Thanks for asking. I'm hesitant to give a date, because I've overshot all the other dates I thought I'd have it complete by. But hopefully before the end of the year. That's my goal now. A lot of work-related projects - and personal projects - have taken precedent this year. It's mostly there - working on the backend of the website right now. Thanks again for your interest. ~ Sam

Thanks for the feedback!

Yes, that is correct. Usually a 4 ES point reaction at these levels is easily attainable. Four points is the minimum and what I call a Base Hit. Thanks!

Thank you for the feedback!

Excellent!

Glad to hear that. Thanks for the feedback!

I use Microsoft Excel for the tracking log.

Thanks for the question. Instead of putting a visible stop loss in the system (which I view as an invitation for them to come and hit it), I use a 40 - 50 cent threshold on the other side of the entry point - equivalent to 4 to 5 ES points. I know from experience that the levels have about an 80% chance of working - at least to provide enough reaction for a small base hit of 4 ES points. If no base hit profit is realized and I start to see certain closes beyond that "fumble threshold" on the other side, I either reverse the position or close it out. That decision is a function of timing and other variables too. So other rules come into play there. You could say that my stops are mental stops. I'm actively managing most of my trades in real time. If you really wanted to put a stop loss in the system after entering a trade, it would probably need to be about 10 points away from your entry. This is because often, trades will get out of the money for a bit while support or resistance is being established, and you'd need to give the trade some leash to play out. Hope this makes sense and answers your question. Thanks! ~ Sam

@@ticksandtrades Thanks for your reply. You mentioned 4-5 point stop loss, however later you said 10 points... so a bit confused as to which one you would use for the "rules" system. Also, you mention "playing by the rules" but I went through most of your videos and could not see where you state what the actual rules are. Sure I have put two and two together and been able to work out bits here and there... but would be useful if I knew the rules with reversals etc... Ive been applying your levels to the ES futures chart the past few days, seem to work well so far....

No worries. The 4 to 5 points isn't a hard stop loss area. It's just what I call a "fumble threshold". If prices gets beyond that threshold, i.e. 4 points out of the money and no base hit has been pulled yet, I'm looking for certain closes beyond that threshold before making the decision to close out the trade at a loss, or reverse and hope to gain more points on the other side. So the stop loss isn't a static amount from the entry point. It can vary. I mentioned 10 points because if you really wanted to key in a hard stop loss limit order in the system, you would typically need at least that much. I don't add static stop limits like that though. That's what I mean by using "mental stops". I always felt that if I have a visible stop in the system, it's an invitation for them to come and hit it and stop me out prematurely. So I use more of an "if X happens, then execute Y" approach in real time. That approach just works for me. And thanks for the feedback about using the levels. The rules I mention in the videos are explained in a detailed trading course I'm developing. The course material will be available via my website when it's complete. This KZbin channel is simply a vehicle to share my trades and touch on the process at a high level. It's not really the place to go into detail about the entire strategy, although I drop a few hints every now and then. There are many lessons in the trading course that teach how to identify your own levels and I explain all the rules of how to trade them. I hope this helps. Thanks for your interest. ~ Sam

Sure thing. I think the gain is high enough without causing distortion now. And I'll see if I can raise the volume in the post-editing too. Thanks for the feedback.

No, I use a different level below the primary support level to gauge whether I should jump out of the trade or reverse. It's what I call the "fumble threshold", and when I show it on the chart, it's always the red line. On a long trade at one of the pre-determined levels when price gets out of the money and it's below that support level, I'm looking for things to happen below the fumble threshold before activating Plan B. This gives the trade more time to develop and more often than not, this extra time is what lets the level work as intended. In the past, too often I jumped out of a trade too early, only to see them begin the bounce after I exited the trade with a loss. So with the fumble threshold and timing rule, I force myself to give the trade more time to develop. It takes trust in the process to watch an out-of-the-money trade float around below the support level, but I know it works the majority of the time. Time is usually more important than price. Hope this makes sense. Thanks for the question! ~ Sam

