One page, the whole strategy. A strong move leaves a gap, price comes back, the candle that rejects the gap is your key candle, and you enter on the break of it. Fixed 50-tick stop, fixed 50-tick target, a clean 1:1 with the trend, every time. Built to respect prop firm drawdown and consistency rules.
Not financial advice
Educational material only. Trading futures involves substantial risk of loss.
The idea in one breath
A strong move leaves a gap. Price returns, the candle that rejects the gap is your key candle, and you enter on the break of that candle. Put a 50-tick stop and a 50-tick target, and take the same clean 1:1, with the trend, every single time.
1
The Rules
Spot the gap. A strong move in one direction leaves a gap, an imbalance the candles skipped past. On the 15-second, mark that fresh gap. A buy comes from an up move, a sell from a down move. Fresh gaps only, skip anything already tapped.
Wait for price to come back to the gap. The candle that returns to the gap and rejects it, closing back in the direction of the move, is your key candle. Mark its high and its low. Do not chase, let price come to you.
Enter on the break of the key candle. For a buy, enter on the break of the rejection candle's high. For a sell, on the break of its low. That break confirms the rejection and the momentum.
Set a 50-tick stop and a 50-tick target. Always 1:1. Your edge is the win rate and the discipline, not the size of any one trade. You do not push past 1:1, ever.
When to skip
Skip zones price is just dancing around without committing, that is chop. Skip gaps that have already been tapped. Skip anything outside your prop firm time window, and stay flat inside high-impact news windows. Not trading is a position too.
2
The Setup, Drawn Out
Buy with the trend. The up move leaves a gap, price returns, the candle that rejects the gap is your key candle, and you enter on the break of its high. Stop 50 ticks, target 50 ticks, a clean 1:1.
Sell with the trend. The down move leaves a gap, price returns, the candle that rejects the gap is your key candle, and you enter on the break of its low. The same 1:1.
3
Your Dollar Risk at 50 Ticks
Because the stop and the target are always 50 ticks, your risk and your reward are the same fixed dollar amount per contract, every trade. On the Nasdaq, 50 ticks is $250 on the NQ and $25 on the MNQ per contract. Here it is for 1 to 20 contracts.
Contracts
NQ · risk = reward at 50 ticks
MNQ · risk = reward at 50 ticks
1
$250
$25
2
$500
$50
3
$750
$75
4
$1,000
$100
5
$1,250
$125
6
$1,500
$150
7
$1,750
$175
8
$2,000
$200
9
$2,250
$225
10
$2,500
$250
11
$2,750
$275
12
$3,000
$300
13
$3,250
$325
14
$3,500
$350
15
$3,750
$375
16
$4,000
$400
17
$4,250
$425
18
$4,500
$450
19
$4,750
$475
20
$5,000
$500
50 ticks is $250 per contract on the NQ, $25 on the MNQ. Since it is a 1:1, that same number is both what you risk and what you make.
Why 1:1 for prop firms
Trailing drawdowns punish giveback, and consistency rules punish any single home-run day. A strict 1:1 keeps your equity curve smooth and your days balanced, which is exactly what keeps a funded account alive. Base hits, repeated, with the trend.