# How to Make Trading Simple With a 9

A three-step trading framework built around the 9:30 AM open: mark key levels, wait for the break, enter on the retest. Plus answers to common doubts.

Source: https://beefcazik8.top/how-to-make-trading/ · based on the channel [Scarface Trades](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCI7bfebbOWLqw3m4zW7XjIg) · Video: [Once You Master This Strategy, Trading Becomes Incredibly Simple](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5AXhoDnnSWw) · 2026-10-19

![How to Make Trading Simple With a 9](https://beefcazik8.top/how-to-make-trading/how-to-make-trading.webp)

## Key takeaways

- The framework is built around the 9:30 AM New York open, when the first impulse of the session sets the day's reference levels.
- Three steps: mark the pre-market and prior-day levels, wait for a clean break, enter on the retest rather than chasing the breakout candle.
- Most losing traders fail on process, not on indicators — stacking tools adds conflicting signals instead of clarity.
- The setup is a patience model: entries come from a defined level, so risk is small and the reward-to-risk ratio does the heavy lifting.
- Backtesting and a fixed entry rule matter more than the pattern itself, because setups always look cleaner in hindsight.

Trading becomes simpler when you stop collecting indicators and start following one repeatable process: mark the key levels before the 9:30 AM New York open, wait for price to break one of them, and enter only on the retest. That three-step framework is the core of the breakdown published by the Scarface Trades channel, and the free Scarface Trades Playbook course covering the same playbook is available through the [Simple Trader Playbook waitlist](https://events.scarfacetrades.com/the-simple-trader-playbook-waitlist).

## Why most traders make trading harder than it needs to be

The main reason beginners struggle is not a lack of strategies but an overload of them, which produces conflicting signals at the exact moment a decision is required. A trader who runs two indicators, three moving averages and a trend line can easily get a sell signal from the indicators while the price structure is still clearly bullish — and then take the wrong side of a move that a single clean level would have flagged.

Common symptoms of this overload:

1. Jumping between systems every few weeks, so no single setup ever gets a real sample size.
2. Adding tools after every loss instead of reviewing the execution of the existing plan.
3. Entering in the middle of a candle because waiting for confirmation feels too slow.
4. Trading every session rather than the one window where the setup actually appears.

A simple process beats a complicated one because it can be tested, repeated and measured. If a rule cannot be written in one sentence, it is usually too vague to execute under pressure.

## The three-step framework behind the 9:30 AM strategy

This trading strategy is a level-based model that uses the opening drive of the US session as its reference point. It does not require forecasting direction in advance; it requires reacting to a defined level with a defined entry.

### Step 1: Set up the trade before the open

Before 9:30 AM New York time, mark the levels that matter: the previous day's high and low (PDH and PDL), the pre-market high and low, and any obvious swing points from the prior session. These are the prices where orders are resting and where the first real fight between buyers and sellers happens. Nothing is traded yet — the map is simply drawn in advance so decisions are not made in the heat of the open.

### Step 2: Wait for the break of a level

The strategy triggers when price breaks one of those marked levels with conviction, ideally in the first 30 to 60 minutes of the session. The break tells you which side is in control; it does not tell you where to enter. Chasing the breakout candle is the single most common execution error, because that candle is where late buyers and sellers get filled at the worst price.

### Step 3: Enter on the retest with a defined stop

The entry comes when price returns to the broken level and holds it — the classic break-and-retest. The stop sits just beyond the level or beyond the retest candle, which keeps risk small and fixed. Because the stop is tight relative to the distance to the next level, a modest win rate can still produce a positive expectancy. This is the practical answer to the objection that such setups require an oversized position: the edge comes from the ratio, not from size.

## How to increase the win rate without adding indicators

The win rate improves through filtering, not through extra tools. Three filters do most of the work: trade only in the direction of the higher-timeframe trend, skip levels that sit in the middle of a wide range with no clear structure, and require the retest to hold on a candle close rather than on a wick.

