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Track B — Futures Day Trading · Answer Key 7 of 7

Track B Exam — Answer Key

Answers explained, with the re-study map. Curriculum & Assessment · Team Alpha Trading

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This is the grading key for the Track B Exam — Futures Day Trading (Alpha Academy Level 3, modules The Futures Setup through The Futures Routine). Keep it separate from the exam itself — a student should never see this file before (or while) taking the test.

Scoring: 24 or more correct out of 30 = pass (80%). Below 24, use the re-study code at the end of each answer below to find exactly which module to re-read before a retake.

The Answers

  • 1. B — Your broker. Day (intraday) margin is the broker's own reduced deposit for positions opened and closed the same day; it is not set by the exchange and there is no universal dollar figure. Re-study: The Futures Setup.
  • 2. C — The exchange. Overnight (initial) margin is set by the exchange — the CME for most of these contracts — and it is the larger of the two margins. Re-study: The Futures Setup.
  • 3. C — $300,000. Notional = price × point value = 6,000 × $50 = $300,000 of index exposure controlled by one contract. Re-study: The Futures Setup.
  • 4. A — $3,000. A 1% fall from 6,000 is 60 points, and 60 points × $50 per point = $3,000 lost on one contract. Re-study: The Futures Setup.
  • 5. D — $12.50 on ES and $1.25 on MES. A tick is 0.25 points: 0.25 × $50 = $12.50 on ES, and 0.25 × $5 = $1.25 on MES. Re-study: The Futures Setup.
  • 6. B — A good-faith deposit. Futures margin is security you post while controlling a much larger contract — it is not a loan, not a purchase price, and not insurance. Re-study: The Futures Setup.
  • 7. A — What happened in the Globex session overnight. Overnight inventory is the record of who bought and sold while the stock market slept — it frames what the cash session inherits. Re-study: Futures: Trading the Open.
  • 8. C — The overnight high, the overnight low, and yesterday's close. Those three lines mark the night's battlefield and the level the day is measured against before the first trade is even considered. Re-study: Futures: Trading the Open.
  • 9. A — The high and low of the first part of the session. The opening range (first 15, 30, or 60 minutes) is a map that later evidence is read against — it predicts nothing by itself. Re-study: Futures: Trading the Open.
  • 10. D — A test-and-reverse open. Price tested above the overnight high, failed, and fell back inside the night's range — the test was rejected, which is the signature of this open type. Re-study: Futures: Trading the Open.
  • 11. B — It drives one direction and keeps going. A drive open leaves the open behind with conviction and pullbacks stay shallow — the opposite of a test that fails. Re-study: Futures: Trading the Open.
  • 12. C — Smaller size while the range forms, no chasing the first spike, and respect the 10:00 AM reports. The first hour is for gathering evidence at reduced risk, and scheduled 10:00 AM data can change the day in seconds. Re-study: Futures: Trading the Open.
  • 13. B — The day's average price, weighted by volume. Prices where more contracts actually traded count more, which is why VWAP tracks where the day's real business was done. Re-study: Trend Days vs Range Days.
  • 14. D — Institutions are benchmarked against it. Funds working large orders are judged on beating VWAP, so the biggest flow in the market treats it as the fair-value line. Re-study: Trend Days vs Range Days.
  • 15. A — A balanced, range-type day. Repeated VWAP crosses mean no one-sided flow is in control; a trend day refuses to cross and lives on one side. Re-study: Trend Days vs Range Days.
  • 16. C — Buy the pullbacks and trail your stop. Trend days reward joining late strength at a better price and letting the move run — never fading it. Re-study: Trend Days vs Range Days.
  • 17. B — Fade the extremes toward the middle, take small targets, and quit when the band breaks and holds. The range playbook dies the moment price holds outside the band, because the day has changed character. Re-study: Trend Days vs Range Days.
  • 18. A — Fading a trend day, and breakout-chasing a range day. Both mistakes come from playing one day type with the other day's playbook — the most expensive confusion in day trading. Re-study: Trend Days vs Range Days.
  • 19. D — $1,200. Risk = stop distance × point value × contracts = 12 points × $50 × 2 contracts = $1,200. Re-study: Futures Risk & the Daily Stop.
  • 20. B — $50, which is 2% of the account. 10 points × $5 per point = $50 on MES (the same stop on ES would be $500 — 20% of the account). Re-study: Futures Risk & the Daily Stop.
  • 21. C — 10 points. Working the formula backwards: $50 of allowed risk ÷ $5 per point = 10 points of stop distance on MES. Re-study: Futures Risk & the Daily Stop.
  • 22. A — A hard dollar limit, set before the session. The daily stop converts a bad day into an affordable bill; the moment it becomes a negotiation, it is not a stop anymore. Re-study: Futures Risk & the Daily Stop.
  • 23. C — The broker can liquidate you at whatever price is available. Once your balance falls below the required margin, the broker protects itself first — there is no vote and no waiting for a recovery. Re-study: Futures Risk & the Daily Stop.
  • 24. B — The position must meet overnight margin, or the broker liquidates it at or before the close. Day margin ends with the session, and a stop does not protect an overnight position against a gap through it. Re-study: Futures Risk & the Daily Stop.
  • 25. D — One contract until the record earns more. Size is added only after a consistent track record, funded by profits — never after losses and never by feel. Re-study: Futures Risk & the Daily Stop.
  • 26. D — Placing a trade before the bell is NOT a pre-session step. The five steps are: review Globex, mark the overnight range, check the economic calendar, write the daily stop, and choose today's instrument. Re-study: The Futures Routine.
  • 27. A — Let the opening range form before committing full size. Patience in the first hour is a planned rule, not hesitation — the day shows its hand before you pay full price for the information. Re-study: The Futures Routine.
  • 28. C — "Trend or range — and does my playbook match?" Midday is when the morning's evidence gets re-judged, because the costliest error is playing the wrong day type all afternoon. Re-study: The Futures Routine.
  • 29. B — Record the day honestly while it is fresh. The review captures the trades, the day-type call, and whether the rules were followed — the raw material every improvement comes from. Re-study: The Futures Routine.
  • 30. A — Patterns across the week: results by day type, the biggest leak, one fix. The weekly review trades five blurred days for a few clear patterns and a single repair to carry forward. Re-study: The Futures Routine.

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