Learn to trade NQ and ES
from the basics to order flow
Eleven short lessons in two parts. First the basics every trader needs: the markets, sessions, candles, levels and risk. Then order flow: who is really pushing price, and how to read it at your levels.
What you're trading: NQ and ES futures
NQ and ES are futures on the Nasdaq-100 and the S&P 500. They trade almost 24 hours a day, five days a week, and move in steps of 0.25 points, called ticks.
Every point has a fixed dollar value, so you always know what a move is worth. The micro contracts (MNQ, MES) are one tenth of the size, which makes them the place to start.
| CONTRACT | INDEX | 1 POINT | 1 TICK |
|---|---|---|---|
| NQ | Nasdaq-100 | $20 | $5.00 |
| MNQ | Micro Nasdaq-100 | $2 | $0.50 |
| ES | S&P 500 | $50 | $12.50 |
| MES | Micro S&P 500 | $5 | $1.25 |
When to trade: the three sessions
The trading day runs through Asia, London and New York. Asia is usually quieter, London often sets the first move, and New York brings the most volume, especially around the 9:30 open.
Most clean moves in NQ and ES happen in the London and New York sessions, so that's where to focus while you learn.
Reading price: candles and structure
Each candle shows the open, high, low and close of a period. Put them together and you see structure: higher highs and higher lows in an uptrend, lower highs and lower lows in a downtrend, and overlapping candles in a range.
Structure tells you which side has been in control. You don't need indicators to see it.
Levels: where decisions happen
Price doesn't react everywhere. It reacts at levels: the previous day's high and low, the overnight range, gamma levels and pivots. Mark them before the session starts.
At a level there are two outcomes. A held test touches it, rejects and bounces. A held break goes through, comes back to retest it and keeps going.
Risk: think in R, not in dollars
R is how much you lose if your stop is hit. Keep it the same on every trade, put the stop where the idea is wrong (beyond the level), and aim for targets of at least 1.5 to 2R.
Every trader takes losses. What keeps an account alive is keeping each loss small and the same size, which also keeps you inside prop firm drawdown rules.
Who is in control: market vs limit orders
Every trade needs two sides. Limit orders wait in the book at a price. Market orders don't wait: they cross the spread and take whatever is resting there.
Order flow is about the aggressive side. When market buyers keep taking the ask, price has to tick up to find more sellers. When market sellers keep hitting the bid, price ticks down.
Delta: buying vs selling in every bar
Delta is aggressive buy volume minus aggressive sell volume. A bar with a delta of +540 traded 540 more contracts at the ask than at the bid.
Delta that agrees with the candle confirms the move. An up candle with strongly negative delta (or a down candle with strongly positive delta) is a warning that the move isn't being backed by real aggression.
Cumulative delta (CVD) and divergences
Cumulative delta adds up the delta of every bar through the session. It shows whether buyers or sellers have been more aggressive overall.
The useful signal is a divergence: price makes a higher high while CVD makes a lower high. Buyers are pushing less hard each time, which often comes before a pullback, especially at a known level.
Footprint charts: inside the candle
A footprint splits each candle into price levels and shows the volume traded at the bid and at the ask on each one.
Look for imbalances (one side trading three or more times the other diagonally) and where most of the volume sits. Stacked imbalances show one side taking control at those prices.
Absorption and exhaustion
Absorption is heavy aggression that doesn't move price: big selling delta into a level while price refuses to go lower means passive buyers are soaking it all up.
Exhaustion is the opposite: the push runs out of fuel and volume and delta fade at the extreme. Both often show up right before a reversal at a level.
Volume profile: where the market agreed
A volume profile shows how much traded at each price. The point of control (POC) is the price with the most volume; the value area holds about 70% of it.
High-volume areas tend to attract and slow price. Low-volume areas are where price moved quickly before, so it often moves through them quickly again.
Your routine for every session
Keep learning with the HOC Academy
This course is the first step. HOC All-Access gives you the full HOC Academy with 24 courses and certificates, mentors and weekly live sessions, a private community, and the HOC Terminal to practice everything on live NQ and ES. The HOC Terminal comes with a 7-day free trial.
Education only, not financial advice. The charts on this page are simplified examples, not real trades. Trading futures and options involves substantial risk.