F2 · Trading desk

Paper trading, not investment advice. Every account and book on these pages trades paper money: the Alpaca paper accounts DAILY ($1,000,000 from Sep 30, 2026), INTRA1 ($100,000 from Sep 30, 2026) and INTRA2 ($100,000 from Sep 30, 2026); the simulated books SIM-TT ($100,000 from Sep 29, 2026), SIM-V2B ($100,000 from Sep 28, 2026) and SIM-V2B-TOM ($100,000 from Sep 28, 2026), filled at the official close; and market-analysis's ledgers, one contract per position against a $100,000 reporting equity. No real money is at stake. Positions, trades and P&L are published the same day, as the engines record them, with each number's source and cost model labelled. Nothing here is a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any security, and nothing is tailored to you. Each strategy is a pre-registered experiment, read once on a date or at a trade count fixed in advance; until then its record says little either way. I may hold or have held positions in securities shown here. Markets can and do lose money.

The owner's level-to-level guide without its 1-hour trend filter and its sector breadth filter. On SPY and QQQ, a 0DTE option is bought when a 5-minute bar touches a level zone and closes back on its side, and a 2-minute close then breaks that bar's high (a call) or low (a put). The nightly log prices each trade on the real 1-minute option bars; no order is sent. A forward test of its trades from 2026-10-01 (the log began the session before), evaluated once at 100 trades or at the end of 2027, whichever comes first.

Levels: the previous session's high and low from 04:00 to 19:59 ET, its 09:30 open and its last regular-hours close, this session's pre-market high and low, and up to four spike-and-reverse wicks on the last 10 sessions' 1-hour bars. Taken in order of price, a level joins a zone while it is within one tolerance of the zone's lowest level, and the zone sits at the mean of its levels. The tolerance is 0.05 times the 14-day average true range as of the previous session.
Setup: a 5-minute bar comes down to within one tolerance of a zone and closes above it, after one of the six 5-minute closes before it was at least three tolerances above the zone. That sets up a call; a put mirrors it from below.
Trigger: a 2-minute close above the setup bar's high buys a call (below its low, a put), within 30 minutes of the setup bar's close. A close beyond the bar's other side cancels the setup, and a newer setup on the same side replaces it.
Filters: none: neither the 1-hour trend filter nor the sector breadth filter.
Entries: decided from 11:00 to 15:30 ET, with at least $2 of room to the next zone in the trade's direction before 14:00 and $1 after. On each underlying, one position at a time, at most 4 a session, and one per zone and side.
Contract: 0DTE, at the $1 strike nearest the price $2 out of the money before 14:00 and $1 after. Its last trade must be at most 5 minutes old and from $0.05 to $0.66, or to $0.40 after 14:00.
Fill: bought at the open of the contract's first 1-minute bar from the decision, if it starts within 3 minutes.
Exit: a stop at 75% of the price paid. At twice the price paid, half is sold and the stop moves to the price paid; at three times, half the rest is sold and the stop moves to twice the price paid; each further multiple raises the stop to the one below it. Only the stop is checked on the entry bar, and a raised stop applies from the next bar. A stop sells at the lower of the stop and the bar's open. What is left is sold at 15:55, at the open of the contract's 15:55 bar or its last trade before then.
Costs: bought $0.01 above the bar's price and sold $0.01 below it, and $0.65 a contract a side; a ladder sale is at its level, once a bar's high is $0.01 above it.
Sessions: none on a session that closes early, or when the underlying's bars cover fewer than 300 regular-hours minutes of the session, or of the session before it unless that one closed early.

