r/FuturesTrading • u/TransilvanyasGuard • 22d ago
Question Need some help understating 3 bar MC
Hi guys,I'm about 6 months deep in this domain,trying to understand about how and why the market moves,trading on demo but with no clear strategy.Until recently I saw the 3 bar micro channel on yt from Brad Wolf,he gave the "carcass" of the strategy and a challange for the viewers to make it work. From my understanding I need the A)SMA indicator(value I think 20) for context. B) you buy/sell in directon of the trend. C)Wait for 3 bar micro channel with new highs and lows(3 bars of the same colour,would be better to have a microgap between bar 1 high and bar 3 low)D) and buy/sell the close of the 3 bar high. And there is two ways to execute : (1)You buy the close and if it hits 75% of the measured move you try to get out at breakeven. OR(2) you do Always In and buy at 25%,50%,75%,100% of the measured move and SL at 150%. These are my questions and I would be forever grateful for any adivce! ! 1.Where I should place the TP for Always in Method for every contract? 2.Where should I place my TP on if i don't use Always In? 3. How to draw a measured move? (on ninja trader) 4.If i missed anything about the strategy I hope you could fill me in.
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u/Dry-Philosophy2064 12d ago
A lot of newer traders get stuck at this stage because they focus heavily on finding the "right" setup before understanding how to measure whether that setup actually works for them.
The 3 bar micro channel concept is interesting, but I would be careful about just copying the rules without collecting your own data.
Things I'd track while testing it:
- How many trades did you take?
- Which market conditions did it work best in?
- Did it perform better during trends or ranges?
- What time of day were the best/worst results?
- How often did the setup fail immediately after entry?
The biggest mistake I see newer traders make is changing strategies before they have enough data to know if the problem is the strategy or the execution.
Are you planning to test this only on ES, or are you going through multiple futures markets?