Miner stitches Fibonacci price and time projections to a dual time frame momentum filter and calls the result an objective trading plan. The framework is genuinely coherent, but every worked example in the book is a chart he has already watched play out.
The one idea
Miner's plan runs on four factors he insists must line up before a trade is even considered: momentum, pattern, price, and time. Momentum comes from his Dual Time Frame Momentum Strategy, trade only in the direction of a larger time frame's momentum, then execute after a smaller time frame's momentum reverses the same way. Pattern comes from labeling a market's recent structure as either a trend (five sections, Elliott Wave style) or a correction (three sections, an ABC), using an 'overlap guideline' to decide which one it is.
Price and time come from Fibonacci ratios applied three different ways: internal retracements of the current move, alternate price (or time) projections that compare one swing to another, and external retracements beyond 100% for the final leg of a move. When several of these projections cluster into a narrow price or time zone, Miner calls that the target. He does the same math on the calendar axis (time retracements, alternate time projections, high-high or low-low cycle counts) to get a projected date range alongside the price range.
None of this is a signal to enter. The entry only fires after price actually moves through a swing high or low in the expected direction, using one of two mechanical entry methods, then position size is capped by a fixed percentage of account capital. The pitch is that stacking four independent, mostly unrelated technical readings on top of each other filters out most bad setups, even though no single one of them is reliable alone.
What it actually teaches
Miner presents this as a four-part filter you apply before every trade, plus a fixed set of rules for sizing and exiting once you're in.
SET THE DUAL TIME FRAME MOMENTUM FILTER
Pick two time frames (e.g. daily and 60-minute, or weekly and daily). Trade only in the direction of the larger time frame's momentum, using any standard oscillator (stochastic, RSI, MACD, or Miner's own DTosc). A trade is only considered once the smaller time frame's momentum reverses in that same direction. If the larger time frame is overbought or oversold, new trades in the trend direction are off the table; only counter-trades on a reversal are allowed. Miner's rule table: bull-not-OB means long on a bullish reversal, bull-OB means no new longs, bear-not-OS means short on a bearish reversal, bear-OS means no new shorts.
TUNE THE INDICATOR LOOKBACK
There's no universal setting. Miner tests several lookback periods on recent data (in his SPX example: 8-day, 13-day, and 21-day) and picks whichever one makes momentum reversals land in the overbought/oversold zone within a bar or two of actual price swing highs and lows, without whipsawing mid-range. In his example the 13-day period won on both counts. He says to re-test and adjust the lookback whenever volatility regimes shift.
IDENTIFY THE PATTERN
Label the recent move as either a five-section trend or a three-section (ABC) correction, using an 'overlap guideline': overlapping price bars mark a correction, non-overlapping mark a trend. This determines which set of Fibonacci projections to apply next.
PROJECT PRICE TARGETS
For an ABC correction, project three sets of ratios and look for a narrow zone where they cluster: internal retracements of the prior trend (38.2%, 50%, 61.8%, 78.6%), alternate price projections of wave A (61.8%, 100%, 162%), and external retracements of wave B (127%, 162%, 262%). Internal retracements rank first in importance, then alternate projections, then external. For a fifth wave completing a five-section trend, project the 38.2%/61.8%/100% alternate projection of waves 1-3 from the wave 4 low, the 100% alternate projection of wave 1, and the 127%/162% external retracement of wave 4.
PROJECT TIME TARGETS THE SAME WAY
Run the identical logic on the calendar axis. A simple ABC correction usually completes within a 38.2% to 61.8% time retracement of the prior trend's duration. Narrow that window with alternate time projections (0.618, 1.00, 1.618 of an earlier swing's duration) and with the most recent low-to-low or high-to-high cycle length. Miner's XAU example: an 8-day swing projects an alternate time target cluster of December 18-31, which combined with the broader 38-62% retracement window narrows the expected reversal to a specific few-day band.
ENTER ONLY ON CONFIRMATION
Two entry methods, both requiring price to actually move before you act. Trailing one-bar entry (Tr-1BH/L): enter one tick above (below) the high (low) of the bar that made the momentum reversal, trailing that level forward bar by bar until filled; stop goes one tick beyond the opposite extreme. Swing entry: wait for price to take out the most recent minor swing high or low in the trade direction; this needs a bigger move to trigger but has a higher hit rate. Never buy or sell at a projected target price itself.
SIZE THE POSITION
Cap any single trade's dollar risk at 3% of account equity, and all open positions combined at 6%. Formula: (account equity x 3%) / (entry price minus stop price, in dollar terms per unit) = maximum units. Worked example: $20,000 account, entry 1441.75, stop 1435.25 on ES futures (6.5 points x $50/point = $325 risk per contract); $600 max risk / $325 = 2 contracts maximum. Stop trading for the rest of the month if closed losses hit 10% of the account.