A practical checklist before any entry:

- Price broke a marked level in the first hour of the session.
- The break aligns with the daily bias, not against it.
- The retest holds and closes back on the breakout side.
- The stop is defined before entry and the target is at least twice the risk.
- No major scheduled news release lands within the next 15 minutes.

A useful counter-example from real trading discussion: when two indicators said sell while the trend line said the move was a 6R winner, the indicators were the noise and the level was the signal. That is the entire argument for keeping the chart clean.

## Timeframes, instruments and the 1-minute objection

The framework works on any intraday timeframe, but the 1-minute chart is optional, not mandatory. Many traders cannot execute comfortably on 1-minute candles because the noise produces too many false breaks; a 5-minute chart for structure and a 1-minute chart only for the entry trigger is a workable compromise. The level itself is drawn on the 5-minute or 15-minute chart, which is where the pre-market and prior-day extremes are cleanest.

On instruments, the same logic transfers from index futures to large-cap stocks and to liquid forex pairs such as EUR/USD, provided the session open being used is the one that actually generates volume for that instrument. Trading one or two names consistently — a primary stock plus one liquid alternative — builds familiarity with how that instrument behaves around the open, which is worth more than spreading attention across six tickers.

## Common questions traders raise about this approach

Several recurring doubts deserve direct answers. The first is hindsight bias: setups always look obvious on a finished chart, so the only honest test is backtesting a fixed rule over a few hundred sessions and recording the result, including the losers. The second is the middle-of-range problem — when price sits between the previous day's high and low with no nearby level, there is no trade, and sitting out is part of the strategy.

The third is timing precision: the entry is not in the middle of a candle, it is on the close of the retest candle or on a limit order at the broken level, whichever the plan specifies. The fourth is position sizing — the strategy is designed around a tight stop, so the position size is calculated from risk per trade, not from a desire to make the setup "worth it." Finally, the honest caveat: no opening-range model wins every session, and anyone claiming otherwise is selling something.

## Useful links

- [Free Simple Trader Playbook course waitlist](https://events.scarfacetrades.com/the-simple-trader-playbook-waitlist)
- [The Accelerator — private Discord community and live trading](https://whop.com/scarfacetrades)
- [Scarface Trades on Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/scarfacetrades_)
- [Scarface Trades on X](https://twitter.com/ScarfaceTrades_)

## Final takeaway

Trading gets simpler when the decision tree shrinks to three questions: which level, which direction, which entry. The 9:30 AM opening-range framework answers all three before the session starts, which removes improvisation from the most volatile part of the day. Master the retest, keep the stop tight, and let the reward-to-risk ratio carry the results instead of a perfect win rate. The Scarface Trades channel is the source of this breakdown, and the [free Playbook waitlist](https://events.scarfacetrades.com/the-simple-trader-playbook-waitlist) is the place to start if you want the full written version of the rules.

## Questions & answers

**Do I need the 1-minute chart to trade this strategy?**

No. The levels are marked on the 5-minute or 15-minute chart, and the 1-minute chart is only an optional trigger for the entry. Traders who find 1-minute noise unmanageable can enter on the close of the retest candle on a higher timeframe instead.

**Where exactly does the entry go — on the breakout candle or after a pullback?**

On the retest. The breakout only signals which side controls price; the entry comes when price returns to the broken level and holds it, either via a limit order at the level or on the close of the retest candle. Chasing the breakout candle is what produces poor fills and oversized stops.

**What if price is stuck in the middle of the previous day's high and low?**

Then there is no trade. The strategy depends on a clear level being broken and retested, and a mid-range price offers no such reference. Sitting out is a legitimate part of the plan and protects capital on low-quality sessions.

**Does this work on forex pairs and stocks, or only futures?**

The logic transfers to any liquid instrument, including large-cap stocks and major forex pairs like EUR/USD, as long as you use the session open that generates real volume for that market. Pick one or two instruments and study how they behave around that open before adding more.