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Blue's Clues to Trading: Timing Levels and Behaviour of Price

  • #601
  • Nov 9, 2025 10:40pm Nov 9, 2025 10:40pm
Quoting RickM
{quote} Hi deafpostman I have been trading NQ & ES side by side for years, there is no trading edge in believing NQ leads ES as a trade setup. The issue with Futures is Hedge funds or big player will often Sell say Apple or Microsoft Stock and then Hedge it with leveraged Futures by Buying NQ Future contracts. Then they Buy or Sell either Stock or Future's Contracts if price moves away from Value on either market. If say NQ starts to trend long and say the big 7 are not moving, it means some big hedge fund probably has a Sell on Apple or microsoft...
Thankyou for your reply, .. the tickstrike indicator you mentioned, i googled it and what comes up is an audio clicking sounds when trades come in; is that the indicator? Are there different sounds for bullish/bearish orders? Thanks in advance
  • #602
  • Nov 10, 2025 9:57am Nov 10, 2025 9:57am
Quoting RickM
{quote} Hi deafpostman I have been trading NQ & ES side by side for years, there is no trading edge in believing NQ leads ES as a trade setup. The issue with Futures is Hedge funds or big player will often Sell say Apple or Microsoft Stock and then Hedge it with leveraged Futures by Buying NQ Future contracts. Then they Buy or Sell either Stock or Future's Contracts if price moves away from Value on either market. If say NQ starts to trend long and say the big 7 are not moving, it means some big hedge fund probably has a Sell on Apple or microsoft...
Hi Rick M,
Thanks for the value you shared — it’s clear, concrete, and it really resonates with my process. I’m a day trader on NQ and I spend a lot of time watching the correlation/lead–lag with ES. What you describe (flow on the “Magnificent 7” rippling into NQ/ES) is, to me, a great confluence. It also strongly reminds me of early 20th-century tape manipulation I learned about from studying Jesse Livermore: create movement where the liquidity is to execute the true intent.
I’d like to turn this into an indicator to formalize the signal. My idea :

  1. Monitor AAPL, MSFT, NVDA, AMZN, GOOGL, META, TSLA.
  2. On a short timeframe (1-min), flag an impulse when:
    (a) the bar’s return exceeds a threshold (in bps), and
    (b) volume > k × its 20-bar average (SMA20).
  3. Count how many names are impulsing simultaneously (0→7) and trigger an alert above a threshold (e.g., ≥4).
  4. Optional: weight by Nasdaq-100 weights so NVDA/AAPL carry more influence.
  5. Use case: momentum timing on NQ/ES; invalidate if the count drops back below the threshold.

I’d really value your feedback to see if I’m on the right track:

  1. Do the impulse criteria (bps return + volume filter) make sense to you?
  2. Better to use a fixed threshold (≥4) or an adaptive one (e.g., based on the day’s volatility/TICK)?
  3. Does weighting by index weights add real value, or is the raw 0–7 synchronization enough?
  4. From an operations perspective, would you avoid certain sessions (mid-day) or add a context filter (VWAP, day type) to cut false signals?
  5. Have you noticed any typical delays (ES → NQ or the reverse) that should be built into the detection?

Thanks again it’s genuinely helpful and inspiring.

If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.
  • #603
  • Nov 10, 2025 3:03pm Nov 10, 2025 3:03pm
Quoting deafpostman
{quote} Thankyou for your reply, .. the tickstrike indicator you mentioned, i googled it and what comes up is an audio clicking sounds when trades come in; is that the indicator? Are there different sounds for bullish/bearish orders? Thanks in advance
Hi deapostman

Yes, my primary use of sound for years was PriceSquawk.
You can select either male or female voice to say either Buy or Sell from any minimum size order you like. The interesting feature about PriceSquawk is on say a bearish move, the tone of Sell starts from normal and gets lower and lower as price drops.
There is about 50 sounds like voice or beeps etc you can select.

It’s best used on a strong trend to trade the pullback or fade the top at sweet points. It’s therefore a great tool to master pullbacks or excel at liquidity exhaustion fades.

Cheers
Trading thin liquidity at the boundary of the charts
  • #604
  • Nov 11, 2025 1:27am Nov 11, 2025 1:27am
Quoting Eamda
{quote} Hi Rick M, Thanks for the value you shared — it’s clear, concrete, and it really resonates with my process. I’m a day trader on NQ and I spend a lot of time watching the correlation/lead–lag with ES. What you describe (flow on the “Magnificent 7” rippling into NQ/ES) is, to me, a great confluence. It also strongly reminds me of early 20th-century tape manipulation I learned about from studying Jesse Livermore: create movement where the liquidity is to execute the true intent. I’d like to turn this into an indicator to formalize the signal....
Hi Eamda

I think Delta readings are better than Volume readings because 50% of all volume on Future markets is some large Market Player washing trading to himself.
My idea about Delta is this Data excludes Wash Trading and gives you a better intend of market direction. An example on Delta Data is ES during a strong impulse move to the upside or downside direction. After New York open, this strong move will be +1000 Delta on a Bullish move or -1000 on a strong Bearish move lasting about a couple of minutes to 5 minutes approx. This is an unlosable trade honestly and be ready when the Delta is rising or decreasing over 500.

