1st Impulse

1st Impulse — How to Use It

1st Impulse is a rule-based trading indicator built to help you trade fast, clean moves with consistent management. It was designed mainly for the New York session, and it is optimized for the 1-minute chart, especially on NASDAQ and Gold futures.

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Best Markets and Why

This indicator is focused on futures contracts that have strong liquidity, reliable movement, and enough volatility to hit realistic targets during the session windows.

NASDAQ: NQ and MNQ
• NQ (E-mini Nasdaq) and MNQ (Micro E-mini Nasdaq) follow the same chart movement, but with different contract size.
• NASDAQ is popular because it often produces clear impulse bursts—strong pushes followed by pullbacks. That “push + pullback” behavior is exactly what this indicator is built to work with.
• MNQ is 1/10 the size of NQ, which makes it easier to trade smaller risk while still trading the same strategy.

Gold: GC and MGC
• GC (Gold futures) and MGC (Micro Gold) also follow the same chart movement, but with different contract size.
• Gold often moves in clean levels and reactions, and it can trend smoothly during active sessions.
• MGC is 1/10 the size of GC, allowing smaller accounts to trade the same structure without oversizing risk.

Why the “micro” versions matter (MNQ / MGC):
They let you trade the exact same setup with much smaller dollar risk per tick, which is ideal if you want tighter control, smaller drawdowns, or more flexibility with position sizing.

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Best Timeframe and Why (1 Minute)

Recommended timeframe: 1 minute.

This indicator was built around:
• fast impulse sequences,
• quick activation rules,
• short “decision windows” after entry.

On the 1-minute chart:
• You see the impulse behavior in real time.
• Entries and stop placement are more precise.
• The break-even warning logic (after the trade is live) works as intended, because it is based on counting candles after activation.

On higher timeframes (like 5m or 15m):
• the impulse becomes “smoother” but less precise,
• signals happen later,
• stop sizes grow larger,
• and the same rules don’t behave the same way.

So, if you want the indicator to operate the way it was designed, 1 minute is the best choice.

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Sessions

You can choose only one session in settings:
• New York: 09:30–11:30 (New York time) (original design — usually best results)
• Asian: 18:00–20:00
• London: 03:00–05:00

Even though you can switch sessions, New York is the main focus because it typically has the strongest movement and the cleanest impulse behavior on NASDAQ and often Gold.

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Risk Control and Contract Sizing (Simple and Practical)

One of the most useful features is the contract sizing display inside the SL box.

Two display modes

Inside the stop-loss (SL) box you can choose:
• Ticks (classic view): shows the stop distance in ticks
• Contracts (risk view): shows how many contracts to trade based on your risk

How “Contracts” mode works
1. You choose what market type you’re trading:

• NQ / MNQ
• GC / MGC

2. You enter your risk amount in dollars (example: $200).
3. The indicator calculates how many contracts fit your risk:

• It measures the stop distance (in ticks),
• converts that stop distance into dollars for the selected contract,
• then tells you how many contracts you can trade without exceeding your risk.

If the stop is too large for your risk, it will show:
• 0 contracts
Meaning: this trade is not valid for your risk plan.

This is important because it protects you from the biggest mistake traders make:
taking a good setup with the wrong position size.
A setup can be correct, but if size is too large, one loss can damage your account and your mindset.

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Trade Activation and Cancellation

A setup is not automatically a live trade.
• A trade becomes LIVE only when price touches the entry level.

Cancel rule (important)

If price reaches the take-profit level before it ever touches entry first, the setup is canceled.
That means it does not count, and the indicator is free to look for the next opportunity.

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Loss Rules

A loss is counted when:
1. The next candle after the signal candle fully crosses from entry to stop (100% cross).
2. After the trade is live, if price hits stop-loss before take-profit (stop-loss wins ties).

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Take Profit and Risk-Reward

Take profit is calculated automatically using your Risk-Reward (RR) setting:
• If RR is X6, TP is set at 1:6 relative to the stop distance.
• RR is easy to adjust in settings to match your style.
• You can also adjust the SL buffer (ticks) if you want extra room.

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Break-Even Warning (Key Feature)

After a trade becomes live, the indicator checks early follow-through:
• It counts 4 candles after activation
• If the 4th candle closes inside the take-profit box, you get a quick break-even reminder for one candle:
• A highly visible line appears at entry
• A message appears under the stats bar:
“trail SL to BREAK EVEN”
• Both disappear on the next candle

This is designed to help you protect yourself from a common market behavior:
price moves in your favor, then pulls back hard. Trailing to break-even at the right moment can prevent a winning trade from turning into a loss.

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Stats Bar (Top of Screen)

The stats bar gives quick performance feedback:
• TP = number of wins
• SL = number of losses
• LIVE = live trades (only shows when a live trade exists)
• TOTAL = all counted trades
• Win% = win rate
• rr 1:X = your current RR setting
• 𝗥: = simplified score:
• Win = +RR
• Loss = -1
• Live = 0

Stop counting 𝗥 after the first win of the day

There is an option:
“R Result: Stop After First Win Each Day”

When enabled, the 𝗥 score stops adding trades for that day after the first win.

Discipline warning: If you already got one winning trade today, seriously consider stopping. The goal is not to trade more—it’s to protect consistency.