That's great! I'm glad you were able to hold for more than a base hit. Thanks for sharing! ~ Sam

I understand. Thanks for the feedback. It's unfortunate that trading isn't available to you after 10:30 AM - the best part of the open session is the first 2.5 to 3 hours, in my opinion. I don't trade options currently, but I know some people use the levels for same day or next day expiration options trades in the SPY. In any case, thanks for the input. ~ Sam

Yes. I don't know any trading system that works 100% of the time. When I trade at my levels, I go into the trade knowing that there's a chance that it might not work, but also having complete confidence in the importance of the level and how it's supposed to work. And then that's where the rules come in, depending on how price reacts at the level - or before the level. I've proven for myself that in the long term with this approach, I'll have an 80% chance of each day ending profitably. And that's good enough for me. Thanks for the feedback! ~ Sam

@@ticksandtrades I think 80 percent would be good enough for most of us. Feels like a world class win ratio.

Thank you!

Thanks for the feedback.

Thanks for the feedback. I like that analogy.

Thank you. I do track the QQQ and calculate levels for them too - mostly for analysis. Yes, you could trade the NQ futures against the QQQ levels and the process would be similar. I've just gotten so comfortable with the SPY and the ES over the years that I haven't really studied other instruments - at least in regard to trading them. Thanks again - Sam

Thank you. I agree that it would be good for more people to find these videos and discover the value in this process for themselves. Thanks! - Sam

Thanks for the questions. Yes, these are the exact levels that are provided via email in the morning before the market opens. The only adjustment made is moving them five cents toward price as the SPY is coming into each level. And that is done after 9:45 AM. Like, if it's 9:48 AM and price is coming down into a level - say it's 20 cents away from it. You can make the assumption that the level is probably an interim destination that they're headed to and might react from. So, add 5 cents to the level and trigger your ES trade the moment the SPY hits the adjusted level. The only reason I add this buffer is to help grab the trade before any front-runners jump the gun and cause an early reaction. It's been my experience that relying on my calculated levels exactly as they are sometimes mean I will miss a trade. As in, it won't be triggered because price came up within pennies before reversing. Hope that makes sense. Thanks. ~ Sam

@@ticksandtrades Absolutely makes sense, and from experience myself, you are correct. Many algos are programmed to trade at fractions above and below supply and demand areas and pivot points. Thanks for the clarification.

Thanks for the feedback.

Thanks for the feedback!

Thank you. Glad to hear you were able to use them successfully!

Yes, gut feelings are interesting. I read Malcolm Gladwell's book "Blink" a few years ago. It makes sense that when you do something for long enough, you tend to develop a feeling - or whatever you want to call it - that sometimes helps you sense things ahead of time. I'd rather trust the process when everything looks and feels normal though. Thanks for the feedback. ~ Sam

Oh, wow. Thanks for pointing that out. I remember being in the middle of composing the email when I decided to start recording the pre-market price action. But you're right... I never finished and sent the email before shutting down and heading into the office. My apologies. But as it turned out, not a good day to trade anyway. At least not at the levels I had on the board. Tomorrow might have more opportunities. Thanks. ~ Sam

Thank you. Good feedback. I'm glad you're able to use the levels to help with your trading. The morning emails will continue. Thanks again! ~ Sam

Sure. What that means is if you had used the Daily Levels that have been provided each morning from April 30 through yesterday, June 7, and traded just one (1) ES contract every time the SPY hit a level during each day, you'd have earned over $6,400 by now. And obviously double that if you were trading two (2) ES contracts at each level. You can do the math to determine micro E-mini profit potentials based on the one-ES contract trading example. If you started with a $25,000 balance (which is plenty to comfortably trade a one-ES contract position size) on April 30, and traded one ES contract at each level up to now, your balance would be $31,400 today, before commissions and taxes. That's more than a 25% increase in a little over a month. I hope this answers your question. Thanks! ~ Sam

Thanks!

