I mainly use five indicators for my intraday trading. Of course, if a position becomes highly profitable during the day, I may also turn it into a swing trade.
Order Block indicator – Order blocks are very popular and serve as a window into how other traders behave, so I use them frequently.
Trendline indicator – The principle behind trendlines comes from Victor Sperandeo’s book Trader Vic – Methods of a Wall Street Master.
PWC wave tool – I define waves using the 60 and 30 moving averages along with ATR volatility. Generally, we look to enter on the first or second wave. It’s important to note that trends exist across multiple timeframes, so wave structures on a 3-minute or 5-minute chart may not always be reliable. For intraday trading, you can observe wave indicators across different timeframes to decide when to enter.
Trends often develop step by step—typically starting with the second wave on the 1-minute chart, then the 2-minute, 3-minute, and 5-minute charts. We can choose to enter on the second wave across these different timeframes.
In many cases, after entering a trade, price action may not meet our expectations and might only reach the 50% Fibonacci level. Therefore, it’s important to stay flexible when dealing with wave structures and to analyze them dynamically.
As shown in the chart above, on the 3-minute MES, we can enter long on the second wave, or we can choose to enter on the first wave. However, entering on the first wave may involve a relatively larger stop-loss distance.
EMA indicator – I use the EMA 250 moving average as a benchmark for determining the overall trend. The 60 or 50 EMA is not sufficient to define the trend on a 3-minute or 5-minute chart; we need longer-term moving averages, such as the 200 or 250 EMA, to identify the broader trend. This helps us avoid losing direction—for example, when the long-term trend is bullish but the short-term trend is bearish, we can still confidently look for long opportunities if the long-term EMA is sloping upward.
We can also use wave analysis to help determine the trend. If each wave makes higher highs, it indicates an uptrend; if each wave makes lower lows, it indicates a downtrend. If a new high is followed by a new low, or a new low is followed by a new high, the market is often in a range, and we can consider trading both long and short depending on the situation.
For the waves shown in the chart, I have also drawn larger waves, which filter out consolidation. These larger wave highs and lows often act as key support and resistance levels.
FVG indicator – The concept of Fair Value Gap is also quite popular. It refers to the price imbalances left behind when price moves rapidly. I consider it less important than order blocks, but it is still significant. After sharp price movements, fair value gaps often act as support or resistance.
On the 3-minute chart, I plot the 15-minute and 60-minute fair value gaps. I believe there are trading opportunities across many timeframes—such as 3-minute, 5-minute, and 10-minute FVGs—but to keep things simple, I only focus on the 15-minute and 60-minute FVGs. When price touches a fair value gap and reverses, we can generate a trading signal and trigger an alert.
The chart below shows long and short reversal signals based on the Fair Value Gap.