What is tradeCompass at investingLive.com: Trading methodolgy explained and how traders can utilize it
tradeCompass methodology explained: How traders can use the investingLive market map
Successful trading does not require predicting every market movement. It requires a clear plan for what to do if buyers take control, what to do if sellers take control, and how to manage the trade after entry.
That is the purpose of tradeCompass, a proprietary analytical methodology at investingLive.com, created by Itai Levitan, Head of Strategy at investingLive.
The research behind each tradeCompass may involve volume-weighted prices, volume profiles, previous trading sessions, accepted value, important support and resistance areas, liquidity behavior, multiple timeframes and other market-structure factors. However, the public-facing map is intentionally simpler.
Traders usually receive:
A bullish above threshold
A bearish below threshold
Several bullish partial-profit targets
Several bearish partial-profit targets
An explanation of the market structure and the important risks
The objective is to give traders a practical decision map, not another prediction they must follow blindly.
Quick reference: Trade the map, consider taking partial profits as targets are reached, and limit yourself to one completed trade per direction for each published tradeCompass.
Why I refreshed the tradeCompass principles
A recent comment from Jack on our July 23 gold tradeCompass encouraged me to revisit how clearly we explain the methodology. Thanks, Jack.
The methodology itself has not changed. The objective of the refresh was to make the principles simpler and easier for traders to apply. This gold example illustrates them well.
At the time of publication, gold futures were trading near 4,124, inside the decision zone between:
Bullish above 4,145
Bearish below 4,116
While price remained between those levels, the tradeCompass did not call for a directional trade. Traders could simply wait.
Gold then broke below 4,116, activating the bearish scenario. Price subsequently reached all five published bearish targets:
4,110 (this is "TP1" or "take-profit 1" or "1st profit target")
4,104 (this is "TP2" or "take-profit 2" or "2nd profit target")
4,093
4,086
4,067
The prediction score was only -1, indicating a slight bearish lean. The more important information was the map itself. Sellers still needed to prove control by taking price below 4,116, which they did. The below 5-min chart shows what happened and when in a most simple way.
This is tradeCompass in simple terms: wait while price is inside the decision zone, allow the market to activate one side of the map, consider taking partial profits at the published targets, and protect the trade as it progresses. Once that short trade is completed, the suggested discipline is not to take another short from the same tradeCompass.
This example worked particularly cleanly, but not every activated scenario will reach every target. The purpose of tradeCompass is not to guarantee an outcome. It is to give traders meaningful thresholds, a planned target sequence and a disciplined framework for responding to price.
Chart: The July 23 gold tradeCompass levels were published before the bearish threshold activated. Gold subsequently reached all five bearish targets.
Three tradeCompass principles traders can consider
These principles are suggestions to consider, not inflexible instructions for every trader.
Some traders prefer taking partial profits, while others exit the entire position at one target. Some require a candle close before entering, while others use a retest or their own lower-timeframe signal. Experienced traders may use tradeCompass as a second opinion rather than as their primary methodology.
Different approaches are possible, but the following three principles form the practical foundation of tradeCompass.
1. Trade the map, not a prediction
Use the bullish above and bearish below thresholds to identify where buyers or sellers may be gaining control.
A bullish threshold does not mean the market must rise. It identifies a price above which the bullish scenario becomes more attractive. Similarly, the bearish threshold identifies where the sellers may gain a stronger advantage.
When price remains between the two thresholds, it is inside the tradeCompass decision zone. Conditions there may be unclear, choppy or vulnerable to whipsaws. Traders can consider waiting rather than forcing a position.
A brief touch beyond a threshold may not be enough. Depending on the market and the trader’s style, confirmation might include:
Price holding beyond the threshold
A candle closing beyond it
A breakout followed by a successful retest
The trader’s own entry signal appearing after activation
The exact confirmation method can vary, but the principle remains the same: let price activate the scenario instead of trying to predict which side will trigger first.
2. Take partial profits and protect the trade
tradeCompass normally provides several profit targets because markets rarely move in a perfectly straight line.
Traders can consider reducing part of the position as each target is reached. This can lock in progress, reduce emotional pressure and allow a smaller part of the position to pursue a larger move.
After the first target is reached, and certainly after the second, traders should consider reducing risk aggressively. Depending on the setup, this may include moving the stop toward entry, tightening it behind a meaningful price level or reducing more of the position.
A smaller runner can then be left open for a more ambitious target, but the trader should consider whether a profitable position still needs to carry its original risk.
Partial profit-taking is not suitable for every trading style. A trader who prefers an all-in, all-out approach can still use the targets to select an exit. The broader principle is to decide how profits will be managed before emotions take control.
Moving a stop to entry can reduce risk, but it does not eliminate every form of execution risk. Slippage, gaps and fast market conditions can still affect the final result.
