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The “ONE CANDLE” Day Trading Strategy I Use Everyday

Craig Percoco · 3,492 words · 16 min read

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0:00Today, I'm going to show you an amazing

0:01scalping strategy that takes advantage

0:03of the first few hours of market open.

0:05And the best part, it's simple,

0:06repeatable, and effective. I've been

0:08trading for 9 years, and one thing that

0:09I've learned is that most of the

0:11opportunity is going to happen within

0:12the first couple hours of market open.

0:14So, if we master the open and learn how

0:16institutions treat it, we can exploit

0:18this and find daily opportunities. But,

0:20this requires the right type of trading

0:22strategy to be able to navigate. So, in

0:24this video, I'm going to share with you

0:25my scalping approach, and you're going

0:26to see why this is

0:30But, I've been using this entire year to

0:31consistently find solid trades. So, I'm

0:33going to first break down the strategy

0:35into three simple steps and how exactly

0:37I set it up. Then, I'm going to run you

0:38through several different examples of

0:40this happening within a close time frame

0:42of one another so that you know I'm not

0:43cherry-picking opportunities. Then, at

0:45the end, I'm going to show you

0:46recordings of me trading this in real

0:48time so you can see exactly how I apply

0:50it. It's going to take some practice,

0:51but I promise by the end of this video,

0:52you should see how effective this can

0:54be. Okay, so step one of this strategy

0:56is going to start off on a one-day time

0:58frame. So, you'll see on my screen here,

1:00I have a 1-minute, which is where we're

1:01going to be executing our actual

1:03entries, and I have a daily chart here.

1:05What we want to do is first mark off the

1:08previous day high and low. So, what I'm

1:10going to do is going over to a daily

1:12time frame here on my right side, and

1:14I'm just going to use this tool here to

1:15mark off my high and right here to mark

1:18off my low. So, I told you, pretty

1:19simple so far. Previous day high here,

1:21previous day low here. I'm going to

1:22explain to you why we're using this in a

1:24second. And this model has been tested

1:25on the future side on MES and MNQ. But,

1:28for today, I'm going to be doing an

1:29example on the crypto side. All right,

1:31so nextly, I'm going to move down to a

1:3215-minute time frame. What I want to do

1:34is is go back to the last couple days,

1:37and you'll see by these gray zones, I

1:38have from 8:00 to 9:30, which is going

1:40to show me the New York Stock Exchange

1:42open and sort of segment out the opens

1:44for the day. Largely, we're going to be

1:45trading around this open time frame. So,

1:47I just kind of want to look at the last

1:48couple days of price on the 15-minute

1:50time frame. And what I really want to do

1:52here is mark out my 15-minute fair value

1:55gaps. What a fair value gap is is when

1:56you have a sequence of three candles

1:59where the first candle's wick higher low

2:01doesn't overlap with the third candle's

2:03higher low. In this case, price is

2:04moving up, so we want to look at the

2:06high of the first and the low of the

2:08third. And if there's a space left

2:09between there, usually a significant

2:11space proportionate to the other

2:13movement on the chart, we're considering

2:15that to be a fair value gap. But, it can

2:17go in both directions. So, I'm just

2:18going to use this box tool here and

2:20start identifying key fair value gaps.

2:22So, first one that I'm noticing is right

2:24here. So, I'm going to mark off that

2:25area. Second one that I'm noticing is

2:27from here to here. So, I'll mark off

2:29that area. And the last one that I'm

2:30seeing here, we have kind of chop in

2:32between here, and we have this one right

2:34here. And then if I look here, I also

2:35have a small bullish fair value gap

2:37here. So, we'll also take note of this.

2:39So, now we have step one complete. We

2:40have our previous day high and low

2:42levels established, and we have high

2:44impact areas for the current trading

2:46session that we're going to be using as

2:48key points. Now, the reason this is

2:49important is because both at the

2:51previous [music] day high and low and at

2:53the midpoint of these fair value gap

2:55levels are high impact areas for

2:57institutions to want to execute their

2:59orders. Institutions need liquidity in

3:01order to fulfill their positions.

3:03Typically, retail traders are going to

3:05place their stop-loss levels outside

3:07these previous day high and low levels.

3:09They're also fundamentally important

3:11areas, and these fair value gaps tend to

3:13be areas where there's excess orders

3:16where price tends to want to gravitate

3:17to in order to reach equilibrium. Okay,

3:19so we're going to look at these for

3:21potential profit areas and signals for

3:23entries. And what I like to do is just

3:25right-click on these and turn the

3:26visibility up to 15 minutes. That way, I

3:28have a clear chart on my 1-minute, but I

3:30can still see everything on my

3:3215-minute. So, now all I have to do is

3:33basically hover my mouse over the areas

3:36here, and I can see exactly where it's

3:37going to match up on the other side.

