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Day Done in Four Minutes
by Tony Rago |
Friday morning, the market opened and several traders in my room captured 50 points before their coffee got cold. |
Four minutes into the session, they were done. Logged off. Day complete. |
The setup was textbook. The pit opening range broke higher. The cash level held exactly where it should. |
Price bounced from the 66 level and ran straight back to test the overnight high from the CPI reaction. Clean entry, clear target, no hesitation. |
"A lot of traders said, 'Hey, I'm done. I'm out of this thing. See you later.'" |
The opening ranges have been money lately. Big time. |
But here's what made that trade possible. |
It wasn't luck. |
It wasn't some complex algorithm or proprietary indicator. |
It was a simple system these traders learned, practiced, and followed without deviation. |
The System That Actually Works |
Every successful trader I know has one thing in common. They have a methodology they can articulate in plain English. They know exactly what they're looking for before the market even opens. And when those conditions align, they execute without second-guessing themselves. |
The Golden Setup centers on specific levels: the opening range, the cash level, the 50, the 33, round numbers. These aren't mystical levels I invented. They're psychological inflection points where institutional money clusters and price behavior changes. |
Friday morning, everything aligned. The cash level acted as a bull-bear line. Bullish above, bearish below. When I saw that wick testing the level without breaking through, I knew immediately the setup was live. |
"Cash is really showing you why it's on the chart every single day." |
The traders who caught that move weren't watching a dozen different indicators or scanning through complex chart patterns. They were watching the same three or four levels I teach in every session. When price bounced exactly where the system said it would, they bought without hesitation. |
Then they got off the bus. |
What We're Actually Trying To Do |
A trader asked me this week about all the levels on my charts. He wanted to understand the logic behind the methodology. |
Here's what I told him. |
"What we are trying to do is we're just trying to determine a bull bias or a bear bias. And we're using the opening range and the cash level to understand that. And once we have that, once we understand that, we stay on that side of the tape." |
Trading the probabilities. When we come from the round level or from the 50 to the 26, it should backtest. When the cash level holds, we stay bullish above. When the opening range breaks with follow-through, we take the trade. |
All of that logic played out Friday morning within the first 30 minutes. The levels did what they were supposed to do. The traders who recognized it captured their profit and walked away. |
Trading doesn't have to be complicated. In fact, the simpler your system, the more likely you'll actually follow it under pressure. You need to be able to explain your methodology in three sentences. You need to know your entry, your target, and your stop before you ever click the mouse. |
Friday's trade was simple. Buy the 66 when price tests from above. Target the overnight high. Risk out below the cash level. Three sentences. Four minutes. Day done. |
Why Having A Plan Matters |
I asked the room Monday a question that made some people uncomfortable. |
"How many of you guys and girls have a trading plan? How many of you have put thought down onto paper and have a plan?" |
A lot of hands went up in the chat. |
Then I asked the real question. |
"Do you follow it? Do you actually follow it?" |
Here's what I see all the time. Traders take the time to put a trading plan together. They write down their rules. Their risk parameters. Their daily goals. Then they completely ignore it the second the market opens. |
They see a setup that almost meets their criteria and convince themselves it's good enough. They hit their daily goal of 40 handles but keep trading because they don't want to miss the next move. They override their stops because they think this time will be different. |
"All you're doing is going against your plan. You're not following your plan." |
The traders who captured Friday's 50-point move weren't smarter than everyone else. They weren't faster or more experienced. They had a plan, they recognized the setup that fit their plan, and they executed it without hesitation. |
Then they stopped trading. Because their plan said they were done. And they actually followed their plan. |
The Two-Contract Method |
Let me show you exactly how I manage positions. This is the methodology I use every single day. |
I buy two contracts at entry. I split those into two profit targets. The first target is four or five points. When that hits, I protect the last contract by moving my stop to breakeven or better. |
The logic is simple. If price comes down to my level and I buy it and it bounces, I'm in the right trade. If it comes back to my entry after giving me profit, I don't want it. |
"We don't want a green trade to turn into a red trade. We don't want a winner to turn into a loser. If I'm in the right trade, it ain't coming back." |
This protects you from the psychological trap every trader faces. You watch a winning trade turn into a loss. You hold through drawdown hoping it comes back. You convince yourself to give it more room. |
The system takes that decision away from you. First target locks in profit. Second target gets room to run. If price comes back, you're out at breakeven or better. |
Friday morning's trade followed this exact pattern. Traders bought the 66. First target hit fast. They locked profit and either held the runner or exited completely. No stress. No second-guessing. Just execution of the plan. |
When The System Says Step Aside |
Here's the hard part about having a methodology. Sometimes the system tells you to stay out. And you have to listen. |
Earlier this week, one of my traders named Daniel was struggling. The NQ had chopped him up multiple times. The kind of bleeding that happens when you keep forcing trades in conditions that don't support your strategy. |
I told him something I tell every trader who's going through that. |
"There comes a time when you have to back away from this thing. You just gotta back away. We need the thing to move in order to make money." |
You're not going to move the market with your two lot, your five lot, your ten lot. You can't be upset about conditions you can't control. You just have to stay out when you don't feel like you have an edge. |
Because when you don't feel like you have an edge, you probably don't. |
The traders who captured Friday's trade also sat out the sessions where nothing fired. They didn't force action on low-volatility days. They didn't override the system when the ATR told them conditions were wrong. |
They followed the plan. Even when the plan said do nothing. |
Monday Starts Fresh |
Next week the market opens with new levels, new setups, new opportunities. |
The opening range will reset. The cash level will be marked. The 50 will be waiting. And when everything aligns, when the system says take the trade, you'll know exactly what to do. |
Because you'll have a plan. And you'll actually follow it. |
That's what separates traders who make it from traders who struggle. Not intelligence. Not capital. Not even experience. |
The willingness to build a simple system and follow it without deviation. To take your wins and walk away. To stay out when conditions don't favor your methodology. To let the plan do its job instead of overriding it with emotion. |
The methodology works. I've proven it for nearly a decade. But it only works when you actually follow it. |
See you in the room Monday morning. |
Tony Rago |
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