Therefore my opinion is to use the big seven as the primary signal to enter but only if Delta has confirmed this move.
I would use VWAP as a basic narrative to either Buy or Sell as another filter, because no one wants to get on the wrong side of the market.

For typical delays, I always have Volume bubbles on my charts because I want to know if some big player has brought a large Buy or Sell parcel. That doesn't mean if I see a 500 lot Buy on ES I will Buy, I wait to see if this order pushes the market up or not. My point is large trades do alter direction and often the market will trap that player and move against his / her order. This could be an exit strategy ie. If Large 300 Lot Buy order hits the chart - place stop 5 ticks underneath order.

The morning session is where most traders make money, then they go on give it all back in the afternoon.

Finally, I still believe you need to be an discretionary Algorithmic trader over just trading any Algo all day long. Even the professional Algo traders only run their programs for brief periods of a day when conditions are ideal - most don't run for an entire session.

Good Luck
Trading thin liquidity at the boundary of the charts
  • #605
  • Nov 11, 2025 12:45pm Nov 11, 2025 12:45pm
I came across a thread from member Duksi called Price Action & Order Flow link below...
https://www.forexfactory.com/thread/...ldsilvercopper
And the below is from his first post.. I think it is an excellent summary

"The core philosophy behind market objectivity:
I. Price action is the result of the interaction between market participants (aggressive/active & passive/resting).

II. The continuous interaction of participants produces competition by behavior (market mechanics) which, in turn, reveals intention and context.

III. The competition between participants produces market structure.

IV. Volume is the lifeblood of a market, because without volume (traded orders) there is no market to speak of;
therefore, volume is of first importance and priority in market analysis.

V. The volume traded around a context, intention or structure, produces value in a market.

VI. Value (in the context of market mechanics) is the compass for navigating uncertainty and produces balance or stability in a market;
therefore, value is of second importance and priority in market analysis."



Blues summary of this philosophy presented by Duksi (With AI assist )

In summary, this philosophy provides a robust, objective framework for day trading by systematically breaking down market activity into its core components:

Participants' interactions
The resulting structure
The evidence of volume
The identification of value.

Adhering to these principles helps minimize emotional bias and promotes a disciplined, data-driven approach to decision-making.
Master your Mind,,,Master the Market
  • #606
  • Nov 11, 2025 11:16pm Nov 11, 2025 11:16pm
One thing Stacey Burke pounded into my thick skull is actually,,,,,well 2 things

1) Timings Levels Behaviour of Price....Actually Linda Raschke speaks of this as does Raghee Horner from whom Lauras
RoadMap thread was born from...

but more importantly for this post is,,,

2) Whats your Setup? Burke is like a broken record on that And the whole point is having a defined setup(s) that are
clear concise repeatable duplicatable scalable. If this then that,,,,Repeatable process

I posted this chart up earlier on another thread,,,after looking in at all the degen gold gamblers on a gold thread. And
to be fair most are probably just new and dont know better.. But its truly the blind leading the blind with the usual mix
of grifters scammers etc. Chasing price with no posts showing any sort of resemblance of a repeatable setup I digress...
(Caveat: Ive been there and thus recognize the behaviour...and also recognize I still have much to learn and we are all
at different levels and areas on the trading road) It almost seems like a Gold Bug has infiltrated the masses here thats all lol !

Just thinking about another Stacey Burkeism....Hindsight becomes foresight...which simply means you have built your muscle
memory to the point of you see your "setup" and you execute it with little thinking...

First chart Gold Second chart Gold...Setup is a simple VWAP Return to Value setup. Imbalance to Balance and within the confines of
VAH-VAL on the VP.

Thats all time for some rest

Cheers

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Master your Mind,,,Master the Market
  • #607
  • Nov 12, 2025 9:35am Nov 12, 2025 9:35am
Blues Clues to Trading,,,, Timings Levels Behaviour of Price.

Under this Umbrella is Price Time and Volume and honestly their are infinite variables these encompass.
The trick is to find what resonates with you what works for you..

But if your not incorpating some of the basics of each your flying with one eye open at best.

I dont make predictions or have biases...I just trade what I see is developing with scenarios If this then that,,,,

OHLC gives us some important levels...2 are the Open and the CLose.

