01Contract mechanics
What is the practical difference between NQ and MNQ futures?
Direct answer: NQ and MNQ track the same Nasdaq-100 futures market, but their dollar exposure is different. CME lists NQ at $20 per index point and MNQ at $2 per index point. Both use a 0.25-point minimum tick, making one tick worth $5 for NQ and $0.50 for MNQ.
Why this matters
Chart movement can look identical while account impact is ten times larger in NQ. Contract size, number of contracts, and stop distance must be translated into dollars before an order is considered.
Worked example
A 10-point move equals 40 ticks. Before commissions and slippage, that is $200 per NQ contract or $20 per MNQ contract. Two contracts double those amounts; using margin does not reduce the underlying exposure.
Checkpoint: Before the session, write the active contract month, tick value, point value, contract count, and dollar impact of the planned stop. If you cannot state all five, the trade is not yet sized.
02Orders, fills, and risk
How should a futures trader define risk before entry?
Direct answer: Risk begins with an invalidation price, not a hoped-for target. Translate the distance from entry to invalidation into ticks and dollars, multiply by contract count, add trading costs, and remember that a stop order may fill beyond the requested price during fast or thin conditions.
Know the order
A market order prioritizes execution, not price. A limit order controls the worst acceptable price but may not fill. A stop order becomes eligible only after its trigger and can fill beyond that level. A bracket organizes exits; it does not make the loss mathematically fixed.
Worked example
A hypothetical 3-point stop is 12 ticks. Before costs or slippage, one NQ contract represents $60 of price risk and one MNQ contract represents $6. This is arithmetic—not a recommended stop—and an actual loss can be larger.
Checkpoint: State entry, invalidation, contracts, planned dollar risk, daily loss limit, and the action required after a platform or connectivity problem. “I will manage it” is not a risk rule.
03Candles and price action
What does a candle actually tell you?
Direct answer: A candle records the open, high, low, and close for one completed period. Its body shows the distance between open and close; its wicks show prices reached outside that body. A candle describes what happened during that period—it does not prove what the next candle will do.
WolfPack read
Training emphasizes the close, wick clearance, candle size, follow-through, and whether a move is the first clean push or a late extension. A long rejection wick can be useful evidence, but only when location and the next candle support the interpretation.
Worked example
If an NQ candle trades above a prior high but closes back below it, the upper wick records rejection from that area. A later close above the level changes the evidence. Calling the wick a reversal before follow-through confuses an observation with a prediction.
Checkpoint: Describe the candle in neutral language first—open, close, wick, range, and level interaction—then separately write the bullish, bearish, and no-trade interpretations.
04Trend, range, and location
How does WolfPack read price structure without chasing a label?
Direct answer: An uptrend generally builds higher highs and higher lows; a downtrend builds lower highs and lower lows. A range repeatedly rejects both sides without sustained progress. The useful question is not only direction—it is whether price has clear space before the next session level, pivot, support, resistance, or range boundary.
Structure is a sequence
One higher high does not establish a durable trend. Compare swing progression, candle closes, pullback depth, and whether continuation holds. Treat support and resistance as reaction areas rather than perfect one-price lines.
Worked example
NQ can show higher highs and higher lows while sitting directly beneath a repeatedly tested session high. Direction may be bullish, but available trade space may be poor. Waiting for acceptance, a pullback, or no trade can be more disciplined than buying into the level.
Checkpoint: Mark the current sequence, nearest opposing level, distance to that level, and the price action that would invalidate your read. Direction without location is incomplete.
05Trend and volatility context
What do the 50 EMA and ATR contribute to an NQ chart?
Direct answer: The 50-period exponential moving average (EMA) weights recent prices more heavily and provides lagging trend context. Average True Range (ATR) measures recent range volatility, including gap effects relative to the prior close. EMA does not predict direction, and ATR does not tell you bullish versus bearish.
WolfPack use
Across nine indexed Lee training sessions, the recurring questions are: Is the 50 EMA rising, falling, or flat? Is price holding on the trend side or repeatedly crossing it? Is the chart pulling back with structure or compressing into chop? ATR then helps judge whether current candles and planned distances are quiet, typical, or expanded.
Worked example
Price above a rising 50 EMA can still be a poor long if it is extended into resistance. A higher ATR can explain wider movement but does not justify increasing size or assuming continuation. Both tools answer context questions, not “buy or sell?”
Checkpoint: Record the chart timeframe, EMA slope, price location, nearby structure, ATR setting, current ATR reading, and whether your planned invalidation makes sense for that environment.
06Proprietary indicator roles
How should the core WolfPack indicators be combined?
Direct answer: Use each tool for its assigned job. WP Signals organizes price-chart context and close-confirmed cues. WP Fusion separates initial directional signals from continuation signals. WP Oscillator frames momentum transitions and the gray no-trade zone. WP BlowOff highlights unusual volume expansion and same-direction follow-through.
Build evidence, not a vote
Several colored markers are not inherently stronger than one. Ask whether the tools contribute different evidence or repeat the same information. Beacon, support and resistance, consolidation zones, and the Master Dashboard add context; none replaces the written trade plan.
Worked example
A WP Signals marker may appear while WP Oscillator remains in its gray zone and price has little room before resistance. That is not “three indicators versus one.” It is a directional cue with unresolved momentum and poor location—often a reason to wait.
Checkpoint: For every tool on the chart, write its job in one sentence and the condition that makes its reading less useful. Remove any tool you cannot explain.
07Setup, confirmation, and decision
Why is a possible setup not yet a trade?
Direct answer: A setup is the market condition worth watching. Confirmation is the observable event required by the plan. Entry is the separate decision to accept defined risk after confirmation. Keeping those moments distinct reduces early entries and makes the decision reviewable.
Five-part decision
State the market condition, location, required confirmation, invalidation, and risk. A candle close or indicator state may satisfy one requirement while the nearest level, available space, volatility, or daily limit still blocks the trade.
Worked example
Price pulls toward a rising 50 EMA and a WolfPack cue appears: that is a possible setup. The plan may require a completed candle, wick clearance, and momentum alignment. If confirmation arrives after price has already reached the next level, the correct decision can still be no trade.
Checkpoint: Say aloud: “I am watching because… I will act only if… I am wrong if… My maximum planned risk is…” If one blank remains, stay in observation mode.
08Replay, journaling, and improvement
How should a trader review an NQ scalp without hindsight bias?
Direct answer: Grade the information and rule adherence available at decision time before grading the outcome. A profitable rule break is still a process error; a planned loss can still be a correctly executed decision.
Minimum journal record
Save the contract and timeframe, market condition, key levels, screenshots before and after, WolfPack tool readings, planned entry/invalidation/target, size, actual fills, slippage, rule grade, emotional state, and one specific improvement.
Outcome comes last
First score preparation, context, location, confirmation, sizing, and management. Then record profit or loss. Review repeated errors by category—early entry, late entry, poor space, oversizing, rule drift, or trading inside chop—instead of changing rules after one result.
Checkpoint: After a defined sample, identify the one behavior that most damaged rule adherence. Practice that behavior in replay and bring the evidence—not only the P&L—to the WolfPack room.