Name	Value	Unit	Where it lives	Pinned by
tol_atr	0.05	of the previous session's 14-day ATR	odte/rules.py:16	tests/test_signals_contracts.py:110
approach_mult	3	tolerances	odte/rules.py:26	tests/test_signals_contracts.py:110
setup_expiry_min	30	minutes	odte/rules.py:27	tests/test_signals_contracts.py:110
window_start	11:00	ET	odte/rules.py:29	tests/test_signals_contracts.py:110
window_end	15:30	ET	odte/rules.py:30	tests/test_signals_contracts.py:110
late_cutoff	14:00	ET	odte/rules.py:31	tests/test_signals_contracts.py:110
bias	none	—	odte/rules.py:103	tests/test_forward.py:28
breadth	false	—	odte/rules.py:103	tests/test_forward.py:28
room_morning	2	USD	odte/rules.py:34	tests/test_signals_contracts.py:110
room_late	1	USD	odte/rules.py:35	tests/test_signals_contracts.py:110
max_entries	4	—	odte/rules.py:36	tests/test_signals_contracts.py:110
dte	0	days	odte/rules.py:38	tests/test_signals_contracts.py:110
otm_morning	2	USD	odte/rules.py:40	tests/test_signals_contracts.py:110
otm_late	1	USD	odte/rules.py:41	tests/test_signals_contracts.py:110
cap_morning	0.66	USD	odte/rules.py:44	tests/test_signals_contracts.py:110
cap_late	0.4	USD	odte/rules.py:45	tests/test_signals_contracts.py:110
floor	0.05	USD	odte/rules.py:46	tests/test_signals_contracts.py:110
stale_min	5	minutes	odte/rules.py:47	—
fill_wait_min	3	minutes	odte/rules.py:52	—
ladder	L1	—	odte/rules.py:49	tests/test_signals_contracts.py:110
stop_frac	0.75	of the price paid	odte/rules.py:51	tests/test_signals_contracts.py:110
exit_time	15:55	ET	odte/rules.py:53	tests/test_signals_contracts.py:110
costs.base.slip	0.01	USD a side	odte/backtest.py:24	—
costs.base.commission	0.65	USD a contract a side	odte/backtest.py:24	—
MIN_RTH_MINUTES	300	regular-hours minutes	odte/backtest.py:25	—

What is read: F2 on SPY and QQQ since 2026-10-01
Read on: late April or early May 2027
Trades needed: 100
Trades logged: 11
Hard stop: Dec 31, 2027
Shipped on: —
Deployed commit: bc9b659

11 of 100 trades logged. Its record is read once, at that count, and is not added up before then.

Record Forward log

Cost model

$0.01 a side and $0.65 a contract a side, on 1-minute OPRA bars; a ladder sale is at its level

Tue, Oct 13, 2026

Time (ET)	Symbol	Side	Outcome	Contract	Exit	Exit by	Net
09:52	SPY	put	window	—	—	—	—
09:58	SPY	put	window	—	—	—	—
10:12	SPY	call	window	—	—	—	—
10:26	SPY	call	window	—	—	—	—
11:06	SPY	call	room	—	—	—	—
11:48	QQQ	call	ENTRY	C743 at 0.25	12:37 ET	stop	+193.8%
12:48	QQQ	put	ENTRY	P741 at 0.26	13:39 ET	stop	+43.1%
12:58	SPY	put	room	—	—	—	—
14:06	SPY	call	room	—	—	—	—
14:18	SPY	put	room	—	—	—	—
14:24	SPY	put	room	—	—	—	—
14:38	SPY	put	room	—	—	—	—
15:46	SPY	put	window	—	—	—	—
15:52	QQQ	put	window	—	—	—	—

Mon, Oct 12, 2026

Time (ET)	Symbol	Side	Outcome	Contract	Exit	Exit by	Net
09:54	QQQ	put	window	—	—	—	—
10:06	QQQ	put	window	—	—	—	—
12:14	SPY	put	room	—	—	—	—
13:14	SPY	call	room	—	—	—	—

Fri, Oct 9, 2026

Time (ET)	Symbol	Side	Outcome	Contract	Exit	Exit by	Net
09:54	SPY	call	window	—	—	—	—
10:40	QQQ	put	window	—	—	—	—
10:42	QQQ	put	window	—	—	—	—
11:08	SPY	put	room	—	—	—	—
11:30	QQQ	put	room	—	—	—	—
11:30	SPY	put	room	—	—	—	—
11:32	SPY	put	room	—	—	—	—
11:34	QQQ	put	room	—	—	—	—

Thu, Oct 8, 2026

Time (ET)	Symbol	Side	Outcome	Contract	Exit	Exit by	Net
10:06	QQQ	call	window	—	—	—	—
12:34	SPY	put	room	—	—	—	—
12:38	SPY	put	room	—	—	—	—
12:48	SPY	put	room	—	—	—	—
13:14	SPY	call	room	—	—	—	—
13:22	SPY	put	ENTRY	P770 at 0.41	13:34 ET	stop	+45.6%
13:54	SPY	put	room	—	—	—	—
14:32	SPY	put	book_limit	—	—	—	—
14:44	SPY	put	book_limit	—	—	—	—

