How to Trade Futures

How to leverage data to set up your Timing

In this comprehensive lesson, you’ll discover how to leverage institutional-grade data to perfect your market timing and eliminate guesswork from your trading decisions. We bring together experienced traders to share practical insights on using data-driven approaches to answer the critical question: is this the right time to enter or exit the market?

When it comes to timing, it equals precision from start to finish. Whether you’re scalping intraday or swing trading longer term, timing helps you avoid FOMO and maintain the precious asset of patience. You should always ask yourself three fundamental questions before entering any trade: Is this the right time to go into the market? Is this the right location? And is your setup aligned with both timing and location?

Before thinking about market entry, you need to prepare for market events by checking the economic calendar, monitoring news releases, and understanding volatility expectations. Understanding when options expire, especially zero DTEs (closest to expiration), is crucial because since COVID, the options market has grown dramatically. In 2021, for the first time in history, option traded volume surpassed equity volume, meaning options flow now significantly impacts market momentum and price movement.

MenthorQ provides institutional-level data including the one day max, one day minimum, core resistance levels, and blind spots that help you identify potential market shifts without extensive homework. These indicators may look like simple support and resistance lines on your chart, but they actually represent powerful data from the options market, showing open interest and gamma levels where reactions are likely to occur. You don’t need to understand complex options mathematics, but gaining basic knowledge of market mechanics and how Greeks play out will give you a complete market picture.

Using this data-driven approach allows you to spend less time overanalyzing charts and more time developing your roadmap for the day. You can visualize potential price movements, identify your zones, and execute trades stress-free when price hits your mapped-out areas. The key is mapping out volatility events, waiting for reactions, setting your levels, and being patient when price is at equilibrium or the 50% range—especially when strong institutional levels, gamma walls, or blind spots exist on both upside and downside.

Video Chapters

  1. 00:00 – Welcome and speaker introductions
  2. 04:13 – What timing means in trading
  3. 04:32 – Timing equals precision and patience
  4. 07:35 – Preparing for market events and options expiration
  5. 09:03 – Understanding the options market impact
  6. 11:10 – Dean’s approach to timing and roadmap planning

Key Takeaways

  1. Always ask three questions before trading: Is this the right time, the right location, and does your setup align with both?
  2. Understanding options expiration and zero DTEs is essential since option volume surpassed equity volume in 2021
  3. MenthorQ indicators show institutional levels, gamma walls, and blind spots derived from options market data including open interest and gamma
  4. Use data to create your daily roadmap, identify zones, and practice patience rather than rushing into trades at equilibrium
Video Transcription

[00:00:04.24] - Speaker 1
Everybody, welcome. Welcome, Steve. Welcome, Fabio.

[00:00:13.25] - Speaker 2
Hi, guys. Hi, Patrick.

[00:00:16.00] - Speaker 1
Hello, everyone.

[00:00:20.12] - Speaker 3
Yeah, welcome everyone.

[00:00:23.04] - Speaker 1
All right, Dean and Sean, you're also now on the discussion panel. You can come on later. So I hope you are ready. Sean and Dean also writing down in the description. This will be an online course recording. So for timing, location and setup, we have also Fabio here, we have Steve here, we have Sean here, we have Dean here. Maybe Steve, you can say a little bit short words about you for people who don't know you.

[00:00:59.16] - Speaker 3
Sure, of course, yeah. Thanks everyone. Thanks, Patrick. My name is Steve and I've been involved with the markets ever since I was 18. Of course, long term investing, stocks, commodities, all that kind of stuff in the beginning and then worked my way into day trading, futures, CFDs and of course eventually I collaborated with Patrick and we've been day trading together for a while now and doing this full time. Also as a entrepreneur. I'm fully self employed. Moved away from the corporate ladder, started with that in the beginning, but now just fully on my own. Created this passive income for myself as a, as a day trader and yeah, been moving forward ever since and never looking back with Patrick. So yeah, thanks again.

[00:01:45.16] - Speaker 1
Yeah, welcome, Sean. We have also Sean here and Dean say, two really nice guys who want to be mentored and yeah, so maybe Dean, Sean, you want to say something about only one single words about you, what you're doing, how long you're trading so that the people know what you're doing. Dean first.