3:39But, now I have visible clarity on where

3:41I'm looking for all of the other

3:42details. Okay, so let's get into step

3:44number two. Step number two, we want to

3:45switch down to focusing on our 1-minute

3:47time frame. So, now what we're looking

3:48for is general signals for us to want to

3:51enter in on the market. So, I'm looking

3:52for a few key things. So, the first

3:54thing that I want to do is take one of

3:55these trendline tools here and try to

3:57find areas where price tends to not be

3:59able to bounce through. So, I'm noticing

4:01we have a downtrend set up right here,

4:04and we're getting a response off of this

4:05level and this level. What I'm really

4:06looking for is for a trend level to be

4:08established, and then for us to get a

4:10candle where it's significantly pushing

4:13out of this trendline area. And it's

4:14creating two things. The first thing

4:16that we want to see is something called

4:17a change of character. So, a change of

4:19character is basically where we have a

4:21lower low, lower high, lower low, lower

4:24high, fail to break lower, and then this

4:27swing point is being broken up, and now

4:29we have a new high. This also needs to

4:31produce a fair value gap candle where

4:33we're seeing this overlap area. And if

4:35we can see this happening out of a

4:37reaction of either any of our key

4:38levels, so our previous day low or out

4:41of one of these fair value gaps in our

4:43range, this is showing us that larger

4:45players are stepping into the market, in

4:47which case, I want to try to enter in at

4:49the first signal of this and be able to

4:51position myself to ride into the

4:53potential of that new direction as we're

4:55seeing larger players step into the

4:56market. What we're going to be doing is

4:58using all of these areas for signals on

5:00what to do next. So, I have my trendline

5:02drawn. We're now at the 9:30 open, so

5:04we're going to play it forward and see

5:05what happens. So, immediately, we get a

5:07sell-off in the market. And then you see

5:09here, we have a big, what's called,

5:11engulfing displacement candle. So, this

5:13candle has attempted to push into the

5:16low. You'll see it hit almost perfectly

5:18off of that previous day low. We had a

5:20massive reaction off of it. So, if I

5:21play this one candle forward, you'll see

5:23after the reaction off of the previous

5:25day low, we now have this bullish fair

5:28value gap and a change of character out

5:30of this trend. So, we tried to push

5:32lower, we see a big displacement candle

5:34where institutions likely put in change

5:36of character fair value gap. Also, we

5:38have this trend level broken. Okay, so

5:40here comes the next important piece of

5:42information. So, whenever we have these

5:43fair value gaps, you'll notice if price

5:46is going to continue moving in the

5:47direction by pushing through them,

5:49coming back into them, and then

5:50continuing in that direction, you'll see

5:53it's very common that these candles

5:54don't make a candle close through the

5:5650% line, which is called the

5:58consequential encroachment line. So,

6:00they don't like to close below that

6:02midpoint if they're going to respect

6:03them. You can see it happening here as

6:05well. Midpoint here, price is constantly

6:07bouncing trying to break through it,

6:09can't make a close through it, and then

6:10continues to move in that direction. So,

6:12the same thing is going to be true on

6:14the 1-minute time frame. Okay, so at

6:15this point, what I want to do is set my

6:17entry right at this midpoint and place

6:19my stop-loss outside of the fair value

6:21gap producing candle. [music] So,

6:23stop-loss placed out here, and what I'm

6:25going to do is just temporarily set up a

6:271:4 risk-reward. What I'm going to do

6:29with this strategy is keep it

6:30open-ended, so I try to let them run as

6:32much as possible, but I'm starting off

6:34at this 1:4, and you're going to see why

6:35in a second. And if we go over to our

6:3715-minute time frame, you're going to

6:38see that our position is coming almost

6:41right up to the midpoint of this fair

6:42value gap. So, that's going to get us

6:43our 1:4 right around here. All right,

6:45and what this is going to allow to

6:46happen is for price to come back down to

6:49that point, have a chance to respond off

6:51of that gap. But, you can see price is

6:53closing through the midpoint, but is not

6:55closing outside of this gap before

6:57starting to make a move in our

6:58direction. So, now it gets into step

7:00number three. We've entered into the

7:01trade. Now, how do I strategically

7:03manage this trade? So, what I'm going to

7:05do is wait for what's called a break of

7:07structure, which after we get a push up

7:09and then a move down into our entry,

7:11once we get a push in a candle close

7:13over that swing point, to say my

7:15stop-loss is originally here, I'm now

7:17going to be walking my stop-loss to

7:19break even. So, now we have no risk on

7:21the table and only reward once we get

7:23that initial response to confirm in our

7:26direction. However, we're not

7:27necessarily in the clear yet because we

7:29do have a really, really big bearish

7:32fair value gap in here which price is

7:34yet to break through this [music]

