The whole method, condensed to one scannable page. No lessons here — just the rules, the numbers and the levers. Keep it open while you trade.
VWAP = control. The opening range = the battlefield. The edge = fading trapped traders with VWAP alignment, entering off the VWAP — not the extreme — and banking base hits.
ES (primary) · NQ (Break & Retest) · YM (confirm). 1-min execution / 15-min context. Chart ETH, trade RTH.
Core 9:45–11:00 ET. No trades 9:30–9:45. Fed 2 PM = skip
Stacked up = longs only · down = shorts only · mixed = stand aside. After ~10:30, NY VWAP is the decision line you trigger off (co-equal with the overnight for direction). The NY slope is the directional read; the pre-open overnight slope is not. Add the start-of-week VWAP as an HTF governor.
OR breaks on a wick. VWAP breaks on a 1-min close — VWAP is a zone, so a few ticks of overshoot is porosity, not a break (📖).
The opening range breaks on a wick; the VWAP breaks on a 1-min close. Never confuse the two.
Session extreme / previous structure, a few pts beyond VWAP. Never moved, never break-even'd. Ugly stop → skip.
The stop sits at the session extreme and is never moved — not trailed, not break-even'd. An ugly stop is a skip, not a smaller stop.
Level-to-level, take base hits, base hits over home runs. Re-enter at the VWAP on the next pullback.
Reachability: prior-day POC/VAH/VAL ~50% same-day (solid targets); prior-week levels only ~20–26% (swing / stretch).
Enter off the VWAP, not the extreme — then take base hits. Location plus management is where the edge lives.
A = alignment + a clean opening candle agree → full. B = one disagrees → half (a wicky candle is a wait-and-confirm first — see below). Skip = both disagree.
Dollar-risk-first · ~10% of drawdown per trade · daily cap ~2× · red day recoverable in one green day · two-try rule · hard platform lockout.
Blitz evals, slow when funded · small payouts often · protect the drawdown buffer · scale accounts (copy/rotate), not size.
React don't forecast · a no-trade day is a good day · detach identity from P&L · eliminate the chase · markup + journal daily · survival is the edge.
Let the opening range form. Check alignment and the data. When the first break traps the chasers, enter back through VWAP the way the stack is aligned — off the VWAP, not the extreme. Stop at the session extreme, target the other side, bank base hits, re-enter on reclaims. Grade it, size it, cap the day, journal it. Do that on cheap funded accounts, pull small payouts constantly, and stay alive.
The pre-market routine, the pre-trade checklist, the decision tree and the full report card — the daily driver this page condenses.
Every make-or-break gate, in order, as a tick-as-you-go checklist. If any answer is "no," don't take the trade.