Thanks for the feedback. Good to hear that the emailed levels are being appreciated. As far as the course completion, soon, I think. I've had some setbacks because of some travel. Lost several weekends of productivity. I think that by offering these levels each morning pro gratis for a while, it's helping people understand their value. So I'm not as anxious to get the course put online ASAP since I'm evaluating how much interest the levels are getting in the meantime. But I know several people are curious about the course and want access, so I'll push to get it wrapped up within the next few weeks hopefully. Thanks for your patience. ~ Sam

Thanks. I hope you were able to use the levels for this day to score some points and make up for the other day when you gave some points back to the market. And yes, a well-defined trading system is important. Following the process will result in profitable trades the majority of the time. Thanks again. ~ Sam

Sorry you had a red day. It happens to all traders occasionally. I can relate to the human emotion and over-analysis aspect of trading. I think every trader is susceptible to that. What has worked for me is sticking to a process no matter what happens; If "X" happens, then execute "Y". It helps remove some of the emotion, and certainly helps with the over-trading issue. But there are no guarantees that every level or every trade will result in profit. Every time I enter a trade, I have to always keep in the back of my mind that there's a chance it won't work out and I might need to incur a loss. That's where the 21% - 22% comes into play over time. Those will be the minority of days that end in the red using this strategy. That's the life of a trader. Thanks for the feedback, and I think you'll certainly find value in the upcoming trading course. I'm trying my best to convey all the nuances of trading best-practices in this course, along with how to identify important levels to trade against. Maybe a few more uninterrupted weekends and it'll be finished and ready to go live. Thanks again. ~ Sam

Thank you for the feedback. I'm glad the levels are working for you and that you're able to experiment with them. ~ Sam

Sure. Thanks for asking. It's actually a FUMBLE threshold, and it's what I call the level above or below the entry point on a trade - depending on whether the trade is a short trade (fumble threshold is above), or a long trade (fumble threshold is below)... and if price in the SPY does certain things within a certain amount of time on the other side of that fumble threshold, a plan B needs to be invoked. Like with American football, a fumble is when a player loses control of the ball before the play ends. So with my trades, I like to identify an area I call the fumble threshold that defines the place where the trade might not work out. If price gets on the other side of that area before a base hit is pulled out, I may change the trade by reversing or simply closing out the trade for a loss. This concept of a fumble threshold is very important in the strategy I use, and is defined in much greater detail in the trading course I'm developing. Several rules go into how to treat trades if they exceed the fumble threshold while they're in play. I hope this makes sense. Thanks again for asking. ~ Sam

Thanks for your interest. I would certainly entertain the idea of live streaming my trades during the morning session, but my main focus for the past few months has been to complete the trading course and make it available on my website. It's probably obvious by now that I've scaled back on my original predictions of when the course might be ready to go live. I decided awhile back to provide the Daily Levels pro gratis in the meantime. I want people to find out for themselves how valuable the levels are for trading the E-minis each day... so this is a way to do that. But as far as live streaming, if it happens, it will be after the course is live. Also, with my current work schedule, I'm in the office more in the mornings now, so trading - and recording those trades - isn't a big deal, but live streaming would be impossible. I plan to carve out more time where I'll have a couple mornings open each week, probably by this summer. So by then, I can foresee starting a live stream of the morning trades. Thanks again. ~ Sam

@@ticksandtrades Thank you for your very detailed answer.

Yes, it's true that volume was higher than average in the ES when they got down there, but that's just part of the equation. There was an actual signal that showed up on the chart, along with the increased volume factor, and a couple other clues, that made me want to go long there for a bounce back up. So, yes, high volume is one of of the four clues. Thanks for the feedback! ~ Sam

Nope, sorry. Neither of those.

