Learn to Day Trade ES and NQ Futures on NinjaTrader
Former Licensed Trader. NinjaTrader Development Partner. Trading Futures for 20+ years.
- Start Part time—Works in the overnight and day sessions
- 1-3 trades per day
- Repeatable Trading Strategies = less stress
- Tightest Risk Control
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NQ vs ES Spread Trading
A more structured approach to Day Trading
Works with MNQ and MES also
Spread trading these two contracts has helped my trading a lot. Going long the NQ and short the ES (I'll talk about quantities below) is a way to express a risk-on opinion rather than taking an outright position in the NQ. It can be a less volatile trade than NQ by itself, while still having enough movement to create opportunity.
Here is what I've learned:
- It can reduce the noise of an outright NQ trade. Instead of only needing NQ to go higher, you are looking at whether NQ is stronger than ES.
- Going long 1 MNQ and shorting 1 MES has historically had a range of about $800 per day. The position can also have better mean-reversion tendencies.
- It can trade well overnight. If you're trying to start day trading part time, the spread can trend during the Asian and European sessions. Sometimes the spread can widen after Asia and before Europe.
- Support and resistance levels can be honored better. In my experience, I get stopped out less and can use tighter stops, which is a double win.
- It helps you focus on the market's leadership. You are not just asking whether the market is up or down. You are watching whether technology is leading or lagging the broader market.
Futures trading involves substantial risk, and past market behavior does not guarantee future results.
Problem: I want to trade the same predictable strategy every day
Once again, trading spreads is the best strategy for this because they have strong mean reversion tendencies.
Problem: Getting stopped out on the ES too often.
Take a look at the Sectors that make up the S&P.
Suggestions for Better Entries
Stay out of the revolving door
Problem: How can I reduce my initial loss (drawdown) that I experience before my trade becomes profitable?
Try analyzing the spread between NQ and ES. Analyzing Spreads can be an invaluable tool for finding areas of compression, expansion and divergence, that sometimes aren't as visible on either chart alone. Also analyzing the trade offers insight into how the market is posturing (risk on or risk off). I very frequently take a long in the NQ and short the ES to express a Risk On opinion rather than taking an outright position in the NQ. It's a much less volatile trade than an NQ by itself but there is still enough movement to make good money.
Problem: How Do You Know Which Direction to Trade?
The best day trades are the ones line up with whatever the broad theme is at the time. 90% of the time, "broad theme" means having an understanding of whatever group of stocks has most weight in the indexes we trade and whether those stocks are levering down or up relative to the broad market. Right now (2026) semiconductors are the engine of the market. In 2008 it was banks. In 2016 it was the FANG index.
Take a look at these chart examples and their notations for more ---->
Problem: I want to trade the same predictable strategy every day
Once again, trading spreads is the best strategy for this because they have strong mean reversion tendencies.
Problem: Getting stopped out on the ES too often.
Take a look at the Sectors that make up the S&P.