KPL Trading Strategy Explained: Key Price Levels for Futures

What a KPL is and what it is not

A Key Price Level is a fixed reference price you use to organize a trading session. YMI's standard ES and NQ map has four levels. They are anchored to the regular-session (RTH) opening print and built from the price travel of the full session and after-hours. Once the opening print is in, the levels do not move for the rest of the day. That has two consequences. First, you can't have a completed anchored map before the open, because the anchor doesn't exist yet. The regular US equity cash open is 9:30 a.m. ET, and holidays and special sessions are exceptions. Second, the levels are a fixed reference you decide against, not a forecast.

KPLs are not AI-predicted prices, not institutional order-flow levels and not secret support or resistance predictions. AI and model context is a separate input in YMI's materials, and it doesn't change how the levels are calculated. A fixed map has value because it replaces a subjective chart with the same reference prices every day, which makes your decisions and your review more consistent. Whether price reacts to any given level is something you test with your own records, and I'm not going to quote reaction rates here because I don't have documented evidence for them. For the full method, see KPL trading.

Three ways to trade around a level

These are discretionary frameworks. You decide which fits the day, and you write the rules before the session.

Rejection (fade). Price approaches a level and stalls. You enter against the approach with a stop just beyond the level and a target at the next reference price or a fixed distance. Define what stalling means in advance, such as a number of confirming bars. A level is more likely to fail on a day with momentum, so a fade needs a rule for when to stop fading.

Break and retest. Price moves through a level, pulls back to it and holds from the other side. You enter in the direction of the break. Two confirmations means fewer trades and wider stops, so you need a clear definition of what counts as a break versus a poke.

Range between levels. If price oscillates between two levels, you work the edges toward the opposite level until the range breaks. The danger is staying in the range plan after it fails.

Decisions to write down whichever way you trade

Every method needs these fixed before the session: how many bars or ticks of confirmation, the active trading window with a time zone, the stop distance, the target, the daily loss limit and a walk-away rule. For the bots, the actual parameters and their behavior are in the KPL bot specs, and bot access is a Pro feature. Intro and VIP do not include bots. Don't borrow a number from an article, including this one.

Sizing a stop: worked hypothetical

Say you use a 12-tick stop and a 24-tick target on every trade, a 2 to 1 reward-to-risk. Tick values: ES $12.50, MES $1.25, NQ $5, MNQ $0.50.

Contract	12-tick stop	24-tick target
ES	$150 (3 points)	$300
MES	$15	$30
NQ	$60 (3 points)	$120
MNQ	$6	$12

Break-even win rate before costs is risk divided by risk plus reward. At 2 to 1 that is 1/3, or about 33 percent. Costs push it higher. If your all-in cost is $4.50 per ES round turn (hypothetical), that is 0.36 of a tick, and it matters more as your target shrinks. Stops can slip beyond their price in fast markets, so a planned $150 loss isn't guaranteed. Whether any approach actually makes money depends on your own tested results, and a small sample such as 30 trades doesn't prove an edge.

Which markets

The standard YMI map is for ES and NQ. If you're new, start with one micro, MES or MNQ, and one setup. Adding instruments multiplies the number of things that can go wrong. Each contract behaves differently in volatility and in trading hours, and Globex sessions and holidays vary, so check the CME schedule for the product you trade.

Common mistakes

1. Treating every level the same. Decide in advance which levels you trade, and in what situations you skip them.
2. Using one mode all day. A fade plan with no exit rule for a trending day is how a $150 loss turns into $600. Write the stop-fading rule before the session.
3. Re-entering on emotion. Getting stopped out and taking the same trade again twice is the usual way a planned loss grows.
4. Skipping simulation. Practice the routine in SIM first, knowing that SIM does not recreate live fills, queue position or the feeling of real risk.
5. Oversizing. Size from the stop and your daily limit, not from your confidence.

A session workflow

1. Before the open, review your written rules, loss limit and the economic calendar. You don't have the levels yet.
2. After the RTH opening print, get the levels from the daily YMI delivery. They're fixed from that point.
3. Mark them on the chart, choose which ones you'll trade and write the entry rule for each.
4. Trade only what the plan permits, and stop at your limit.
5. After the close, review entries against the plan, not just the P&L.

A practical way to learn the routine is to spend a few weeks in SIM. In the first one or two weeks, just watch and journal. Then compare how a tight and a wide stop would have handled the same levels. Then practice the morning routine of building the map. That way you know what normal looks like before real money is involved.

Automation and prop firms

Manual use of KPLs is different from automation. Apex prohibits automated or algorithmic preset bots that place, modify or cancel trades without personal real-time review, as described in its user agreement. Don't treat any YMI bot as an Apex-compatible or evaluation-passing tool.

Topstep's bot and API use depends on the account product. Its TopstepX API access article covers simulated accounts, not live, from a personal device only, with VPS, VPN and remote-server order transmission prohibited. Tradeify permits only a personal bot you solely own, with exclusive use at Tradeify and no high-frequency activity, per its trader guidelines. Always read the current rules of any firm you use, and see the KPL bot specs for how the bots themselves are documented.

You can start the Intro trial to see the daily ES and NQ levels. Trading futures involves substantial risk of loss.