3. Take only one trade per direction per tradeCompass
The suggested tradeCompass discipline is a maximum of one completed long trade and one completed short trade per published map.
If a trader activates the long scenario and the trade concludes, that long opportunity has been used. This remains true whether the trade:
Reaches every target
Reaches only one or two partial-profit targets
Closes at breakeven after taking a partial profit
Reaches its stop before any target is achieved
The trader should not repeatedly re-enter another long using the same tradeCompass. A short may still be considered if the bearish threshold later activates properly, but there is no second long until a new tradeCompass is published.
The same applies in reverse. Once the short trade is completed, there should be no additional short attempt from that map, although the single long opportunity may remain available.
This rule is intended to reduce:
Overtrading
Revenge trading after a stop
Repeated entries during choppy conditions
Emotional attempts to recover a loss immediately
Excessive losses from one market or one trading idea
A trader may sometimes watch price return to the original threshold and produce what looks like an excellent second opportunity. Under the tradeCompass discipline, that trader lets it go. Missing one later trade is usually less damaging than developing the habit of repeatedly attacking the same setup.
If an entry order was never filled, no trade was taken and the directional opportunity has not been used.
Risk reminder
Before entering any position, define the maximum acceptable loss and choose an appropriate position size.
A technically attractive map can still fail. Do not use position size that would make one normal stop financially or emotionally difficult to accept. Avoid widening a stop simply because the market is moving against the position.
No technical methodology guarantees a profitable outcome. Trade at your own risk.
Why tradeCompass is not simply two random price levels
Suppose Bitcoin futures are trading near $72,000.
Anyone could say:
Bullish above $72,500
Bearish below $71,500
That does not make it a tradeCompass.
Not every price carries the same analytical weight. Some prices are located near important areas of previously accepted value. Others align with widely monitored institutional benchmarks, prior high-volume areas, previous session boundaries, important highs and lows or clusters of several market references.
Professional and institutional market participants generally influence more volume and liquidity than individual retail traders. Prices connected to that activity may therefore matter more than levels selected simply because they look convenient on a chart.
Among the references that may contribute to a tradeCompass map are:
VWAP, or volume-weighted average price
Point of control, or the price where the most volume traded
Value area highs and lows
Previous session highs, lows and closing structures
Areas where substantial trading volume accumulated
Untested levels from earlier sessions
Psychological prices and nearby liquidity
Acceptance, rejection and failed-breakout behavior
Relationships between short-term and higher-timeframe structure
These are only some of the ingredients. The proprietary methodology also involves interpreting which references matter in the present market, how several levels interact and where a practical activation threshold or profit target should be placed.
This final step requires judgment. A chart may display an exact technical reference, but the published threshold might include a buffer to reduce the risk of reacting to a small liquidity sweep. A profit target may be placed slightly before an obvious resistance or support level to improve the probability of an execution.
The finished tradeCompass is therefore not a mechanical list of chart values. It is a structured and human-interpreted market map.
Why tradeCompass presents both bullish and bearish scenarios
Publishing both directions is not a refusal to take a view. It is recognition that the market itself should determine which scenario becomes active.
A trader might begin the session with a bullish personal opinion. New information can still cause price to break the bearish threshold. The tradeCompass helps separate that original opinion from the action actually taking place in the market.
The map effectively says:
If buyers prove themselves above this area, the bullish path becomes more attractive.
If sellers prove themselves below another area, the bearish path becomes more attractive.
If neither side proves itself, patience may be the better position.
This conditional structure can be especially valuable around economic announcements, company earnings, geopolitical developments or other events capable of producing sudden repricing.
How to use a tradeCompass step by step
Step 1: Confirm the instrument and contract
Check whether the article refers to gold futures, Bitcoin futures, Nasdaq futures, crude oil futures or another market.
Also check the stated contract or chart type. Most tradeCompass publications use the current futures contract or a continuous front-contract chart.
This matters because a futures price may differ from the equivalent spot, cash or CFD price.
Step 2: Record the complete map
Before trading, identify:
The bullish threshold
The bearish threshold
The bullish targets
The bearish targets
Any specific confirmation or invalidation guidance
The timeframe and date of the publication
Avoid relying on an old map after market structure has materially changed or a newer tradeCompass has been published.
Step 3: Define risk before activation
Decide how much you are willing to lose before entering.
Your position size should be based on the distance between the planned entry and the point where the trade idea is no longer valid. The stop should relate to the setup and market structure, not simply to the amount of money you hope to make.
The opposite tradeCompass threshold is not automatically the correct stop. In some markets, that would create an unnecessarily wide risk range.
Step 4: Wait for the relevant threshold
If price is inside the decision zone, there is no obligation to trade.