[00:02:10.15] - Speaker 4
Sure. Hello everyone. Thank you, Patrick, for having me on. Name is Dean Allen. I've been trading for about five years now and I just started futures. Love it and I'm just excited and very happy to be a part of this.

[00:02:26.24] - Speaker 1
Yeah, perfect. Thank you, Sean.

[00:02:30.20] - Speaker 5
Yeah, my name is Sean and been trading for about five years. Mostly options, some investments and things of that nature, but mostly futures. Now since I met Patrick and it's been wonderful with the tools that he's given us and I really want to thank you for inviting me aboard here. Thanks so much, Patrick.

[00:02:51.17] - Speaker 1
Yeah, welcome. And the most important person, it's Fabio, our big boss.

[00:03:00.19] - Speaker 2
Thank you.

[00:03:01.03] - Speaker 3
Fabric.

[00:03:04.09] - Speaker 1
Maybe you can say one single words about you. Maybe we have someone who don't know you, but they're really interesting and join Mentor Q. So yeah, let's say something about Mentor Q and then we will start.

[00:03:17.16] - Speaker 2
Yeah. So basically I'm Fabio. I'm the CEO and founder of Mentor Q. And I I've been in Finance since 2007. I work in different company but the main one was Bloomberg and the Goal of Mentor Q is really coming and providing you guys with some of the tools that are now used by only large institutions. So the data that we collect sometimes is hard to access, it could be expensive and also like it's hard to manage if you don't have the experience, especially looking at the option market. Since COVID the option market has really shifted the momentum in the market and we are trying to capture actionable insights for you guys to use and we simplify it in a way that it's really easy to get set up. And what Patrick is going to show today is really how simple and easy it can be to just leverage data and create a trading plan. So, really excited to be here and thank you guys for taking the time.

[00:04:13.02] - Speaker 1
All right, all right. Okay, so let's start first with the first lesson. And this is about timing. And when we're speaking about timing in the market, Steve, what do you think? First about timing.

[00:04:32.00] - Speaker 3
So for me timing is everything from start, middle and finish and it equals precision. So for me that's, it's so important. Whether you're scalping intraday swing or even longer term swing trading, it's all about timing. Because once we have fomo, we start rushing ourselves. You start taking away the precious asset that we have and that's the game of patience. So yeah, like we always, we always like to wait, especially the pre market and in entering into New York, we want to wait until we have that momentum shift, that volatility and that volume. So why rush into the market when price, like today was a perfect example, when price was moving at an equilibrium mid range and it was fit and then right into the New York open it was 50, 50, whether we were going up and down, especially with news coming in later. So it's all about mapping out the volatility events, waiting for the reaction and setting up your levels. And then once your levels are set and we're at that 50% equilibrium range of the last few days, especially like current day, why rush into a trade when it's 50, 50, whether it can go up or down, when you had both strong institution levels on the upside, whether it's your blind spots or the gamma walls on the upside and the downside, why risk your capital?

[00:05:52.14] - Speaker 3
Well, when there's the market's very indecisive and not be patient and wait for the momentum shift, you know, like I said, whether you're a shorter term or medium term. So that's why for me it's very important just seeing how New York is forming, see where price is headed on both S and P and Nasdaq and just being patient so on that time. So for me it's just all about patience.

[00:06:14.24] - Speaker 1
Yeah, that's that, that. That's one of a good. One of a good example. So when I will speak about timing. So I think we as a trader we need a trading system before we come into the market. And we should, we should all ask us three questions. Is this now the right time to go into the market? This is now the right location to go into the market. And is our setup right for the timing and the location? We will speak later about setup and location. Now we speak about timing and Steve was saying this about this. So we should always be have an eye on and what position we are. So Mentor Q will deliver us really good information. So we have not to do really big homework. So we can see where we have for example the one day max, where we have the one day minimum, where we have the core resistance, all the levels and also the blind spots. They can help us to identify good points where we have the market shift. And also before we thinking about is this now a good time to go into the market? We should be prepared for market events.

[00:07:35.17] - Speaker 1
We should not miss market market events. We should always looking into the economic calendar. We should check the news. What, what news coming out, what volatility we can expect. And also. And now I think Fabi is a good point that you can join in. It's also about to have an idea especially if you trade only futures or if you trade only stocks. When we have options expiring. Correct Fabio?

