Educational only. Not investment advice. Past signals don't predict future results.
A card packs a whole trade plan into a few lines. Here's how to read a crypto signal card: ticker and side, then indicator and timeframe, then the timestamp, the entry, the stop, and last, the chart. If you can say what each line means and find the entry and stop on real candles, you get the setup. If you can't, don't act on it yet.
Most beginners see the ticker and the word "Buy" and stop there. That's the least useful part of the card. Below I walk through every field on the cards I publish, then follow one real setup from my published record from the first card to the exit, loss included. Brand new to this? Start with how daily signals work and come back.
What's on a signal card
Here's an example card, laid out the way it shows on my site:
| Field | Example | What it tells you |
|---|---|---|
| Ticker | XTZ-USD | The market, priced in US dollars |
| Side | Buy | Long (Buy) or short (Sell) |
| Status | Live | The setup is active right now |
| Indicator | 3/9X | Which rule set produced it (here, a 3/9 EMA cross) |
| Timeframe | 1D | The candle size the rule runs on |
| Entry | 0.3160 | The price the setup was opened at |
| Stop | 0.2975 | Where the setup is wrong |
| As of | Oct 22, 7:00 PM CT (example) | When these numbers were last updated |
I'll go top to bottom.
Ticker and side
The ticker is what's being traded. On crypto cards it ends in -USD, so XTZ-USD is Tezos priced in dollars. Check this first. Lots of coins have similar names, and the wrong chart will make the levels look like nonsense.
The side is the direction. Buy means the setup works if price goes up. Sell means it works if price goes down. If you only buy coins and never short, you can still learn from Sell cards. Just don't treat them as something you can act on.
Indicator and timeframe
The indicator is the rule that fired. My charts run 14 public indicators, from EMA crosses to Supertrend to Donchian channels; the full list is on the strategy glossary. Signals are based on backtested results against all 14, and you can check those backtests yourself on the scorecards page. Backtests are hypothetical, so treat them as context, not a promise about the next trade.
The timeframe is the candle size. 1D means one candle per day, and it tells you how often to look. A daily setup only changes once a day, after the candle closes. You don't need to watch it every hour. Checking hourly is how people end up moving stops they shouldn't.
Crypto never closes, so "daily" needs a set end. On my charts the crypto daily candle closes at 00:00 UTC.
Daily close time note: right now that's 7:00 PM CT. After daylight saving time ends on Nov 1, it's 6:00 PM CT.
The timestamp
The "As of" line is easy to skip. Don't. It tells you how old the numbers are. A card from tonight and a card from three days ago can show the same ticker and mean very different things, because price has moved.
Before you do anything with a setup, compare the current price to the entry. If price already ran well past it, the trade you'd be taking isn't the one on the card. Your stop is farther away and your risk is bigger than the card shows.
Entry and stop
The entry is where the setup starts. The stop is where it's wrong. Read them together, because the gap between them is your risk.
I call that gap R. One R is the distance from the entry to the original stop. On the example card:
| Step | Math | Value |
|---|---|---|
| 1R = entry − stop | 0.3160 − 0.2975 | 0.0185 |
| As a share of entry | 0.0185 ÷ 0.3160 | about 5.9% |
So if the stop gets hit, this trade loses about 5.9% of whatever you put in. That number, not the ticker, should set your position size. If you only want to risk $30 on a trade, a 5.9% stop means about $510 in the position, not more.
On a long, the original stop sits below the entry. On a short, it sits above. If a card ever shows the original stop on the wrong side, something's wrong with the card.
Read the chart last
Once you know the numbers, open the chart and find them. On a long, the entry should be near where the indicator flipped green. The stop should be under a recent low or a level the rule uses. Both should line up with real candles on the right timeframe.
This is where you actually learn. Ask why the stop is there. Ask what price would have to do to hit it. If the levels don't match anything you can see, you've got the wrong chart or the wrong timeframe. Fix that first.
One card, start to finish
Here's the XTZ-USD setup from above, exactly as it appears on my published record:
| Date | What happened | Level |
|---|---|---|
| 2026-10-22 | Long opened on the 3/9X (EMA 3/9) cross, 1D | Entry 0.3160 |
| 2026-10-22 | Original stop set (below entry) | 0.2975 |
| 2026-10-23 | Stop moved up, above the entry | 0.3241 |
| 2026-10-23 | Exit on flip to short (daily close) | 0.3011 |
The result in R:
| Step | Math | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Move = exit − entry | 0.3011 − 0.3160 | −0.0149 |
| Result = move ÷ 1R | −0.0149 ÷ 0.0185 | −0.81R |
| As a percent of entry | −0.0149 ÷ 0.3160 | −4.72% |
It's a loss, and it stays on the record.
The setup opened on October 22. On October 23 the stop moved up to 0.3241, above the 0.3160 entry, so the card you saw on October 23 didn't match the one from October 22. That's why the timestamp matters.
The exit came the same day the stop moved, October 23, at 0.3011. That's below both the entry and the moved stop. The exit fired when the indicator flipped short on the daily close, not at an exact price, so a fast drop carried it past the stop line. A card shows you a plan. The record shows you what happened to it.
See free daily signals
Open the crypto tape to study today's setups with entry and stop marked on the chart — educational context, not instructions.
Mistakes beginners make reading cards
- Reading only the side. "Buy" without an entry, stop, and time isn't a plan.
- Ignoring the timestamp. Old numbers mean a different trade than the one shown.
- Sizing by feel. Size off the stop distance, not how sure the card makes you feel.
- Mixing timeframes. A 1D setup checked on a 15-minute chart will look wrong and push you into early exits.
- Skipping the chart. If you can't find the levels on the candles, you don't get the setup yet.
FAQ
What do entry and stop mean on a crypto signal?
The entry is the price where the setup starts. The stop is the price where the setup is wrong and the trade should close. The gap between them is your risk.
What does 1D mean on a signal card?
Daily candles. Each candle is one day, and the setup only updates after the daily close. For crypto on my charts, that close is 00:00 UTC: 7:00 PM CT now, and 6:00 PM CT after daylight saving time ends on Nov 1.
Why did the stop on a signal change?
A lot of rule sets trail the stop as price moves in the trade's favor. A good record shows every stop move with its date, so you can see the original risk and why the trade closed where it did.
Can a trade lose more than the stop?
Yes. If a setup exits on the daily close instead of an exact price, a fast move can carry the exit past the stop. That's normal for close-based rules, and it should show on the record.
Should I take a signal if price is already past the entry?
Usually not as shown. Your stop would be farther away and your risk bigger than the card says. Work out the risk from the current price, or wait for the next setup.
Read a live card yourself
Every chart and setup on alktrading.com is free to open. Pick a live card, find its entry and stop on the chart, and follow it to the exit on the public record.
Learn the method live
Charts and signals are free. Mentorship is a live class: daily group sessions of 1 to 2 hours and a weekly 1:1 with Ravi. $199/mo, limited to 15 members. Education only.
Educational only. Not investment advice. Trading involves risk of loss.