7:35midpoint and close above. So, this is

7:37going to be a heavy area of resistance

7:39that we do want to consider. So, you

7:40see, as I play my candles up through it,

7:43we had a very, very decisive move to the

7:44upside into the midpoint of this

7:47secondary fair value gap. Okay, so

7:49you'll see, as the next candle comes in,

7:51it ends up closing back down here, but

7:53we had a clean break above this level,

7:55which allowed me to hold through it,

7:57right? We didn't respond and start

7:58teetering through this area. We actually

7:59moved up here, but then got a negative

8:01response off of this midpoint. Before

8:03you think that I'm just sort of

8:04cherry-picking these examples, this is

8:06actually a trade that I recently took.

8:08So, you'll see, I have my take profit

8:09set exactly at this area, and then as

8:12price went through it, this is where I'm

8:13closing out my position. So, in this

8:15case, I just wanted to be able to lock

8:17in my 1:5 risk-reward. However, it all

8:19depends on how much we want to hold the

8:21trade. So, typically, what I like to do

8:23is keep the trade completely open-ended,

8:25especially if we get momentum out of the

8:27gate. Say I'm losing on the day,

8:29typically, I like to just play into

8:30simple profit targets to make sure that

8:32I have profit locked in. However, if I'm

8:34in a good position, I will let the

8:36trades run. And once again, I'll look to

8:38see how price responds off of my next

8:40high impact areas on the 15-minute

8:43trend. So, the next area would be this

8:45point. So, price retraces down,

8:48eventually moves up to this area. You

8:49can see, first bearish candle comes off

8:52of the reaction of the midpoint of this

8:54fair value gap. In this case, breaks

8:56through it, in which case, once again,

8:58we can target this equal high area in

9:00that previous day high, which you can

9:02see had a temporary response, and then

9:04because of the bullish nature of the

9:05day, price just continued moving. But,

9:08you can see, even in this example, we're

9:10able to make 12 risk factors. In fact,

9:12on this trading day, I drew another

9:13trend level right here. And considering

9:16we had a break of structure over this

9:18area with a bullish fair value gap right

9:20at the same area of my bullish fair

9:22value gap, I was able to re-enter into

9:24my trade still following the same rules

9:27and have the market go up and fill my

9:28take profit again. You can see in the

9:30recording, I have my entry here. I'm

9:32setting up my targets, and then I'm

9:33fully out of the trade here. Okay, so

9:35now let's look at an example of a

9:36different day, and we're going to go

9:37through it a little bit quicker. So, I

9:39start on my daily, I set my previous day

9:41high, previous day low value, go down to

9:43my 15-minute. I'm identifying my fair

9:45value gaps here. And notice here on this

9:47price action, I really don't have any

9:49important fair value gaps. Even if I

9:51scroll out, all of them have already

9:53been invalidated or gone through. So, I

9:55only have this one, and then

9:56realistically, this one down here that

9:58has not been yet filled. And the top of

10:00that range is actually coming up to the

10:02previous day low level as well. Okay, so

10:04we have our daily analysis set up. Now,

10:06we want to see a response off of one of

10:07these areas, as well as our change of

10:09character, and our fair value gap. All

10:11right, so I'm playing the chart forward.

10:16So, you can see price came up, rejected

10:19off of that 15, and closed now below it.

10:26>> [music]

10:26>> Okay, we have price reject again off of

10:28this fair value gap. And now we have

10:30this [music] trend level forming. And

10:32now we're getting a high impact candle

10:34is more high impact in the direction of

10:36our bias. And technically, we have a gap

10:39here and a gap here. So, once we see

10:40that trend level break, we have a change

10:42of character in here, rejects off of the

10:44middle point, comes in and retests the

10:46opposite side of this trend, which is

10:48why this is an important thing that I

10:49look at, placing the stop loss outside

10:51of that retest. Notice how the candle

10:52doesn't close below this low level, so

10:54we don't reduce our risk yet. Then we

10:56finally have a candle close, so stop

10:58loss comes down to break even. And now

11:01the next high impact area on our chart,

11:04as crazy as it seems, is down here at at

11:06least the previous day low. And our next

11:09possible unmitigated fair value gap on

11:12the 15-minute time frame. Okay, and

11:13you'll see over the course of the

11:15session, this is exactly where price

11:17gravitated to before having a reversal.