One thing I pay very close attention to the behaviour of price is Where is price in relation to that sessions open
Example ES SP500 930 open and the daily close(settlement)

I gave a very close example of this and NQ last week maybe or week before ?
Heres todays ES alongside NQ
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And a closer look
Will make another post with Gold....
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Master your Mind,,,Master the Market
  • #608
  • Nov 12, 2025 9:50am Nov 12, 2025 9:50am
Gold a great example today for learning.

Every chart tells a story and sometimes we can jump in if our setup presents and join the story.
We never know how it ends..Sort of the fun part eh !!!

But there are signs...some are data backed confluences/scenarios etc,,,,
some are nuances only gained from experience.
In fact James Dalton Mr Profile himself has come to the conclusion that nuances are very vital.

Raghee Horner...Linda Raschke and many others all talk of the behaviour of Price.
And B.O.P. can give us nuances it also can give us quantifiable scenarios,,

Its my opinion that the really good traders capitalize on both. Another topic...

Anyways Gold today..

What do we know about VWAP and what it represents ? Look it up.
Now look at todays Daily/Session VWAP(red squiggly) what is it telling you ?
What is the range of the IB telling you ?
Where does the IB close ? What does that infer ?
What are the candles PA telling you ?

Every picture tells a story. Chart reading is no exception.
I am not saying to trade off of feelings and suppositions...
Yes you need clear setups..

Anyways some Gold charts can you read the story ?

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Master your Mind,,,Master the Market
  • #609
  • Nov 12, 2025 11:53pm Nov 12, 2025 11:53pm
Gold
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Master your Mind,,,Master the Market
  • #610
  • Nov 13, 2025 8:58am Nov 13, 2025 8:58am
Timings Levels Behaviour of Price

Initial Balance levels valid for a minimum 24 hrs...

Why ?

Cant really give a definitive answer.. Logically i believe its just algos running with these "Set" parameters.
As their is some high probabilty quantiable data surrounding IB sizes, breaks days of the week.
And I have seen it thousands of times...Price reacting.. You still need a Setup and execution plan.

Just something to be aware of is all
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Master your Mind,,,Master the Market
  • #611
  • Nov 13, 2025 10:03am Nov 13, 2025 10:03am
Quoting bluesteele
Blues Clues to Trading,,,, Timings Levels Behaviour of Price. Under this Umbrella is Price Time and Volume and honestly their are infinite variables these encompass. The trick is to find what resonates with you what works for you.. But if your not incorpating some of the basics of each your flying with one eye open at best. I dont make predictions or have biases...I just trade what I see is developing with scenarios If this then that,,,, OHLC gives us some important levels...2 are the Open and the CLose. One thing I pay very close attention to the...
And yet again OHLC... Pay attention to the Open as the chart shows in above post
Every Chart tells a Story

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Master your Mind,,,Master the Market
  • #612
  • Nov 13, 2025 11:13am Nov 13, 2025 11:13am
Quoting bluesteele
Timings Levels Behaviour of Price Initial Balance levels valid for a minimum 24 hrs... Why ? Cant really give a definitive answer.. Logically i believe its just algos running with these "Set" parameters. As their is some high probabilty quantiable data surrounding IB sizes, breaks days of the week. And I have seen it thousands of times...Price reacting.. You still need a Setup and execution plan. Just something to be aware of is all {image} {image}
These are the American morning open sessions (9:30am to 10:30am or 9am to 10am)
every Saint has a past. Every Sinner has a Future
  • #613
  • Nov 13, 2025 11:16am Nov 13, 2025 11:16am
Quoting bluesteele
Timings Levels Behaviour of Price Initial Balance levels valid for a minimum 24 hrs... Why ? Cant really give a definitive answer.. Logically i believe its just algos running with these "Set" parameters. As their is some high probabilty quantiable data surrounding IB sizes, breaks days of the week. And I have seen it thousands of times...Price reacting.. You still need a Setup and execution plan. Just something to be aware of is all {image} {image}
More 'kin homework
every Saint has a past. Every Sinner has a Future
  • #614
  • Nov 13, 2025 11:33am Nov 13, 2025 11:33am
Anyway:
SP500 5 minute ORB chart. Nice short for Vidvad type target ( 0.618 at least)Put in the IB yourself - it worked as well
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every Saint has a past. Every Sinner has a Future
  • #615
  • Nov 13, 2025 9:50pm Nov 13, 2025 9:50pm
Quoting bluesteele
Gold {image}
should call it riding the VWAVe
  • #616
  • Nov 13, 2025 10:13pm Nov 13, 2025 10:13pm
Many carp swim upstream against the river's strong current, few are capable or brave enough for the final leap over the waterfall. If a carp successfully makes the jump, it is transformed into a powerful Dragon.
I imagine, like trading, if brave enough to work on ourselves and do the work, we can transform. I guess that’s why they say ‘trading is the hardest way to make easy money.’
  • #617
  • Nov 14, 2025 1:48am Nov 14, 2025 1:48am
Hi all,
Jumping in on the Tickstrike part of the conversation —
Yes, the Tickstrike tool you’re seeing online is the correct one. It’s an audio-based order-flow indicator that generates different sounds depending on the strength and direction of incoming market activity. In simple terms:
Bullish pressure = one tone (usually higher-pitched)
Bearish pressure = another tone (lower-pitched)
Intensity of the sound = strength of the flow
It doesn’t tell you where to trade, but it gives a real-time sense of buying/selling aggression without needing to stare at raw orderflow all day. Many traders use it as an “audio tape reader.”
If you’re thinking of building an indicator or system around the NQ/ES behavior Rick mentioned, Tickstrike can serve as a confirmation layer — especially when the audio aligns with divergence or imbalance between the indices and the underlying “big 7” stocks.
A few practical tips if you decide to incorporate it:
Use it only as a timing/confirmation tool, not a directional bias.
Combine it with relative strength between NQ and ES, like you mentioned.
Pay attention to surges in one index while the underlying heavy-weights are flat — this is often the hedge-flow Rick described.
If you do build your own indicator, focus less on “who leads who” and more on rate-of-change in participation.
  • #618
  • Nov 14, 2025 3:14am Nov 14, 2025 3:14am
Trading ES during London Session