Wed, Oct 7, 2026

Time (ET)	Symbol	Side	Outcome	Contract	Exit	Exit by	Net
11:00	QQQ	call	room	—	—	—	—
11:08	QQQ	call	room	—	—	—	—
11:22	SPY	put	ENTRY	P773 at 0.47	11:30 ET	stop	−29.9%
15:08	SPY	put	ENTRY	P776 at 0.13	15:08 ET	stop	−42.7%

Tue, Oct 6, 2026

Time (ET)	Symbol	Side	Outcome	Contract	Exit	Exit by	Net
10:38	SPY	call	window	—	—	—	—
13:28	SPY	call	ENTRY	C782 at 0.08	13:28 ET	stop	−53.8%

Mon, Oct 5, 2026

Time (ET)	Symbol	Side	Outcome	Contract	Exit	Exit by	Net
10:08	SPY	call	window	—	—	—	—
10:10	QQQ	call	window	—	—	—	—
10:14	QQQ	call	window	—	—	—	—
11:08	QQQ	put	room	—	—	—	—

Fri, Oct 2, 2026

Time (ET)	Symbol	Side	Outcome	Contract	Exit	Exit by	Net
09:44	QQQ	call	window	—	—	—	—
09:54	SPY	put	window	—	—	—	—
09:58	SPY	put	window	—	—	—	—
10:12	QQQ	put	window	—	—	—	—
10:12	SPY	put	window	—	—	—	—
10:42	QQQ	call	window	—	—	—	—
11:34	SPY	call	ENTRY	C771 at 0.54	11:41 ET	stop	−29.3%
11:40	SPY	call	position_open	—	—	—	—
12:24	QQQ	put	ENTRY	P748 at 0.55	12:38 ET	stop	−29.2%
12:30	QQQ	put	position_open	—	—	—	—
13:08	QQQ	put	book_limit	—	—	—	—

Thu, Oct 1, 2026

Time (ET)	Symbol	Side	Outcome	Contract	Exit	Exit by	Net
10:20	QQQ	put	window	—	—	—	—
10:34	QQQ	call	window	—	—	—	—
10:40	QQQ	call	window	—	—	—	—
10:48	QQQ	put	window	—	—	—	—
10:48	SPY	put	window	—	—	—	—
10:52	QQQ	put	window	—	—	—	—
10:52	SPY	put	window	—	—	—	—
11:02	QQQ	put	premium_gate	—	—	—	—
11:18	QQQ	call	room	—	—	—	—
11:28	QQQ	call	room	—	—	—	—
11:32	QQQ	put	room	—	—	—	—
12:42	QQQ	put	room	—	—	—	—
12:52	SPY	put	ENTRY	P759 at 0.43	13:02 ET	stop	−30.3%
12:54	QQQ	put	ENTRY	P736 at 0.62	13:02 ET	stop	−28.7%
13:52	QQQ	put	ENTRY	P742 at 0.61	14:18 ET	stop	+122.5%
14:14	SPY	call	premium_gate	—	—	—	—
14:24	QQQ	call	premium_gate	—	—	—	—
14:24	SPY	call	premium_gate	—	—	—	—

Wed, Sep 30, 2026

Time (ET)	Symbol	Side	Outcome	Contract	Exit	Exit by	Net
10:00	QQQ	call	window	—	—	—	—
10:28	SPY	put	window	—	—	—	—
10:50	QQQ	call	window	—	—	—	—
10:54	QQQ	call	window	—	—	—	—
11:16	SPY	call	ENTRY	C771 at 0.35	11:22 ET	stop	−31.6%
11:30	SPY	call	book_limit	—	—	—	—
12:04	SPY	call	book_limit	—	—	—	—
12:42	SPY	call	book_limit	—	—	—	—
13:32	QQQ	call	ENTRY	C745 at 0.63	15:54 ET	stop	−28.7%
13:32	SPY	call	room	—	—	—	—
13:40	QQQ	call	position_open	—	—	—	—
13:40	SPY	call	room	—	—	—	—
13:42	SPY	call	room	—	—	—	—
14:06	SPY	put	room	—	—	—	—

The forward protocol (findings tr-odte-option-scalp/DESIGN/10)

F2

What it is

The rule

Its read

Record so far

Signals