11:20So, you can see that's 19R on a

11:22position. So, now we have new fair value

11:23gaps on our chart. We have this one, we

11:26have this one, and we have our previous

11:28day low fully rejected off of. So, you

11:30can see we have a change of character

11:31right here after a big rejection off of

11:34that previous day low, a big

11:36displacement candle with a large fair

11:38value gap left over right here. We also

11:40have a clean candle close outside of

11:42this temporary downtrend here. So, once

11:44again, displacement candle, change of

11:46character, reaction off of one of our

11:47key areas, showing that bigger buyers

11:50are entering the market. Stop loss

11:52placed underneath this swing low level.

11:54Target starts out but we also have this

11:57fair value gap to see how price responds

11:59off of it. Risk gets reduced.

12:03>> [music]

12:06>> We finally have candle close outside of

12:08this fair value gap. We have risk off

12:09the table. Notice how the price came

12:11very close coming back down to our

12:13entry, but because we waited for a

12:15candle close here, it didn't tag [music]

12:16the entry. Now, of course, sometimes it

12:18is going to tag the entry. Markets are

12:20still going to be random, but that's the

12:21ideology around this concept. So, if we

12:23want to be aggressive on the target, and

12:25price ends up tagging us for a

12:27break-even trade, we didn't quite get to

12:29our next take profit level. Not every

12:30time these trades are even going to work

12:32in the first place, and not every single

12:34time it's going to run as much as you

12:36want. So, everyone can have different

12:37take profit managements and figure out

12:38what works best depending on how your

12:40style of trading works. But we did have

12:42a potential opportunity to be able to

12:44come up to this point, which case that's

12:46another one to five risk reward. So,

12:48let's take a look at another example. We

12:49have our previous day high, previous day

12:51low set, fair value gap here. This time

12:54previous day high gets swept, so the

12:56candle tries to go above it and

12:58immediately rejects off of that area.

13:00Our next [music] important fair value

13:01gap on this entire move is here, maybe

13:05here, but nothing really super high

13:06impact until maybe this point as well.

13:08We have this point drawn out, only show

13:10that on the 15, trend level drawn, fair

13:13value gap in here. Didn't quite have a

13:15change of character here, so wouldn't

13:17have really entered. We didn't really

13:18get a confirmed break of that trend

13:20level. Here we get the trend level

13:22breaking, but this fair value gap is not

13:24yet invalidated. This would be our ideal

13:26for price to come up into test into.

13:28Entry set up, stop loss outside of fair

13:31value gap producing candle, position set

13:33to one to four.

13:36>> [music]

13:37>> Close below this swing point, stop loss

13:39moves to break even. This fair value

13:41gap's our next important area.

13:45>> [music]

13:46>> And you can see price reacts beautifully

13:48exactly off of the midpoint of this fair

13:50value gap. But you can see that exact

13:52area was responded to, and price wanted

13:55to on a larger time frame gravitate to

13:57this next macro area, at the very least

13:59have a reaction off of. Something to

14:01remember is that we're not going to be

14:02right about every single trade. Okay,

14:04sometimes the market is not going to

14:05work in our direction, but it's about

14:06positioning ourselves at least in

14:08technical areas where we at least have a

14:10higher chance of being able to have

14:11these moves. So, even though we can't be

14:13right every single time, even on my

14:15worst day where I have a 27% win rate,

14:17by following the process of reducing

14:19risk and letting the market play out, I

14:21allow big trades to be able to play out

14:23while keeping the losses small or at

14:25break even, and oftentimes I can really

14:27get ahead. On days where the market

14:29really wants to run, I'm able to

14:30capitalize on really large trades, keep

14:33the losers relatively small, and so to

14:35be able to play into that momentum of

14:37the market. Historical results don't

14:38dictate future performance. However,

14:40after nine years of trading, these have

14:42been my findings, and this is a really,

14:43really good framework that I like to use

14:45to be able to add other things to, add

14:47other confluences with the team, and

14:48work on. That's led and allowed me to be

14:50very consistent over time. But you guys

14:52can let me know in the comments whether

14:54you like this approach. Make sure you

14:55hit the like button if you're still

14:56here. Subscribe to the channel if you

14:58like trading and investing and want to

14:59know when I put out other videos. I'll

15:01put another video of me trading this

15:03right here in case you're curious. But

15:04until next time, I will see you all in

15:06the next video.

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