar appeared, this was our sign with the price ladder confirming action that we can get short. But as soon as we got in, the market started to exhibit a sign of strength, not weakness. Here are the clues that led to cut and reverse trade:

• when sellers approached the previous low, there was no big selling initiated and we have expected that
• when sellers approached the interim lows, the bid started to absorb the light selling
• meanwhile, our VPOC for the day has shifted higher into our reversal zone, which is not a sign of a snap reversal, that is a sign of accepting the value
• seeing an LVN left behind if this picks up through the highs should be no surprise since we are the area of yesterday’s VPOC and our intraday VPOC has just migrated to where we are now

Now with all these signs in a mind, we are looking for heavy selling to start as soon as possible. The more time we spend here, the less likely we will get our reversal. We are aware of the catalyst that would invalidate our reversal trade and signal a cut and reverse trade: a quick jump up that comes exactly at 3:34. That quick jump up is a sign that we should:

• a) cover our position
• b) cut and reverse with a stop below the LVN

The Bund Cut And Reverse Trade

In this trade example, we are looking at the Bund. Originally we wanted to sell and follow through with the lower prices but the moment the sellers really stepped in, something changed. Here are the clues that led us to cut and reverse the position from short to long:

• heavy selling has stopped the moment we touched the 166,30 – the first sign of a personality shift (we have turned the heavy selling into very little selling into the lows)
• we have absorption from the sell side, someone passively absorbing at 33 but no one is willing to hit the 32
• an attractive bid of 1000 teasing the sellers but nobody is willing to get closer to the bid, again signs of sellers not willing to hit lower prices
• when the absorption level fails at 33, that is the first crack in our plan to go short
• we start to hold above 33 and start to move up, then a little flick to test the 33 but again, no one selling below that point

So where and when was the best access to cut and reverse? That last scary flick back to 33 was your chance to get the 34 or 35. Here is the access point in greater detail explained at 5:15.

Thanks for reading.

If you want to learn how we trade the markets in much greater detail, don’t forget to check the free webinar we are running at: https://www.elitetraderworkshop.com.

If you liked this type of content, you might check these videos as well:

• Trading the V Reversal Price Action in the Dax | Axia Futures
• Reversal Entry Trade In The S&P | Axia Futures
• How To Trade The Delta Reversal Strategy [FOOTPRINT CHART]

In case you are interested in finding out more about trader training to learn how to trade and explore other great trading strategies, check out our futures trading course that teaches you exactly that and more. Or if you want to really maximize your ladder execution, check out our price ladder trading course.

Thanks for reading again and until next time, trade well.

JK