My TradingView Setup for Futures Trading (The Exact Layout I Use)

TradingView is the one tool I'd keep if I had to strip everything else. The charting is fast, the UI is clean, and it runs in the browser — which means I can pull it up anywhere without installing anything.

Here's exactly how I have mine set up for futures.

The Charts I Use

I trade primarily NQ (Nasdaq futures) and sometimes ES (S&P 500 futures). On TradingView, these are:

• NQ1! — front-month Nasdaq futures (continuous)
• ES1! — front-month S&P futures (continuous)
• MNQ1! — Micro Nasdaq (1/10th the size of NQ, great for sizing down)

My Indicator Stack

I keep it minimal:

1. Volume Profile (Visible Range) This shows where the most volume traded over the visible chart. I use it to identify high-volume nodes (HVN) and low-volume nodes (LVN) — price tends to stall at HVNs and move fast through LVNs.

2. VWAP + 1 Standard Deviation Bands VWAP is the intraday anchor. I watch how price reacts when it returns to VWAP after a deviation. The 1 SD bands give me targets on extended moves.

3. Previous Day High/Low (via Pine Script) A simple script that draws horizontal lines at yesterday's high and low. These levels act as magnets and often trigger reversals or breakouts.

That's it. No RSI, no MACD, no oscillators. Clean charts make cleaner decisions.

Layout

I run a 4-pane layout:

• Top left: 5-minute chart (main trading chart)
• Top right: 15-minute chart (context and structure)
• Bottom left: 1-minute chart (entry timing)
• Bottom right: Daily chart (key levels and trend)

The Plan vs. Premium Question

TradingView's free plan actually covers a lot. But if you trade actively, the Essential plan ($12.95/mo) is worth it for:

• More saved chart layouts
• More indicators per chart
• No ads

I use the Plus plan because I want more simultaneous alerts and the ability to set alerts on volume profile levels.

→ Start with TradingView free — you can access all the charts and indicators I mentioned above without paying anything.