Wait for the bullish or bearish scenario to activate according to the confirmation method that fits your trading style. Do not enter simply because price is approaching a threshold and you are afraid of missing the move.
Step 5: Execute only if the setup fits your plan
tradeCompass is a decision-support methodology. It does not remove the need to consider spreads, volatility, available liquidity, position size and the trader’s own execution rules.
A threshold activation can be used as:
A direct setup
Confirmation of an existing trading signal
A timing tool
A reason to avoid taking the opposite side
A second opinion on an existing position
Step 6: Manage the published targets
If the trade begins working, consider reducing the position at the stated targets.
After TP1, and certainly after TP2, consider protecting the remaining position. A runner can pursue a larger move after the trade has already paid the trader for being correct.
Step 7: Retire that directional opportunity
When the trade concludes, mark that direction as completed.
Do not take another trade in the same direction from the same tradeCompass, regardless of whether the first attempt won, lost or exited at breakeven.
If the opposite threshold later activates, one trade in that direction may still be considered.
Gold futures example
The following prices are hypothetical and provided only to explain the methodology.
Imagine a gold futures tradeCompass with this map:
Bullish above 4,150
Bullish targets at 4,164, 4,178 and 4,195
Bearish below 4,124
Bearish targets at 4,112, 4,097 and 4,081
Gold is initially trading at 4,138, between the two activation thresholds.
A trader following the map does not need to predict whether gold will rise or fall. Price is still inside the decision zone, so the trader waits.
Later, gold futures move above 4,150. Instead of entering on the first tick above the threshold, the trader waits for price to hold above it or successfully retest it. The long is then entered using the trader’s preferred execution method.
If gold reaches 4,164, the trader can take a first partial profit. At 4,178, another portion can be closed and the remaining risk reduced. A smaller runner may remain open for 4,195.
Suppose gold reaches the first target but then reverses and closes the remainder near entry. The long trade is finished. The trader does not take another long from that tradeCompass.
The bearish opportunity remains available, but only if gold later breaks and confirms below 4,124. The trader should not reverse emotionally simply because the long stopped working.
Using a gold futures map when trading XAU/USD
The tradeCompass prices in a gold article normally refer to the specified gold futures contract or continuous front-contract chart.
A trader using XAU/USD or a gold CFD may still benefit from the map, but the numerical prices may not match exactly. Futures and spot prices can trade at different levels due to financing, contract timing, broker pricing and other market factors.
A spot or CFD trader can consider monitoring the futures chart for the tradeCompass activation.
For example:
Gold futures activate and hold above the bullish threshold.
The trader checks whether XAU/USD is also displaying constructive price action.
The trader executes on the spot or CFD platform using the entry, stop and position sizing appropriate to that chart.
The trader continues monitoring the futures targets as reference areas while managing the actual position through the traded instrument.
The important point is that the spot trader is using the futures map as a directional and structural reference. The trader should not blindly copy a futures price into a spot order when the two markets are quoting differently.
Bitcoin futures example
Imagine Bitcoin futures are trading near $72,000 and the published map identifies:
Bullish above $72,480
Bearish below $71,620
Those prices should not be interpreted as arbitrary distances above and below the market.
The bullish threshold may represent a buffered break beyond a previous high, a volume-weighted reference and a resistance cluster. The bearish threshold may sit beneath an important area of accepted value and support.
While Bitcoin remains between the levels, the trader can wait.
If the futures contract holds above $72,480, the bullish scenario becomes active. A trader can then use the published targets and trade-management guidance. A Bitcoin spot or CFD trader can use that futures activation as confirmation while executing through the corresponding spot or CFD chart.
Bitcoin futures may trade at a premium or discount to spot Bitcoin. As with gold, traders should distinguish between the market being analyzed and the market being used for execution.
How experienced traders can use tradeCompass as a second opinion
An advanced trader does not need to abandon an established methodology to benefit from tradeCompass.
The map can provide an additional analytical layer.
For example:
A trader’s long signal appears just as price confirms above the tradeCompass bullish threshold. The alignment may strengthen the setup.
A trader receives a long signal while price remains inside the tradeCompass decision zone. The trader may wait for more confirmation or reduce position size.
A trader is holding a short when the market activates the bullish tradeCompass scenario and reaches its first bullish target. This may be a reason to reassess the short rather than remaining attached to it.
A trader is planning to take profit but notices that the next tradeCompass target is close. That target may help refine the exit.
A trader’s strategy permits many entries, but the one-trade-per-direction principle helps reduce unnecessary attempts during difficult conditions.
Professional traders may also interpret the levels differently. A highly experienced trader might use a threshold as an invalidation point, a liquidity reference or a place to look for confirmation from another methodology.
The map remains useful even when it is not being treated as a direct trading signal.
