| Strategy Type | Trend Following |
| Market Bias | Directional - Trade with the trend indicated by Supertrend |
| Timeframe | 15-minute to 1-hour charts |
| Holding Period | 1 hour to full session (intraday) or 1-5 days (swing) |
| Risk Reward Ratio | 1:1.5 to 1:3 |
| Capital Required | US$400-4,500 depending on contract (Micro MNG / E-mini QG day-trade margin to full-size NG overnight) |
| Best Market Conditions | Trending markets with clear directional moves |
| Key Concept | Follow the Supertrend indicator for trend direction and use it as dynamic stop loss |
| Exchange | NYMEX (CME Group) - accessed by Canadian retail traders through CIRO-regulated futures dealers (FCMs). Canada has no domestic retail-listed natural gas futures; the Montreal Exchange (Bourse de Montreal) lists only equity-index and interest-rate derivatives. |
| Smallest Contract Note | For small accounts, the Micro Henry Hub Natural Gas future (MNG) covers 1,000 MMBtu (1/10 of NG), tick US$0.001 = US$1.00 per tick, cash-settled, with roughly US$150-250 intraday / US$340-450 overnight margin. It is the most accessible way to trade this strategy with proper position granularity. The worked examples in this file are denominated in full-size NG (US$10/tick) for clean round-number arithmetic; the identical Supertrend logic applies unchanged on the E-mini QG (1/4 size, US$12.50/tick) and the Micro MNG (1/10 size, US$1.00/tick) - simply scale the per-trade dollar risk to whichever contract you actually trade. |
| Non Futures Alternative | Traders who prefer a CAD-denominated, TSX-listed vehicle (no FX account, no futures margin) can express the same Henry Hub view through Global X (formerly Horizons) BetaPro ETFs on the Toronto Stock Exchange: HNU (2x daily long natural gas futures), HND (-2x daily inverse), and HUN (1x natural gas). These are leveraged/rolling-futures products subject to daily-reset decay and are NOT a substitute for futures over multi-day holds. |
| Trading Hours | Sunday 6:00 PM - Friday 5:00 PM ET on CME Globex (nearly 24/5), with a daily 60-minute maintenance break 5:00-6:00 PM ET |
| Natural Gas Supertrend Note | Use wider ATR multiplier (3.0-3.5) for natural gas due to extreme volatility |
| Tax Implications | No commodities transaction tax (CTT) in Canada - only brokerage commissions plus exchange/NFA/regulatory fees. Income tax: under CRA Interpretation Bulletin IT-346R, an individual speculator may elect CAPITAL treatment (50% of the gain taxable) OR INCOME treatment (100% taxable, expenses deductible, losses offset other income), applied consistently year to year. There is NO US-style Section 1256 60/40 rule in Canada. Frequent/high-volume intraday activity risks reclassification as business income (fully taxable at marginal rate). Canadian residents are taxed on worldwide income, so NYMEX gains are taxable in Canada and must be reported in CAD; USD-denominated P&L creates FX gains/losses. The 30-day superficial loss rule applies. Brokers issue a T5008 with futures coded separately. |
For natural gas on 15-minute charts, use ATR Period 10 and Multiplier 3.0-3.5. The standard 2.0 multiplier causes too many whipsaws due to natural gas's extreme volatility. Start with 3.0 and adjust based on your experience.
Enter when Supertrend flips color. GREEN flip (from red to green) = Buy signal. RED flip (from green to red) = Sell signal. Wait for the candle to CLOSE to confirm the flip - don't enter on intra-candle crosses that may reverse.
Your stop loss is the Supertrend line itself. If long (green line), your stop is the green line value. The beauty of Supertrend is the built-in trailing stop - as price moves in your favor, the line moves with it, tightening your stop.
Common causes: (1) Multiplier too tight - try increasing to 3.0-3.5, (2) Trading during ranging/choppy conditions, (3) Trading low-volume periods. Use the US active session (approx 9:00 AM-2:30 PM ET) and add volume/EMA filters.
Hold until Supertrend flips color against your position. This is the core principle - let winners run and cut losers. The Supertrend's trailing stop keeps you in trends while exiting on reversals.
Only take long signals when price is above the 50 EMA; only take short signals when price is below. This ensures Supertrend signals align with the broader trend, filtering out counter-trend whipsaws.
Flip entry enters immediately when Supertrend changes color. Pullback entry waits for price to retrace toward the Supertrend line after the flip. Pullback entry has better price/risk but may miss moves that don't pull back.
Use the higher timeframe (e.g., 1-hour) to determine direction - only trade in that direction on the lower timeframe (e.g., 15-min). If 1-hour is green, only take 15-min green flips. Exit on lower TF flip.
Look for at least 1.5x the 20-period volume average on the flip candle. High volume confirms genuine interest in the new direction. Low volume flips (<1x average) have much higher failure rates.
Backtest different ATR periods (7-14) and multipliers (2.5-4.0) on historical data. Use walk-forward testing (optimize on 70%, test on 30%). For natural gas, ATR 10 with multiplier 3.0-3.5 typically performs best.
Adaptive Supertrend adjusts the multiplier based on current volatility: Multiplier = Base x (Current ATR / Average ATR). High volatility automatically widens bands; low volatility tightens them. This provides automatic regime adjustment.
After reaching a profit threshold (e.g., 2x ATR), switch from Supertrend to a tighter ATR-based trail (e.g., 1.5x ATR from price high). This locks profits faster than Supertrend alone while still allowing trend continuation.
Since you are trading Henry Hub (NYMEX NG/QG) directly, monitor WTI crude (CL) and the broader energy complex for fast sector confirmation - highest conviction when crude and gas Supertrend flip the same direction. Use the AECO basis (NOVA-AECO-C / AB-NIT on ICE NGX), Western Canada storage, pipeline egress and the LNG Canada export ramp as a slower domestic fundamental overlay to judge whether a Henry Hub move has a Canadian tailwind or headwind. AECO is illiquid spot/forward, so do not treat it as a tick-by-tick leading indicator.
Supertrend excels in trending markets and struggles in ranging markets. Performance varies with market regime. Use adaptive parameters, multiple filters, and the whipsaw rule (stop after 2-3 consecutive) to manage regime changes.
Monitor RSI while in Supertrend trades. If price makes new high but RSI makes lower high (bearish divergence), consider partial exit or tightening stop. Divergence often precedes the Supertrend flip, providing early exit signal.
Full guided lessons, quizzes, and a complete strategy library for the Canada market. One-time purchase. No subscription, ever.
Get Canada access →