RANGE TRAP
The failed-breakout strategy. RANGE TRAP waits for price to break out of a range — and when the breakout fails, it trades the move back the other way, toward the middle of the range.
Built for NinjaTrader 8. Runs as an automated strategy inside your own NinjaTrader platform — you need NinjaTrader 8 and a market data feed.
What it is
Most breakouts are a bet. RANGE TRAP bets on the ones that fail.
Price spends much of its day inside a range. When it pushes through the edge, traders pile in on the breakout. Some of those breaks keep going. Many don’t — price pokes through, can’t hold, and slips back inside, leaving the breakout traders on the wrong side.
RANGE TRAP is built for that second case. It marks the range, lets the breakout happen, and does nothing until the break has visibly failed. Only then does it take the other side — fading the failed move back toward the middle of the range, where the market spent its time before the break.
It works in both directions: a failed break above the range is traded short, a failed break below it is traded long.
Drag the illustration sideways to see it all.
How it trades
From range to trap to trade
Every trade follows the same five steps. Nothing is taken on the breakout itself — the strategy waits to see the break fail.
- 01
Mark the ranges
The overnight session’s range, and the range set in the first hour of the regular session.
- 02
Let it break
Price pushes through the range high or the range low. RANGE TRAP watches; it doesn’t chase.
- 03
Spot the trap
The break can’t hold and price comes back inside the range. That failure is the signal.
- 04
Fade it
The trade is taken against the failed break, aiming back toward the middle of the range.
- 05
Manage and flatten
Stops and targets are managed by the template. Every position is closed before the session ends.
How the official templates run
- Chart
- 1-minute
- Market
- MNQ (Micro E-mini Nasdaq-100)
- New entries
- 9:31 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. New York time
- Flat by
- 3:55 p.m. New York time
- Size
- From 1 long / 1 short up to 3 long / 3 short contracts, by template
What you get
- The RANGE TRAP strategy for NinjaTrader 8
- The official templates, each with its settings and trading times
- Templates that move the stop to break-even after the first target and keep a runner
- Free updates, the setup guide and files in the Member Hub
- Your licence, on the same key as every other StratGeeks product
Results
See RANGE TRAP on the Strategy Dashboard
Every RANGE TRAP template, updated each week — 8 templates. Pick any template, change the period, or run several together to see how they combine.
Leading long-run template · last 30 days
Day · 1-minute chart · fades failed breaks of the overnight range and of the first hour, back toward the range middle · entries 9:31-15:00, out by 15:55
Long-run 2026 · Standard size · 2 long / 2 short MNQ · Sep 24, 2026 to Oct 23, 2026
Open this template Same template, all of 2026 →- Net (simulated)
- $1,992
- Max drawdown
- $1,509
- Trades
- 51
- Winners
- 47%
Hypothetical / simulated performanceIndependent simulated replay estimate. Not a NinjaTrader-certified backtest and not live trading. Hypothetical performance results have many inherent limitations. These results come from a simulated replay of the strategy on historical market data. They are not results of live trading and do not include slippage. Simulated results are prepared with the benefit of hindsight and cannot account for the impact of real market conditions or the financial risk of actual trading. No representation is being made that any account will or is likely to achieve profits or losses similar to those shown. Futures trading involves substantial risk of loss and is not suitable for every investor. Past performance, simulated or actual, does not guarantee future results. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Full Risk Disclosure →
How to get it
RANGE TRAP comes with the Suite
RANGE TRAP is included in every StratGeeks Suite plan. It isn’t sold as an individual subscription — and every Suite member active today already has it.
The StratGeeks Suite
Every system, one membership
RANGE TRAP plus every other StratGeeks product — ORS: Fusion, AXIOS, ECHO, RECON, HARMONY, RANGE TRAP, the PRISM indicator and the HARMONY Patterns Indicator now, new StratGeeks systems the day they are released, and every product released while your term is active.
- RANGE TRAP and every other StratGeeks system
- Official templates and optimised configurations
- Free strategy updates
- Member Hub access
- Free 60-minute setup & review
Already a Suite member? RANGE TRAP is already yours — download it from the Strategy Dashboard in the Member Hub. Your existing licence key unlocks it.
Available now
The other systems in the Suite
Strategy
Built around the opening range.
● AvailableExplore →
Strategy
Built around market structure.
● AvailableExplore →
Strategy
Built around harmonic and classical chart patterns.
● AvailableExplore →The Suite includes RANGE TRAP. Every term, including 3 months — alongside ORS: Fusion, AXIOS, ECHO, RECON, HARMONY and both indicators.
See Suite plans