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Continue reading →: The DAX Pre-Market Stat That Changed How I Trade the Euro OpenIntro In this post, I’m looking at strategies relating to a breakout of the pre-market on DAX the German Index Futures. My intention for this post is to explain the research I did and give you access to all the materials for you to replicate the research. There is a…
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Continue reading →: My Trading Edge Research Kit #1: Daily Range Distribution (Free + Claude + TradingView)On the open, the range is often small. You can see it on the DAX most days. First hour prints a 100-point box. Maybe a double top, maybe a double bottom, maybe just sideways. And the question every day trader asks themselves at this point is the same one: Will…
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Continue reading →: Free Risk/Reward Ruler for NinjaTrader 8I built a free, open-source risk/reward ruler for NinjaTrader 8 and I’m putting it on GitHub. No catch. It’s a single .cs file you drop into your indicators folder, compile, and use. It does three things: Direction is automatic — the indicator reads bar colour so you don’t have to…
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Continue reading →: DAX Post-FOMC Reaction Day: How Should We Trade It?I just finished a study on every scheduled FOMC meeting since December 2019. Fifty events, looking at how the DAX reacts the next morning. Today is the first day I’ll trade with it. Caveat going in: 50 events isn’t a lot. The 2022–2023 hiking cycle is a big chunk of…
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Continue reading →: Trading Like a Grandmaster: What Chess Teaches Us About Price Action MasteryIn my own trading journey I’ve come a long wya from thinking trading is about setups and indicators. I’m trying to synchronise myselfwhat the market is doing right now, and choosing the right response. A parallel discipline that trains that kind of thinking is chess. One of the best frameworks…
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Continue reading →: Zen Trading Toolkit Indicator — Three Research Modules, One IndicatorThree research modules in one indicator — ABR Measured Moves, 18-bar Opening Range, and a Volatility Stats Table. Free on GitHub. ES, FDAX, HSI, Nikkei presets built in.
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Continue reading →: Why Do I Keep Blowing My Account?You hear that all the time from traders. So in this post let’s talk about the why? This post is for the trader stuck in a cycle — doing well for a while, building the account, feeling confident… and then blowing it up. I was there for a looooong time.…
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Continue reading →: Zen Trading Tech on GitHub — Indicators, Data, ResearchQuick one today. I’ve set up a public GitHub for Zen Trading Tech, and I want you to know it’s there. github.com/Zen-Tim/zen-trading-tech-public What’s on there Three folders at the moment: Why Same reason as always. Data beats opinion. If I’m going to publish a study that says “X happens 72%…
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Continue reading →: Shaved Opens Revisited: Open on High, Open on LowA couple of years ago I wrote a post about shaved opens — those rare sessions where the first bar of the day opens exactly on its high or low. I’ve been thinking about them again lately, and I wanted to come back and add a layer to what I…
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Continue reading →: How I Review My Trades Using Second Leg ConceptsI recently published a deep-dive post on second legs — Everything Can Get a Second Leg. Even a Second Leg! While writing it, I went back to Al Brooks’ books and took detailed notes on every second leg concept I could find. Then I did something simple: I took those…
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Continue reading →: Nikkei: What Happens After a Historic Gap-Down Open?Today on March 9th, Nikkei 225 opened nearly 4,000 points below Friday’s close. That’s a gap-down of 2.94x the average bar range (ABR). The catalyst: Iran, the Strait of Hormuz closure, oil spiking above $107. When something like this happens, the instinct is to panic or to “buy the dip”…
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Continue reading →: Failure of a Failure: When the Test Target Fails Too (Part 2)Introduction High 2 Failed but No Test? Measured Move Down Sometimes the H2 fails and the test never comes. The market just keeps going. This is the scenario most traders dread — you took the loss and there’s no recovery trade waiting for you. But even here, the failure gives…
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Continue reading →: When High Probability Trades Fail: How Losses Become Setups (Part 1)Video Introduction High Probability Trade – Long Live the High 2! High Probability Trade Failed: 2nd Entry Long (H2) -> Test Target for later Here’s where it gets interesting. The H2 triggered, the bulls entered, and the market went against them. The second entry long — supposed to be the…
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Continue reading →: Everything Can Get a Second Leg. Even a Second Leg!
