Three Day Trading Strategies With Exact Entries and Stops

Every one of these runs on our live desk. A strategy you cannot write down in five lines — trigger, stop, target, size, invalidation — is not a strategy, it is a mood.

1. Opening-range VWAP reclaim

The first fifteen minutes set a range. Price then leaves VWAP, fails, and reclaims it. That reclaim is where the day's trend usually starts, and it gives you a stop only a few ticks away.

• Trigger: after 9:35 ET, a 5-minute candle closes back above VWAP having closed below it on the previous candle; enter on the break of that candle's high.
• Stop: the reclaim candle's low, minus one tick.
• Target: 1.6R, or the opening-range high if that comes first.
• Risk sizing: shares = risk dollars ÷ (entry − stop). Never size off account equity.
• Invalidation: a 5-minute close back below VWAP, or two failed reclaims on the same name — stand down for the session.

2. Failed-poke range fade

An afternoon setup for flat tape. After 1:00 PM ET, a quiet name pokes above its prior 30-minute range on thin volume and slides straight back inside. The poke failed; the range holds.

• Trigger: a 5-minute candle closes back inside the prior 30-minute range after trading above it; short on the next candle's open.
• Stop: half the range height above the poke high.
• Target: the midpoint of the range.
• Risk sizing: half your normal unit — this is a fade, not a trend trade.
• Invalidation: volume on the poke above the day's average, or a broad tape trending more than 0.30% — skip it entirely.

3. The 9-EMA ride

When a strong name stair-steps, the 9-period EMA on the 5-minute chart acts as the floor. You are not predicting anything; you are following until the floor breaks.

• Trigger: three consecutive 5-minute closes above a rising 9-EMA with price above VWAP; enter on the first pullback candle that closes back above the 9-EMA.
• Stop: under the pullback low.
• Target: 1.6R, with the remainder trailed under each new 5-minute higher low.
• Risk sizing: half unit, because you will be stopped often for small amounts and paid rarely for large ones.
• Invalidation: a 5-minute close below the 9-EMA, or the EMA flattening.

The rule that matters more than all three

Fix the dollar risk per trade before the session and do not change it intraday. On our desk a losing trade costs a fixed amount, the day stops at a hard loss limit, and per-trade size steps down automatically once the day is meaningfully red. The setups earn the money; the limits are what keep it.

Next: how to prepare for a prop firm challenge before you pay for one.