Alpha Futures Allowed Strategies: Scalping, Swing, Martingale & More

Alpha Futures permits most trading strategies including scalping, day trading, and swing trading (within the same session). They allow news trading during evaluation but restrict it on qualified accounts. Semi-automated trading is acceptable, but high-frequency automated trading is not. Martingale and other aggressive averaging strategies aren't explicitly banned but will quickly breach your drawdown limits if used recklessly. The key constraint isn't strategy type—it's whether your approach survives the EOD close requirement and drawdown rules.

Strategy disclaimer: The approach here is what I've used personally across multiple Alpha Futures accounts in both evaluation and funded phases. Your results depend on execution, risk management, and how well this aligns with your trading style.

For the complete strategy framework I use on Alpha Futures—including DLG-aware position sizing, consistency rule management across Standard and Advanced plans, VWAP-based entries on NQ, and daily target systems built around the 40% consistency cap—check out my comprehensive Alpha Futures strategy guide. It covers evaluation tactics through funded payout scaling, all based on real account experience. For the absolute latest, check Alpha Futures' website.

Explicitly Allowed Strategies

Scalping

Fast in-and-out trading is permitted. Alpha Futures doesn't impose minimum hold times or restrict the number of trades per day. Want to take 50 trades grabbing 2-4 ticks each? Go ahead.

Practical considerations:

• Commission costs compound with high trade frequency
• Scalping requires tight spreads—stick to liquid contracts (ES, NQ)
• The EOD close requirement doesn't affect scalping (you're flat anyway)

I've scalped during Alpha Futures evaluations with no issues. The platform executes quickly enough for reasonable scalping strategies, though pure HFT (millisecond-level) isn't viable due to infrastructure limitations.

Day Trading

This is Alpha Futures' core use case. Enter positions during the session, exit before 4:59 PM ET. Most traders here fall into this category.

Works well for:

• Momentum trading
• Mean reversion
• Pattern-based entries
• Technical breakouts/breakdowns

Day trading aligns naturally with all Alpha Futures rules. No overnight restrictions to worry about, no multi-day drawdown tracking—just session-by-session performance.

Intraday Swing

Want to hold for hours rather than minutes? That's fine. "Swing trading" at Alpha Futures means intraday swings, not overnight holds.

What this looks like:

• Enter long ES at 10:30 AM based on morning setup
• Hold through lunch
• Exit at 3:45 PM with 12-point profit

The strategy is swing-like in patience and target size, just compressed into a single session.

Restricted Strategies

Overnight Holding

This isn't a strategy Alpha Futures supports. All positions must close by 4:59 PM ET. There's no "swing trade" option where you hold through the overnight session or into the next day.

Why this matters:

• Gap risk is eliminated (for both you and the firm)
• Every day starts fresh
• Multi-day setups require daily re-entry

If your edge requires overnight holds, Alpha Futures isn't the right fit.

News Trading (Qualified Accounts Only)

During evaluation, trade news however you want. NFP, FOMC, CPI—no restrictions.

Once qualified, you cannot execute orders within 2 minutes before or after high-impact news events. You can hold positions through news (set them up beforehand), but you can't enter, exit, add, or cut during the ±2 minute window.

This restricts:

• News reaction scalping
• Fade-the-spike strategies
• Straddle/strangle-style volatility plays around announcements

This allows:

• Pre-positioned directional bets through news
• News avoidance (staying flat during events)
• Trading after the news window closes

High-Frequency Automated Trading

Alpha Futures explicitly prohibits high-frequency algorithmic trading. They allow semi-automated trading (where you supervise entries/exits) but not pure HFT systems that fire orders at machine speed without human oversight.

What's prohibited:

• Market-making algorithms
• Latency arbitrage
• Sub-second automated scalping
• Systems that execute hundreds of orders per minute

What's allowed:

• Semi-automated with manual confirmation
• Alert-based automation where you click to execute
• Algorithmic analysis with manual execution

If your "strategy" is really a co-located algorithm exploiting microsecond advantages, Alpha Futures isn't your venue.

The Martingale Question

"Can I use Martingale at Alpha Futures?"

Technically, yes. There's no rule saying "no averaging down" or "no doubling position size after losses."

Practically, Martingale-style strategies conflict dramatically with Alpha Futures' drawdown structure:

• 4% MLL means your averaging room is extremely limited
• The EOD trailing drawdown can quickly consume your cushion
• One bad sequence breaches your account

Example of why Martingale fails here:You enter long 2 contracts. Price drops 10 points (-$1,000). Martingale says double down—you add 4 contracts at the lower price. Price drops another 8 points. Now you're down $2,200 on a 50K account with $2,000 drawdown room. Breach.

The math doesn't work. Martingale requires either unlimited capital or extremely small position sizes. Prop account drawdown limits are the opposite of unlimited capital.

I've seen traders try modified Martingale approaches with smaller multipliers. Occasionally it works. More often, a single extended adverse move wipes the account. The strategy's risk profile doesn't match prop trading constraints.

Strategy Adaptation for Alpha Futures Rules

Adapting Swing Trading

If you're a swing trader who typically holds 2-5 days:

• Look for intraday swings that capture similar moves within a session
• Trade more volatile products (NQ has bigger intraday ranges than ES)
• Accept that some setups won't complete in one day—exit anyway, re-enter tomorrow if setup still valid

Adapting News Trading

If news reactions are your edge:

• During evaluation, trade them freely—prove your approach works
• On qualified accounts, shift to pre-positioning before the 2-minute window
• Or trade the aftermath—enter 3+ minutes after the event once the initial spike settles

Adapting Automation

If you use trading bots:

• Convert to semi-automated with manual confirmation
• Use algorithms for signal generation but execute manually
• Ensure no unattended automated execution happens

Strategies That Work Best at Alpha Futures

Based on my experience and what I've seen from other traders:

Momentum/Trend Following

The EOD drawdown is forgiving during sessions. You can enter a momentum trade, accept normal pullbacks without MLL moving, and capture the day's trend. Works well.

Mean Reversion

Fading overextensions intraday with tight stops. Quick trades, defined risk, aligns with scalping allowances.

Volume Profile/Session Analysis

Using opening range, VWAP, previous highs/lows for entries. Classic day trading setups that complete within sessions.

News Fade (Evaluation Only)

Fading the initial spike after major announcements. Excellent during evaluation, not viable once qualified due to the 2-minute restriction.

Strategies That Struggle

Grid Trading

Placing multiple orders at set intervals above and below price, capturing movements as price oscillates. The contract limits and drawdown constraints make grid trading impractical at scale.

Position Trading

Building a position over days/weeks. Impossible due to EOD close requirement.

High-Frequency Anything

Both prohibited and technically impractical on retail-level infrastructure.

My Strategy Approach

I use a hybrid approach at Alpha Futures:

• Scalp during choppy conditions (quick entries, tight stops)
• Swing intraday during trending conditions (hold for hours)
• Avoid news windows on qualified accounts entirely
• Never average into losing positions beyond initial planned scale-in

This flexibility means I'm not fighting the rules. Whatever the market offers that day, I have a compatible approach. The rules inform my strategy selection rather than restricting it.

The key realization: Alpha Futures rules don't prohibit good trading. They prohibit behaviors that create excessive risk—overnight exposure, HFT infrastructure advantages, aggressive averaging without limits. Strategies built on genuine edge rather than risk-increasing techniques work fine here.

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