TRADE TWO UNITS AND LET THE MARKET STOP YOU OUT
Split every position into at least two units. Exit the first unit quickly, on the assumption the move might only be a minor correction (Miner's XAU example trails the stop at the one-bar-low once price hits the 61.8% retracement or a second momentum reversal against the position). Hold the second unit with a much wider trailing stop, only tightening it once the higher time frame momentum reaches overbought/oversold or the pattern completes its full structure. Never exit at a fixed profit target; only a trailing stop being hit closes the trade.
What it looks like Monday morning
A reader who takes this seriously stops entering trades the moment a chart 'looks right' and instead builds the habit of running two time frames of momentum side by side before ever placing an order: is the bigger picture bullish or bearish, and has the smaller time frame just turned the same way. That alone forces more patience than most discretionary trading does.
The bigger change is accepting that a Fibonacci cluster or a momentum reversal is a condition to watch, not a signal to act on. The book's repeated insistence that you only enter once price actually takes out a prior swing high or low, never at a projected number, is the one rule worth carrying into any system: stop paying for round numbers on a chart and start paying for confirmed price action.
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Entry (buy-stop) | 1441.75 |
| Initial stop | 1435.25 |
| Risk per contract | 6.5 points = $325 |
| Max risk allowed (3% of $20,000) | $600 |
| Max position size | 2 contracts |
Miner's formula: (account equity x 3%) divided by dollar risk per unit, rounded down, sets the hard cap on position size for every trade.
You can never know in advance if a market is going to begin a trading range, never.Robert C. Miner, High Probability Trading Strategies
Where it fails
- Every worked example is Miner's own after-the-fact chart. Every trade campaign in Chapters 6 and 7, the XAU weekly-daily long, the ES swing entries, the IBM short, is a historical chart Miner has already selected and annotated. He says outright he 'cherry-picked' the SPX momentum example in Chapter 2 to make the point cleanly. There is no forward-tested track record, no equity curve, and no accounting of the losing setups that surely happened alongside the winners he shows. The book proves the method is internally consistent, not that it is profitable.
- The core price and time method depends on proprietary Dynamic Trader software the reader almost certainly does not own. Miner references his own Dynamic Trader charting package by name throughout Chapters 4 and 5 for making alternate price and time projections. He says the routines can be replicated with a spreadsheet or by hand, which he claims to have done for 20 years, but the book gives no template, no formulas beyond the ratio percentages, and no walkthrough for building the projections in ordinary charting software. A reader without the software (or a lot of patience) is stuck approximating a method the author demonstrates on tooling he sells.
- Pattern recognition is admittedly subjective. The Elliott Wave-based trend/correction labeling in Chapter 3 relies on an 'overlap guideline' that Miner applies by eye on every chart in the book. He never gives a hard, checkable rule for when a structure has definitively become a five-wave trend versus a more complex correction; the reader is asked to make the same judgment call that has made Elliott Wave notoriously easy to fit to a chart after the fact and much harder to call in real time.
- The book gives no measured win rate, expectancy, or drawdown for the strategy itself. Miner states that even good professional traders rarely win more than 50% of trades and that 30-40% is typical for a solid system, which is honest, but he never applies that framework to his own Dual Time Frame Momentum plus price/time confluence method. There is no summary statistic anywhere in the book, just individual chart narratives. A reader has no way to know whether this specific stack of rules clears its own stated bar for a viable system.
- It assumes screen access, multiple data feeds, and charting software most retail traders don't have. The method requires simultaneously tracking at least two time frames of momentum per market, per trade, plus the ability to draw retracements and alternate price/time projections across those time frames. Day-trading examples (Chapters 6 and 7) assume real-time intraday data on 5-, 15-, and 60-minute bars with alert-capable software. A trader without a funded charting platform and multiple simultaneous data feeds cannot run this plan as described.
- First edition terminology and indicator (DTosc) are tied to a product that has likely changed or aged since 2009. The DTosc indicator used in most of the book's examples is described as proprietary to Miner's Dynamic Trader software. This edition was reviewed as published in 2009; any later editions, software versions, or indicator changes are not reflected here, and a reader relying on the specific DTosc lookback numbers cited in this edition should confirm the indicator still behaves the same way in current software before using those exact settings.
Who it is for
Buy it if
You already trade discretionarily with Fibonacci retracements or Elliott Wave and want a more structured way to combine those tools with a momentum filter and hard position-sizing rules. It's also useful as a reference for the 3%/6% capital exposure math and the two-unit exit logic, which are cleanly stated and easy to lift into any other system.
Skip it if
You want a backtested, rules-only system with a stated win rate, or you don't already own (or plan to buy) charting software that can do multi-ratio price and time projections. Anyone hoping for proof the method makes money, rather than a well-organized description of how to apply it, will be disappointed.
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