$100 a day from trading! Pocket change for some, life-changing for others! In this guide, you’ll discover how to day trade using smart money concepts to hit this target every day!
Understanding Market Structure
When I started trading, I had no clue what I was doing. I thought fancy indicators were the key to success. I just wanted to know the trend and find a simple entry point! But I couldn’t figure out which way the market was going! It was confusing because different time frames showed different trends. Everything changed when I ditched all indicators and started reading market structure! This is the foundation of everything we do!
A bullish market is when prices keep going up. You’ll see higher highs and higher lows. This means each time the price drops, it doesn’t go as low as before. When it goes up, it goes higher than the last peak. When price breaks through a previous high, we call it a “break of structure.” This is a key moment. It shows the market is getting stronger.
Real markets aren’t perfect; they don’t move in straight lines. That’s why we need to focus on these swing highs and lows. These are the significant turns in price. A swing low is the lowest point that led to a swing high. So, when you see a new high form, look back. The lowest point before that high is your swing low! This might sound basic, but it’s super important, and many traders get it wrong. They zoom in too close and miss the bigger picture. They might think the market is going down when it’s really still going up overall.
For instance, if you’re looking at a small part of the chart and see lower lows and lower highs, you might think the market is going down. But if you zoom out, you might see that this is just a small dip in a bigger upward trend. If you sell here, you will lose money when the price keeps going up. That’s why it’s crucial to map out your swing highs and lows correctly. It helps you see the big picture and trade in the right direction.
In a bearish market, it’s the opposite. You’re looking for lower highs and lower lows. The highest point that led to a new low becomes your swing high. Everything between a swing high and a swing low is just “internal structure.” It’s the small moves within the bigger trend. Don’t get too caught up in these small moves. Keep your eye on the bigger trend.
Key Concepts: Break of Structure and Pullbacks
Here’s another important point: after a break of structure, always expect a pullback. This means after the price breaks through a previous high or low, it will usually come back a bit before continuing in the same direction. Many new traders make this mistake. They see the price break through a level and immediately want to buy or sell. But the smart move is to wait for the pullback. This gives you a better entry point.
Now, let’s talk about strong and weak highs and lows. This concept can really boost your trading. A low’s job is to make a high. A high’s job is to make a low. In a bullish market, we have a series of strong lows. A strong low is one that succeeds in making a higher high. If a high fails to make a lower low, we call it a weak high. This is important for setting targets. In a bullish market, we like to buy at strong lows and target weak highs.
Think about it this way: in a bullish market, we’re trying to catch higher lows. These are the easy trades, the continuations. In a bearish market, we’re looking to catch lower highs. This concept gives you a clean framework for mapping structure and setting targets.
Trend Changes and Changes of Character
Now let’s look at trend changes, also known as changes of character. A bullish market doesn’t last forever, and neither does a bearish one. In a bullish market, we’re seeing higher highs and higher lows. But at some point, price will break below a strong low and form a lower low. This is where the trend changes. Some traders want to see both a lower low and a lower high before they confirm a trend change. That’s because sometimes, what looks like a trend change can be a fake-out. The market might grab some liquidity below a low and then continue up.
I like to keep it simple. As soon as I see that lower low form, I consider it a trend change. I then look for the lower high to form so I can trade the new bearish trend. This links back to our strong and weak highs and lows concept. When a strong low is taken out, it means a lot of money stepped in to push the price down. This creates a strong high. We can use this to build our trade ideas. The same applies in reverse for a bearish to bullish trend change. We look for that higher high, then try to catch the higher low that follows.
Supply and Demand: The Next Concept to Master
After understanding market structure, the next concept you should master is supply and demand. Supply and demand zones are key spots on charts where big players make their moves. These zones show where there’s a big gap between buyers and sellers. To find them, look for quick, strong price moves that suddenly reverse. This shows a big imbalance that made the price jump.
There are different types of zones to watch for. First are the base zones: These form when price stays in a small range for a while, then breaks out. The edges of this range are where orders build up. When price comes back to these levels after a breakout, it’s likely to react.
We also have pivot zones: These form at key turning points, like swing highs and lows. They’re often marked by one or two special candles. For a demand zone, look for a strong down candle, where the next candle closes above its high. This shows a shift from selling to buying. For a supply zone, it’s the opposite: a strong up candle, where the next candle closes below its low.
Considering the price action structure, there are two main types of zones: continuation zones and reversal zones. Continuation zones happen when there’s a trend, and price pulls back before continuing. These are called rally-base-rally zones in uptrends and drop-base-drop zones in downtrends. Reversal zones happen when price changes trend direction, known as drop-base-rally or rally-base-drop patterns.
Liquidity: The Key to Market Movement
Day trading is all about understanding how the market moves. And one key concept is liquidity, the amount of orders in the market. It’s essentially how much supply and demand exists at different price levels. Liquidity is what drives market movement.
Every day, millions of traders jump in. Many use similar strategies. Buyers, thinking the market will go up, buy at support. They put their stops just below it! Sellers do the opposite. They sell at resistance and put their stops above the highs. Then there are breakout traders! They set buy and sell orders around the range. All these orders create a lot of liquidity on both sides of a range.
Why does this matter? It helps you understand how the market moves based on supply and demand. It’s not as simple as just buying at support and selling at resistance. You might see a trading range after a downtrend. Some traders, not knowing how order flow works, might sell here. Others might try to buy. And there are still stop orders and breakout trades on both sides. This is where big players come in. Banks and hedge funds trade huge orders. They need a lot of liquidity to do this.
Inducement: The Trick of Smart Money
If you want to succeed in day trading, you also need to master inducement. Inducement is simply a move that lures buyers or sellers into the market, creating liquidity pools that smart money players use to their advantage. Inducement can help you spot potential reversals and entry points for trades. Basically, you need to spot when the market’s trying to trick you. That’s where inducement comes in. It’s a smart way to figure out what the market’s really up to.
Picture this: the price is going up, and it looks like it’s about to break through a high point. Traders who like to buy when prices break out will be itching to get in! And anyone who’s betting on the price going down will have their stop losses ready to go if it breaks that high. This is exactly when the big players, the smart money, decide to sell. They’re betting the price will drop. This is inducement: the market shows you one thing but plans to do the opposite.
When looking for inducement setups, pay attention to fair value gaps and supply and demand zones. These are areas on the chart where price has moved quickly, leaving unfilled orders. Price often returns to these areas, creating opportunities for trades.
Using Volume Profile for Enhanced Trading
In my own day trading journey, I saw immediate improvement once I started using volume profile. Volume profiles are one of the most powerful trading tools. They show how much volume occurred at specific price levels. This is key because it gives more useful info than traditional volume tools, which only show total daily volume.
The bars in the profile show trading volume at each price level. Bigger bars mean more volume at that price. The middle line is the point of control – the level with the most trading volume. High trading volume matters because it shows where buyers and sellers had lots of interest. They took big action at those levels. If price comes back to these levels in the future, there might be interest again. This creates potential trade entry and exit opportunities.
But don’t use volume profiles alone. Combine them with the concepts we talked about before: key points in market structure or supply and demand areas. Start by applying the anchored volume profile at the beginning of a price move. The profile will only calculate data after that point. The point of control shows where the most volume occurred. This high-volume zone becomes an area of interest. If price returns there, it could present long trade chances or be a good exit target for short trades.
Conclusion: Aligning Your Trades with Smart Money
This is how you day trade using smart money concepts. You won’t get lost in a sea of conflicting signals. Instead, align your trades with the main market flow. Understanding these principles will not only help you hit your trading targets but also build a solid foundation for your trading journey.
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