Yes, pretty much. There is some math that goes into calculating the Daily Levels. And then other tools are used to validate (or invalidate) the levels as price gets to them. Thanks for commenting. I may expand on this a little in tonight's video. ~ Sam

Thanks! They're definitely consistent enough for me - with the type of intra-day trading that I prefer to do. The levels won't work 100% of the time, but my approach is a long-term game. Pile up the base hits, because trades work way more often than not at these levels. Thanks again for the support! ~ Sam

Thanks for the feedback and I'm glad the levels are working for you. Certainly nothing wrong with using a 3-minute chart for confirmation. I have nine other timeframes of the SPY on another screen that I rely on to help me confirm the Daily Levels and to fine tune exit points for when I use a trailer. Thanks again! ~ Sam

I adjust the calculated levels to where they are 5-cents toward price as the SPY is coming into the level. I've found that by doing this, I'm able to grab more trades. Sometimes, there are enough front-runners buying ahead of the levels that price never gets to the exact calculated level, in which case my trigger for the trade wouldn't be activated. So that's why I add the buffer. My typical order entry (for a long trade, as an example) is "if SPY is less than or equal to X, where X is the operating level with the 5-cent buffer factored in, then buy ES contract(s) at the market". This usually gets me in the trade at a good place in the E-minis - at the exact moment the SPY hits the adjusted level. And I'm fine if price spikes below the level before bouncing, because often times, the zone below the level is where liquidity is and where buyers will likely show up to drive up price. And the same logic applies for short trades too, but in the inverse. For that trade at 520.95, that WAS the level with the 5-cent buffer already applied. The exact level from the morning was 520.90. So when the SPY got down to a low of 520.96 before rocketing back up, my order activation was not triggered. It was missed by one penny. I hope this all makes sense. Thanks for the question! ~ Sam

@@ticksandtrades Yes, I see why you adjust the levels now, because of the front running of the levels. And I understand the liquidity below the levels. And the opposite for shorts. And yes, your explanation all makes sense. Thanks a lot for your detailed explanation.

Thank you. I actually do use the ES for analysis to help fine tune the levels in the SPY. That work is just done behind the scenes. And there is one tool I use for real-time analysis that strictly uses the continuous 24-hour ES futures chart. That tool is all about contract volume and trade size. Overall though, I've found that identifying levels using SPY data tends to be a little more accurate than using the ES. It's worked for me for several years, so I'll just continue to use this approach since it works. Thanks. ~ Sam

Thank you! Glad you're finding value in these videos. ~ Sam

You're welcome!

Thanks for your interest! ~ Sam

Thanks for your interest. Yes, enrollment is not open yet because the trading strategy course is still in development. The project is nearing completion though. Currently using focus groups for feedback to help refine the content to make sure it's applicable for all levels of traders. As far as pricing, I will say that the early adopters - those pre-subscribers who have shown interest and are getting the Daily Levels sent to their email inbox each morning - will receive a substantial discount. Admittedly, it probably isn't as easy to trade the levels without understanding all the rules, but for this interim period, anyone who is getting the Daily Levels for free can at least experiment with them to get a feel for how the SPY tends to react at the levels, and how the subsequent E-mini trades should be taken. Thank you. ~ Sam

Thanks!

It's entirely up to you.

Are you asking how I knew to keep the short trade open for 20+ points?... or about something else in the video? ~ Sam

Thanks, David. Your observation may have some validity, but consider that I calculate and put the levels on the chart long before the market opens. So I would have no idea of what volume would be like when the SPY approaches one of my levels later in the trading session. Increasing volume is a good confirmation that there is a decent bull/bear battle getting ready to ensue. But since these levels are more of a mathematical function calculated ahead of time, I believe the volume factor that you're observing is just another confirmation that the levels have importance. And that other professional traders, institutions and/or algorithms are using a similar approach. It's always good to trade along with the institutions. By the way, I associate exhaustion volume with certain chart behavior. When things like exhaustion volume and other chart indications converge, that's usually when tradeable movement happens. And I cover this in the trading course that is currently in work. Thanks for your input. ~ Sam