A few trades I have taken on ES during the London session.

Trade 1 was a Long above a Large Sell Order (Big Trade Setup)
Trade 2 & 3 were Fading the First Band (Hot Sauce Setup)
Trade 4 was Fading a New Low at point of previous low (Pullback King Setup)

The is based on the VWAP / Volume Profile landscape Blue posts here.
I believe the best patterns are the one's you develop yourself (Big Trade & Pullback King) away from other setups traders commonly trade because there's almost no Algorithm's trading against that unknown pattern.

The art of developing your own unique patterns is about the best way to find your own trading edge these days.
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Trading thin liquidity at the boundary of the charts
  • #619
  • Nov 14, 2025 3:33am Nov 14, 2025 3:33am
Quoting deafpostman
Many carp swim upstream against the river's strong current, few are capable or brave enough for the final leap over the waterfall. If a carp successfully makes the jump, it is transformed into a powerful Dragon. I imagine, like trading, if brave enough to work on ourselves and do the work, we can transform. I guess that’s why they say ‘trading is the hardest way to make easy money.’
Hi Deafpostman

Trading can be the easiest way to make money if you forget about an order you put on a chart and walk away.
In fact if you die, your partner will probably find a huge win waiting to be closed.
Sometimes we just have to find a way to leave the bloody trade open and let that bastard run.

That's my achilles heel - Leave the bloody trade alone, "its agreeing with me you so why am I taking small profits"?
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Trading thin liquidity at the boundary of the charts
  • #620
  • Edited 10:51am Nov 14, 2025 9:51am | Edited 10:51am
Quoting RickM
{quote} Hi Deafpostman Trading can be the easiest way to make money if you forget about an order you put on a chart and walk away. In fact if you die, your partner will probably find a huge win waiting to be closed. Sometimes we just have to find a way to leave the bloody trade open and let that bastard run. That's my achilles heel - Leave the bloody trade alone, "its agreeing with me you so why am I taking small profits"? {image}
True — I struggle with the same thing. I can’t leave trades alone.
I’ll be honest: I don’t have a fully solid trading plan yet. I’m here because I see potential in delta, profile, and VWAP, and I’m trying to develop something around those concepts. I’m tired of trading “movement” without structure. As the saying goes, “The only person who can save you is the version of yourself who is tired of the current situation.”
Right now I’m running an experiment another delta trader mentioned video:
Inserted Video

The idea is to take trades with the intention of losing—which sounds counterintuitive—but the point is to observe reactions to drawdown and loss. I’ve done three trades so far (accidentally won one). I’m using EURUSD, 0.01 lots, SL 12.5 pips, TP 20 pips, and just leaving it alone. After each trade I write down observations about emotions.
The next exercise is something I’ve wanted to do for a long time: create a very simple strategy based on the volume principles discussed in this thread and take 30 trades, win or lose, set-and-forget. Mark Douglas, LauraT, and Dr. David Paul all recommend doing 20–30 trades strictly following the rules and reviewing afterward.
I’ll be doing this with real money to deliberately desensitize myself from emotional trading and shift toward true process-based trading.
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