We study futures market behaviour, prop firm rules and trading risk using historical data, and publish the results as research, free interactive tools and practical guides.
What traders miss, measured.
We test what traders are told to believe. Here is one of those tests. Move the stop and see for yourself.
Illustrative price path, not market data. The 28-point envelope and every statistic shown are measured from 747,455 historical NQ 1-minute bars.
The median is the middle value. Line up every 5-minute NQ candle from the smallest move to the biggest, and the one in the middle covered 28 points. So half of them moved more than that, and half moved less.
It is not an average. One wild CPI morning can pull an average upward until it describes no ordinary day at all. The median stays where most candles actually are.
Drag the slider to your own stop size. The percentage is arithmetic on a measured figure, not a verdict on your trading.
From the lab
Four interactive kits, built on the same measured research. Each one runs on numbers you enter.
Lab kit 01
Risk & Drawdown
Where your stop sits against the measured range, and what a drawdown rule really leaves you.
$39Get it →
Lab kit 02
Prop Firm Rule Traps
Ten evaluation rules taken apart, reading from your own firm’s rule profile.
$49Get it →
Lab kit 03
Passing the Eval
What trying to pass faster costs. Three plans compared, none of them recommended.
$49Get it →
Lab kit 04
You Passed. Now What.
The funded account and the payout, on your contract and your own withdrawal policy.
$49Get it →
All four together: $149 instead of $186. One payment, no subscription.
Your stop is always 25 points. The middle value, the median, of how far a 5-minute NQ candle travels is not always the same. It is largest at the open and smallest around lunch. So the same stop is a different share of that measured range at every hour.
Scroll to move through the session.
How the lab works
In plain words, so it can actually be tested. If it can't be measured, it isn't a claim, it's a slogan.
Against every regular-session 5-minute candle in the period, with any exclusions stated openly rather than quietly applied.
With the method, the sample size and the date range attached, and with what it does not prove written next to it.
A number you can run against your own stop and your own account is worth more than a number you read once.
“A 10-point stop on NQ is tight.”
“Just be disciplined.”
One of these can be tested.
747,455 NQ 1-minute bars · 548 sessions.
Median high-to-low range of one 5-minute NQ candle, regular session. Not a claim about any individual trade.
The free check, running on your numbers.
Keep reading
Research notes
Four short emails to start: the free risk check, the 28-point finding and what it changes about stop placement, one prop firm rule trap with the arithmetic shown, and what the paid playbook adds that the free material does not.
DOUBLE OPT-IN: WE SEND ONE CONFIRMATION EMAIL FIRST. THE TOOL OPENS AFTER YOU CONFIRM.
NO SPAM · UNSUBSCRIBE IN ONE CLICK · WE NEVER SELL OR SHARE YOUR ADDRESS
AFTER THE FIRST FOUR EMAILS WE ONLY WRITE WHEN THERE IS A NEW STUDY, TOOL OR RULE BREAKDOWN.
The free risk check, and one line on what the lab does.
The 28-point finding, and why the median range changes how a stop reads.
One prop firm rule trap, with the numbers worked through.
What the playbook adds that the free material does not.
Trading futures carries a substantial risk of loss and is not suitable for everyone. You can lose your entire deposit, and with leverage you may lose more than you deposit. Do not trade with money you cannot afford to lose.
Elite Intelligence Desk Trading Lab publishes educational research only. We are not a broker, adviser or licensed financial professional, and nothing here is financial advice, a recommendation, or an offer to buy or sell anything. Every figure we publish is a measurement of past price data over a stated period. Past behaviour does not indicate future results, and no outcome is promised or implied. We make no performance claims. Every trading decision, including size and stop placement, is yours alone.