AI Day Trader FAQ

What is the AI Day Trader?

The AI Day Trader is a StreetAlpha page that makes live intraday trading calls on five tickers each day: SPY, QQQ, IWM and two stock picks. Rule-based strategies find setups on 5-minute charts, and an AI model decides whether to take or pass each one. Every call is logged with a timestamp before its outcome is known.

How does AI day trading work here?

Two layers work together. Code handles everything mechanical: it builds the price bars, computes levels such as VWAP and the opening range, detects setups, and sets each call's entry, target, invalidation and time limit. The AI is used only at decision points. It weighs each setup against price action, options flow, large block trades and the news, then says take or pass.

Which tickers does it cover?

SPY, QQQ and IWM every trading day, plus two stock picks that are drawn before the open and change daily. The picks are logged with a timestamp before the market opens.

Which day trading strategies does it use?

Five: the opening range breakout, the VWAP pullback in a trend, the failed breakout reversal, gap and go, and intraday momentum. Each has fixed rules, so the same setup is always treated the same way, and each keeps its own record.

What is the opening range breakout strategy?

The opening range is the high and low of the first 30 minutes of trading, 9:30 to 10:00 Eastern. A breakout is a 5-minute bar that closes above the range high or below the range low on rising volume. The target is one range width beyond the entry, the invalidation is the middle of the range, and the call has 60 minutes. Only the first breakout in each direction counts, and only before 11:30.

What is a VWAP pullback?

VWAP is the volume-weighted average price for the day. On a trending day, price stays on one side of VWAP while VWAP slopes the same way. A VWAP pullback call fires when price dips back to VWAP during that trend and then closes beyond the pullback bar, which shows the dip has ended. The target is the day's prior high or low.

What is a failed breakout reversal?

It is a trade against a breakout that failed. When a 5-minute bar closes beyond a key level and price closes back inside within three bars, traders who chased the break are caught on the wrong side, and their exits tend to push price the other way. The invalidation sits just beyond the furthest point of the false move.

What is gap and go?

When a stock or ETF opens with a large gap from the prior close, the first 15 minutes set a range. A gap and go call fires when a 5-minute bar closes beyond that range in the direction of the gap, which shows the gap is being extended and not faded.

What is the intraday momentum strategy?

Research on index ETFs has found that the move in the first half hour of trading tends to carry into the last half hour. The call is decided at 3:30 PM Eastern and held to the close, in the direction of the morning move.

Can more than one call be open on the same ticker?

Yes. Each strategy keeps its own call, so a ticker can have one open call per strategy at the same time. They are graded separately, and they can point in opposite directions.

What do target, invalidation and time limit mean?

The target is the price where a call is counted as a win. The invalidation is the price where the idea is wrong and the call is closed. The time limit closes a call that has reached neither. All three are fixed the moment a call is logged and never move.

Can the AI change a call after it is logged?

It cannot change the entry, target or invalidation. It can close a call early if conditions change, for example if options flow turns against it. When that happens, the page also keeps tracking what the call would have done if left alone, so early exits can be judged.

What does a pass mean?

A pass is a setup the rules found and the AI chose not to take. Passes are logged with a one-sentence reason and shown on the page. They matter because the scorecard later shows whether the setups it passed on would have made or lost money.

How is performance measured?

Each call's result is the percent move from entry to exit. Every call counts as the same size, results are added together, and an assumed cost of 0.02% is taken off each one. A price level counts as reached when the page's sampled price is at or beyond it.

What is the 'every setup taken' baseline?

It is what would have happened if every setup the rules found had been taken mechanically, with no AI judgement. Showing it next to the AI's results is the honest test of whether the AI adds anything.

How do I know calls are not edited afterwards?

Each call is stored with a timestamp and a fingerprint of its entry, target and invalidation taken when it was logged. Those fields cannot be changed later. You can also replay any past day and watch the calls appear at the time they were made.

What is replay?

Replay plays back a past trading day like a video, using the bars and calls exactly as they were logged. The chart only shows what had happened up to the playhead, so you see each call before its outcome.

How often does the page update?

Prices refresh about every 30 seconds during market hours. If updates stop arriving, the status bar shows Reconnecting.

Does the AI Day Trader place real trades?

No. It publishes calls and tracks how they would have done. It does not place trades, manage money or connect to a brokerage.

Is this financial advice?

No. The calls are a logged record for information only. They are not a recommendation to buy or sell anything. Results are hypothetical, and past results do not predict future results.

Is the AI Day Trader free?

SPY is free to watch live and the scorecard is open to everyone. While a call is open, free viewers see its direction, and the full details appear once it closes. A free account adds one of the day's stock picks and replays. AI Starter and AI Pro members see all five tickers with full call details the moment a call fires.