Higher Quality Filter Turns Blind Breakout Into Odds-Enhanced Setup SPX Flatlines
Ahoy there, Trader! ⚓️
It’s Phil…
One of the items we’ve been focusing on during the past few weeks in my Fast Forward Group Calls is finding higher quality trade setups that should be more than just a “blind breakout.”
Now look – blind breakouts work the way I teach them. But there are often better opportunities that can be filtered with just a few minutes of common sense and using a simple structure to assess quality. Namely, my 6 Money Making Patterns.
Today’s Premium Popper was filtered by looking at Friday’s price activity and spotting a larger range at play – not just the time-based opening range. Adding in an odds enhancer in the form of a breakout pullback setup BEFORE popping the premium means we should see a higher quality setup.
And we did. Just not in the way you might expect.
Keep scrolling for what happened when direction disappeared but profits didn’t…
Post Trade Debrief:
The Setup
Today wasn’t a blind breakout. Today was a filtered setup using the 6 Money Making Patterns framework.
By examining Friday’s price activity, I spotted a larger range structure beyond just the time-based ORB20.
The breakout pullback pattern was developing – an odds enhancer that should translate to higher quality execution.
Entry: Premium Popper at ORB20 Low
Filter Applied: Breakout pullback from Friday’s larger range structure
The Flatline
Here’s where it gets interesting.
SPX flatlined after the entry. I mean properly flatlined – the kind of “is my chart frozen?” price action that makes you check your internet connection.
But here’s the crucial bit: price stayed below the entry level. Not moving against us. Not moving with us. Just… sitting there. Doing Sweet Fanny Adams.
For approximately 50 minutes.
50 minutes of essentially zero movement.
The Pop
And then? The premium popped. Profitable exit triggered.
Index Move: $6.00
Option ROC: 54.5%
Duration: ~50 minutes of nothing, then pop
The Lesson
This is where traditional trading using stocks or futures gets absolutely tromped on.
Those futures traders with the exact same setup? Completely dependent on a directional move to get paid. They saw 50 minutes of flatline and got precisely nothing for their patience.
We as Premium Poppers just need to wait.
Time decay doesn’t need direction. It doesn’t need the market to move in your favour. It doesn’t need anything except the passage of time. And time? That’s the one thing that’s guaranteed to pass.
The premium was decaying whilst price did nothing. The clock was ticking whilst the chart was sleeping. And when the numbers aligned? Pop. Profit. Done.
Income trading doesn’t need direction. It needs time.
Expert Insights:
The Setup: Filtered Premium Popper using breakout pullback pattern from Friday’s larger range – higher quality than blind breakout.
The Fix: Charles Schwab research confirms that theta decay is one of the few consistencies option traders can rely on. Unlike directional trading where you need price to move, premium sellers benefit from the simple passage of time. In sideways or range-bound conditions where futures traders see nothing happen, options premium steadily erodes – converting time into profit regardless of whether the underlying cooperates.
The systematic approach: filter for quality, enter with defined risk, let theta do the work.
[Source: Charles Schwab – “Theta Decay in Options Trading”]
Rumour Has It…
Breaking from the Financial Nuts newsroom: Percy was discovered staring at a completely flat SPX chart for 50 minutes whilst his desk pigeons allegedly mastered “Advanced Hovering During Zero Movement Market Conditions Formation Flying.”
Hazel updated her crisis management protocols to include “Trading During Flatline Procedures” alongside emergency plans for “Premium Decay Monitoring When Literally Nothing Is Happening Process Documentation.”
Mac raised his post-trade whisky and declared, “When the chart flatlines but the premium still pops, the proper response is obviously recognising that time works even when price doesn’t!”
Kash attempted livestreaming about “Theta decay being basically like DeFi yield farming but with actual time value instead of imaginary APY percentages whilst price does absolutely nothing” but got distracted watching futures traders stare at flat charts in confusion.
Wallie grumbled that in his day, flatlines meant “cardiac arrest, not systematic premium collection whilst waiting for directional traders to realise they’re in the wrong game!”
This is entirely made-up satire. Probably!
Breaking scoops courtesy of the Financial Nuts Newswire-because who needs sanity?
Happy trading,
Phil
Less Brain, More Gain
…and may your trades be smoother than a cashmere codpiece
p.s. There are 3 ways I can help you…
- Option 1: The SPX Income System Book (Just $12)
A complete guide to the system.
Written to be clear, concise, and immediately actionable.
>> Get the Book Here
- Option 2: Full Course + Software Access – 50% off for Regular Readers – Save $998.50
Includes the video walkthroughs, tools for TradeStation & TradingView, and everything I use daily. Plus 7 additional strategies
>> Get DIY Training & Software
- Option 3: Join the Fast Forward Mentorship – 50% off for Regular Readers – Save $3,000
>> Join the Fast Forward Mentorship – trade live, twice a week, with me and the crew. PLUS Monthly on-demand 1-2-1’s
No fluff. Just profits, pulse bars, and patterns that actually work.
