Context Before Entries | Global Market Raiders
Education

Context Before Entries

This 3-part series is designed to correct the sequence most traders follow. Instead of starting with entries and indicators, it teaches you to identify whether the market environment supports follow-through before you execute.

Written for discretionary futures traders using lower timeframes who want fewer forced trades and more consistency by evaluating market context first. (Platform note: Article 1 references NinjaTrader, but the concepts apply to any discretionary futures workflow.)

Start with Article 1 → See Zamora Bias Indicator →
How to use this series

Read in order. Each article builds on the last and is intentionally written to be clear, short, and actionable.

Article 1

Why Most NinjaTrader Traders Lose Money in Neutral Markets

Most losses don’t come from “bad entries.” They come from trading when the market is not offering opportunity. Learn what neutral conditions really are—and why they destroy signal-driven trading.

Read Article 1 →
Article 2

Why Indicator Signals Fail Without Participation

Indicators don’t move markets. Participation does. Learn why signals fail when directional participation is missing— even when the chart looks “active.”

Read Article 2 →
Article 3

How Professionals Identify When a Market Is Tradable

Tradable does not mean “moving.” Professionals define tradable as conditions where continuation has evidence. Learn the behaviors that separate opportunity from noise.

Read Article 3 →
What “Context Before Entries” Means

Most traders begin the same way: find a setup, confirm it with indicators, and execute. The issue is not that setups never work—it’s that many trades are taken in environments where follow-through is unlikely.

This series teaches a professional filter: first confirm the environment, then decide whether execution even makes sense. When context is wrong, good entries fail. When context is right, execution becomes simpler.

The 3 Filters This Series Installs
  • Neutral Market Awareness: Learn when “no trade” is the highest-quality decision.
  • Participation Awareness: Understand why signals require directional commitment to work.
  • Tradable Environment Awareness: Identify when continuation has evidence—before risking capital.
Application Note

This series explains the decision framework. If you trade on NinjaTrader, we also build education-first visual tools that highlight directional participation and tradable vs. non-tradable conditions to support discretionary context reading (not signals), such as the Zamora Bias Indicator.

About the Author

Richard O. Zamora III, CMT, is the founder of Global Market Raiders LLC and an approved third-party vendor in the NinjaTrader Ecosystem. He is a Chartered Market Technician (CMT) with over two decades of experience in futures market analysis and professional trading education.