An A+ setup is a trade that passes every phase of a qualification sequence — clear higher-timeframe bias, a pre-marked key level, a real reaction, a fired confirmation trigger, and pre-defined execution with at least 2R reward-to-risk. Most traders call setups A+ based on how they feel. This guide shows you how to grade them based on what price actually did.
Why Grading Beats Guessing
Two traders can look at the same chart and take the same entry — one is gambling, one is executing. The difference is a defined standard. When every trade is graded against the same five checks, three things happen: your losers get smaller (C trades disappear), your winners get bigger (full size only goes on A+ trades), and your journal finally means something, because you can separate bad luck from bad process.
The Five Checks That Make a Setup A+
Proprietary Framework
The MTC Alignment Engine™ — Applied Every Live Session
Every trade runs the same five checkpoints — consistency over gut reaction. Inside the MTC Incubator, members build their own system on top of this framework.
1. Bias — the higher timeframe agrees
The trade goes in the direction of higher-timeframe control: higher highs and higher lows for longs, lower highs and lower lows for shorts. An A+ setup never fights the timeframe above it. How to read this: multiple time frame analysis.
2. Level — marked before price got there
The entry happens AT a level you marked in advance — support, resistance, a prior breakout point, or a session high or low. If you drew the level after price reached it, the level is not a level; it is a justification.
3. Reaction — the market shows its hand
Price does something at the level: a rejection wick, a stall, absorption on the tape. A touch is not a reaction. The first touch is information, not an entry.
4. Confirmation — a trigger actually fires
A reclaim, a break of the reaction high or low, or a breakout and retest — in the direction of your bias. This is the difference between entering on proof and entering on prediction.
5. Execution — 2R minimum, decided in advance
Stop where the setup is structurally wrong (how to set a stop loss), size calculated from stop distance and account risk (position sizing), and a defined target giving at least 2R. A perfect pattern with 1R available is not an A+ trade — the reward has to justify the risk.
A+ vs B vs C: What Each Grade Looks Like
A+ (5/5): bullish daily structure, price pulls back to a pre-marked breakout retest level, rejects it with a wick on volume, reclaims the reaction high, 2.5R available to the prior high. Full size.
B (4/5): same setup, but the reaction is weak — a stall without volume. Tradeable at reduced size, because one phase is uncertain.
C (3 or fewer): price is mid-range, no level nearby, but the move “looks strong” and you are afraid of missing it. This is not a setup — it is chasing with extra steps. No trade.
How to Start Grading Your Own Trades
Print the day trading checklist and grade every trade for two weeks — including the ones you skip. Then open your journal and sort by grade. Nearly every trader who does this finds the same thing: their A+ trades were profitable all along, and the C trades were quietly paying for everyone else. The edge was never missing. It was being diluted.
Frequently Asked Questions
Already trading and want to build your own system?
The MTC Incubator is an application-based mentorship — 1-on-1 work building a personalized system on the Alignment Engine™.