[00:08:09.02] - Speaker 2
Yes. So basically it's. It's. There's two important flaws. The zero dtes which are the closest to expiration but also looking at the full option chain. So some of these levels are looking at really all the open interest and gamma coming from the option market that could potentially have a reaction. So the goal is really for you to have a clear picture of the option data direct into your chart. So is kind of like the way you see this chart, this, this indicator, they might seem to you as like support and resistance levels but in reality there's like a really big power behind it which is really coming from the code in the option market. So like you know you have more information is a. It looks like a line on the chart but in reality is actually showing you a lot of data coming from the option market.

[00:09:03.07] - Speaker 1
Yes, that's good. And, and that's one of the points where you have to looking into when we're speaking about timing and you should always ask yourself, is this the right time to go into the market? So we were speaking about the three points. What was Steve was saying? Looking also to the economic calendar. Look to the, to the news. What's going on in the news. And last, understand how the options market is working. When we have options expiring, understand zero dte. It's, it's. You must not understand the whole options mathematic behind what are the setups from the options. But, but get some basic understanding about the options market because Fabio, how big is the options market now? How much volume have the Options Market since 5 years ago?

[00:09:55.18] - Speaker 2
From now I don't have the number in front of me. But like I can tell you that like since COVID the option market has grown dramatically. And in 2021 we saw for the first time in history, we saw basically the option traded volume surpassing the equity volume for the first time. So again, I think one of the key thing is really to understand the market mechanics behind the option market. Because option has leverage, option has expiration. So knowing kind of like how the Greeks play out and we provide you guys with all the free tools to get access to that information within our website. But basically knowing where the market maker's positioning is and where the market positioning an option is very important because those market mechanics will then cause all the reaction that you know, you're going to show later in the, in the presentation. So I think not encountering the option flow right now for any traders is basically missing a part of the picture. So it's like kind of like trading a little bit blind because there's a lot of flow that goes from the option market.

[00:11:10.10] - Speaker 1
Yep. Thank you. All right, and Dean and Sean, let's start with Dean. What is for you? Timing. You anti pizza. You use the concept timing, location set up a while. So what is meaning for you when we speak about timing? What is this for you?

[00:11:29.14] - Speaker 4
Yeah, great question. So timing for me and time for me is one not spending so much time overanalyzing the charts. And so using the data that I get from Mentor Cube is essential. You know, all the information that I get I can just plug onto my charts with the indicators and then that allows me to basically spend the time that I need to basically get my mindset right, get everything together. Tom see my roadmap and then basically play the day out in my head. So as I'm looking at the chart I can say, okay, I can see where this is going. Where this is going, where that's going has the potential of going and Then once I have that in mind, it's easier for me when I'm looking at the charts through the day to see my setups. And then once I see myself, bang, I know the timing is right, I hit a zone that I've mapped out. I know the potential areas where it can go and I can take, get my profit and get out. That's one of the things that I've really learned with the timing. It's just being able to set everything up early, understand where my roadmaps are.

[00:12:50.23] - Speaker 4
And then once I understand my roadmaps and I see the zones, I can get my profits and be done for the day and pretty much be stress free. It's a beautiful thing.

[00:13:02.09] - Speaker 1
Yeah. And always, always remind yourself. So ask the question. If you, before you go into the market, if you go out of the market, if you take partial profits, is this now the right time to go out of the market, to take partials or to go into the market? And, and we was giving you very good examples about this. What we meaning with timing. And we have also Sean, he's also a trader. And Sean, what is timing for you?

[00:13:36.05] - Speaker 5
Steve hit on it. The first thing that he said when he said I was like the same for me it's the, it's patience. I have to have patience. And I know I trade one future, I trade crude, that's it. And I, I've been watching it. So I know what time of the day, no matter what the event is, how crude moves. So the timing for me is I have to have a window from 8:50 to 10:30. And that's it, that's what I trade. And that's for me, timing. And then it gives me all that patience. I know I get up at 6:30 in the morning and look at the charts. And now I have to spend very little time charting and analyzing because I get all the information from mental Q with the blind spots and the gamma information, giving us all reaction zones and then setting up a roadmap. So timing is all about patience.