Why partial-profit targets matter
Markets often travel from one area of liquidity or accepted value to another. They can also reverse just before an obvious target because many traders are attempting to exit at the same price.
tradeCompass targets are therefore intended to be practical and fill-aware. A target may sit slightly before an obvious support, resistance or round number.
Taking partial profits can provide several benefits:
Some gains are secured before a possible reversal.
The remaining position becomes psychologically easier to manage.
Position risk can be reduced as the trade proves itself.
A runner can remain open for a less frequent but larger move.
The trader is less dependent on reaching one distant all-or-nothing target.
However, partial profit-taking also has a trade-off. If the market moves directly to the final target, reducing the position early produces less profit than holding the full size.
That is why the principles are presented for traders to consider. The objective is not to claim that one exit method is perfect for everyone. It is to encourage a planned and disciplined response.
Why one trade per direction can be so valuable
Many trading losses do not come from the original idea. They come from what happens after it.
A trader takes a reasonable long and gets stopped. Price returns to the level, so the trader enters again with a larger position. The second trade also fails. Frustration builds, and a third attempt follows without proper confirmation.
A manageable initial loss has become a damaging session.
The tradeCompass limit interrupts that cycle. Once the long is over, the trader cannot keep trying to prove that the original idea was correct. Attention can move to the opposite scenario, another market or the next published map.
This is particularly useful for beginners, but experienced traders can also benefit. Overtrading and revenge trading are not problems limited to new market participants.
What tradeCompass is not
tradeCompass is not:
A guarantee that every activated scenario will reach every target
A prediction that must be correct before price moves
Two random prices placed above and below the market
A command to trade every publication
Permission to enter before confirmation
A reason to ignore position sizing or stops
An invitation to re-enter repeatedly after a failed setup
A replacement for understanding the risks of leveraged products
A promise that futures, spot and CFD prices will be identical
It is a structured analytical and decision-support methodology.
A high win rate still does not remove risk
tradeCompass has demonstrated a high observed win rate across many published applications at investingLive. That is valuable, but it should not be interpreted as a promise about the next trade or as a guarantee of future performance.
Win rate alone also does not determine profitability.
A trader can win frequently and still lose money if occasional losses are too large. Another trader can be profitable with a more modest win rate if average winning trades are meaningfully larger than average losses.
Execution costs, spreads, slippage, contract selection, entry timing, position size and discipline all affect the result experienced by an individual trader.
The deeper value of tradeCompass is therefore not one isolated accuracy statistic. It is the combination of:
Statistically and structurally meaningful price levels
Clear bullish and bearish scenarios
Planned partial-profit targets
Defined invalidation
Controlled trade frequency
A repeatable decision-making process
Frequently asked questions
Does “bullish above” mean I should buy immediately?
Not necessarily. It identifies where the bullish scenario becomes active. Traders may still wait for a hold, candle close, successful retest or another form of confirmation.
Should I trade while price is between the thresholds?
You can, but the tradeCompass itself has not activated a directional scenario. Many traders may prefer to wait because conditions inside the decision zone can be less clear.
What if my long trade loses and price later activates the long threshold again?
Under the suggested tradeCompass discipline, the long direction has already been used. Do not take another long from that publication. Wait for a new tradeCompass.
Can I still take the short after losing the long?
Yes, provided the bearish threshold later activates properly and the trade fits your risk plan. That is the single short opportunity available under the same map.
What if I reached only TP1 before the trade reversed?
The long or short trade is still considered completed. Reaching only part of the target sequence does not create permission for another entry in the same direction.
Must I take partial profits?
No. It is a core trade-management consideration within the methodology, but traders have different styles. Those who do not scale out can still use the targets to plan a complete exit.
Can I use tradeCompass if I trade CFDs or spot markets?
Yes, potentially. Most maps refer to futures prices, so monitor the analyzed futures contract and account for any price difference when executing through a CFD or spot chart.
Can experienced traders use it with another strategy?
Yes. tradeCompass can be used as confirmation, an invalidation reference, a timing layer, a target map or a second opinion.
The tradeCompass mindset
The central tradeCompass idea is simple:
Do not become attached to a prediction. Let price activate the map, manage the trade methodically and do not keep attacking the same direction after the opportunity has concluded.
For beginners, this provides professional structure while trading skills are still developing.
For experienced traders, it provides an independent, data-informed map that can confirm, challenge or refine an existing methodology.
The market will always contain uncertainty. A trader cannot control which threshold activates, whether a breakout holds or how far the resulting move travels.
The trader can control patience, position size, profit management and the number of attempts taken.
That is where tradeCompass aims to provide its greatest value.
Trade at your own risk.
This article was written by Itai Levitan at investinglive.com.提供 MainLink：Investinglive RSS Breaking News Feed
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