If there’s one idea that explains more of what happens on a chart for me than anything else, it’s this: everything gets a second leg. Maybe it works for you, maybe it doesn’t, but it helps me trade, so I’ll do my best to share it. Strong breakouts get a…
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Continue reading →: Researching How to Trade a Measured Move of Yesterday’s RangeYesterday was a bull trend from the open which ended at a measured move of the day before. Which got me thinking about some old research I needed to update. What really are the chance we get a measured move of yesterday’s range? In this post I will explore it…
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Continue reading →: ES Swing Trading and the 18-Bar RangeIntroduction Why the 18 Bar Range? Data on the 18-Bar Range Link Indicator Trading a Measured Move of the 18-Bar Range? Data below Targets for Trading a Breakout of the 18-Bar Range? Breakout Targets of 50% of the Range Conclusion
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Continue reading →: The Art of the Retest: Refining My Trendline StrategiesI don’t think consistency in trading comes from finding a “perfect” indicator, setup, signal, size or exit; I think it comes from the relentless review of our performance every day. If Tiger Woods at #1 was still working on ‘fixing’ his swing… for sure I can keep reviewing the fundamentals…
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Continue reading →: Cash Indices and Higher Time Frame PullbacksIt reminded me of an old funny quote by trader Michael Burry. Post with Indicator here Futures and Cash Indices Index TradingView Ticker Hosted Source (Exchange) Based on Futures S&P 500 SPX CBOE ES (E-mini) Nasdaq 100 NDX NASDAQ NQ (Nasdaq) Dow Jones DJI DJ (Dow Jones Indices) YM (Dow…
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Continue reading →: Mapping “The Dip”: A Visual Tool for Long-Term InvestorsTechnical Details This indicator plots horizontal drawdown levels projected into the right-hand margin. It calculates percentage drops from a selected anchor point (ATH or Current Price) to identify key price levels. Technical Features Custom Options Explained 1. Reference (refMode) 2. Right Offset (bars) 3. Percentage Band Toggles 4. Color Inputs…
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Continue reading →: 📈⛩️🗡️Trade Like a Samurai Scroll IV: Always InSummary ⚔️ The Way Is in Training The samurai had a saying: 道は稽古にあり (Dō wa keiko ni ari) — the Way is in training.All mastery comes from repetition of the basics — not to reach an end, but to refine awareness itself. Kihon (基本) is not a stage you pass…
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Continue reading →: Master Your Trading Edge: The Continuous Improvement LoopFor serious Price Action traders, true skill enhancement doesn’t happen by chance; it relies on a deliberate feedback loop. This structured process ensures correct thinking to improve your trading, where the output of each stage feeds into the next. Here is the essential five-step continuous improvement loop you must use…
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Continue reading →: Always-In Indicator for TradingViewThe Always-In indicator highlights bars on your chart to help determine context. It looks for: It is based off the work from Dr Al Brooks in the Brooks Trading Course. Even if you don’t use TradingView, you can see the source code. You can get AI to make it for…
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Continue reading →: Four Contradictions That Hold Traders BackEvery trader hits a point where effort and progress stop matching. The charts look the same. Study hours increase. Clarity doesn’t arrive. When that happens, the cause is usually internal, not technical. For me, it came down to contradictions in how I thought about trading. I hope the points below…
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Continue reading →: Understanding Brokers and Platforms for DAX and Gold Trading
I got a few questions from Australian traders so I thought I would do more of a deep dive here. It also applies to traders everywhere in terms of a decision process. Introduction On the one hand, trading is very simple: click a mouse button and you are in a…
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Continue reading →: 📈⛩️🗡️ Trade Like a Samurai Scroll III: What Happens When Swing Points Break?Summary In the past two posts we built a foundation around swing points in our price action trading. What to do when they break? In this next scroll we review possible trade setups and price action outcomes. Lets cut right in! Pre-Work 📜 See earlier scroll for Scroll I and…
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Continue reading →: 📈⛩️🗡️Trade Like a Samurai Scroll II: HTF Swing PointsSummary 📈⛩️🗡️ In the Trade Like a Samurai series, the focus is on Kihon (基本) — the martial fundamentals of trading discipline. For the samurai, Kihon was not separate from combat skill ⚔️; it was the edge of the blade itself. 🔍 In this Scroll II, I demonstrate deliberate-practice drills…
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Continue reading →: 📈⛩️🗡️Trade Like a Samurai Scroll I: Swing PointsSummary 📈⛩️🗡️ In the Trade Like a Samurai series, the focus is on Kihon (基本) — the martial fundamentals that forge every trader’s skill. For the samurai, Kihon was not separate from combat skill ⚔️; Practised every day the Samurai became the skill. 🔍 In this first scroll, I demonstrate…
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Continue reading →: Big Gap Up on the Weekly ChartPremise Weekly Gap Ups 27 October 2025 1 July 2019 24 April 2017 – Gap Up 48.75% 7 November 2016 – Gap Up 47.75% 3 January 2012 – Gap Up 41.5% Weekly Gap Downs 20th Jan 2026 – Big Gap Down 55% 7th April 2025 – Big Gap Down 30.75%…
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Continue reading →: Streaks Above and Below the Moving Average: MA ResearchMost traders use a moving average, but how many have studied the moving average itself and how to use it? I n the post below I explore some research ideas that have been useful in my trading and valuable for traders to explore. There is also an indicator below you…
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Continue reading →: Researching CME Settlement vs RTH Close (E-mini S&P 500 Futures) and its Effect on Swing TargetsThanks to my friend and trader Tim Stout for the great chat we had in Orlando regarding ES – Bar 78 vs Bar 81. (CME vs RTH Close.) It was never a focus of my research before, having worked on Bar 81 only. So a big thank you for that…
Hi,
I’m Tim
Welcome to Zen Trading Tech.
I’m a Aussie day trader and I post trading tips, practice drills, and indicators that helped my trading get to a professional level.
Everything here is to help train the eyes and hands to trade better. If it helped me I’ll post it for others. Hope you enjoy!
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