Sigmatic
Day trading signals · for beginners

You don’t need to know what a “signal” is yet. We’ll walk you through one.

If you’ve never placed a day trade, this page is for you. We’re going to take one real plan from last Monday, slow it down, and label every part of it — entry, stop, target, sizing — like a friend showing you how a recipe works the first time.

Three promises before we start
No jargon without a definition. Every word that isn’t in normal English will be defined the first time we use it. Every time.
Practice money first. You can paper-trade every signal for as long as you want before risking a dollar — take 30+ days if you like, there’s no clock.
No “buy now” pressure. A fresh plan every morning. If today’s plan doesn’t feel right, sit out. There’s another one tomorrow.
The walkthrough

One real signal. Slowed down. Every part labeled.

This is the QQQ plan we sent users on Monday, April 22. We’re going to read it line by line.

The greeting · sets the day’s mood
Hey — quick one today. Futures are bid (+0.4% on QQQ) and we held above the 5-day yesterday, so the regime is bullish.
The trade · what to do
The trade: long QQQ if it dips to $598.40 in the first 30 minutes.
The stop · where you bail if you’re wrong
Stop is $596.10— that’s under yesterday’s low.
The targets · where you take profit
First target $600.50 (VWAP). Second target $602.20.
The sizing · how much money to risk
Sizing: 0.5% account risk on entry. So on a $1,000 practice account, you’d risk $5.
The macro check · what news could blow this up
Heads up: No macro prints today. We’re clear during trading hours.
The exit rule · when the plan dies
If we don’t get the dip by 10:00am ET, the plan invalidates and we sit out. Don’t chase.
Glossary · the words we just used

The seven terms in that plan, in plain English.

Long

You buy expecting price to go up. (As opposed to “short,” where you bet on a fall.)

Futures

Contracts that trade overnight. Tells you what the market thinks before US stocks open at 9:30am.

Regime

The overall mood of the market today. Bullish (going up), bearish (going down), or mixed (chopping sideways).

VWAP

Volume-Weighted Average Price. The day’s average price, weighted by how much traded at each level. A magnet for price.

Stop

A price level where you exit if you’re wrong. Pre-set, before you enter. Protects you from your own emotions.

Target

A price level where you take profit. We use three — book most of it (about 80%) at target 1, a smaller piece (15%) at target 2, and let the last sliver (5%) ride to target 3.

Account risk

The percent of your account you’re willing to lose on one trade. 0.5% means a $1,000 account risks $5 per trade.

Macro print

A scheduled economic release like CPI (inflation) or FOMC (Fed meeting). Big enough to move the whole market.

Your first 30 days

What we tell every new user to do.

Week 1
Read, don’t trade.

A free premarket-prep email lands each weekday morning with the levels to watch, and the live plan is in the app after the open. Read each one. Watch the market that day. See whether the plan would have worked.

Week 2
Paper-trade.

Open Practice Trader. Take every plan with fake money. Hit your stops. Hit your targets. Build the muscle.

Weeks 3–4
One real trade.

When you’ve had ~10 paper trades, take ONE real plan with real money. Smallest size your broker allows. Just to feel it.

Start with a sample day. Trade nothing.

You’ll get one plan tomorrow morning. Read it. See how it ends. Decide later.