Over the last year, we've talked a lot about 0DTEs (Zero Days Till Expiration Options). Most of the discussion has focused on how to use 0DTE positioning for intraday directional clues while day trading. I made a video earlier this year about this: https://www.traderade.com/post/how-i-m-using-0dte-positioning-in-my-es-trading but in this article I'd like to talk about using 0DTE data for a different purpose: managing expectations. Those of you that have watched my "How I Day Trade" videos know my style of day trading is opportunistic, meaning if the setups I look for aren't there then I don't trade. While others may scour various screeners looking for plays, that's not me...I know one product very well (S&P500 Futures) and I prefer to stick to what I'm familiar with rather than gamble in markets or tickers I'm not as well-versed in. The challenge with this slow, but disciplined style of day trading is being able to recognize early in the session when the conditions point to a potentially lucrative session. Until this year, I've always done this by assessing 1) the Opening Range spread (I typically sit out on days where the ES Opening Range spread is less than 10-12pts) and 2) the volume profile shape. I'll once again refer to my videos if you're not familiar with volume profile shapes, but for the purposes of this article we're really talking about one specific shape: The Dreaded D-Shape Day.
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