Second entries are one of the most widely used price action setups in futures trading, and for good reason: they let the market prove itself once before you commit. This guide covers what a second entry is, how to spot one on a NinjaTrader 8 chart, where traders usually get it wrong, and how to have the signals marked for you in real time.
What is a second entry?
In a trend, price rarely moves in a straight line — it pulls back. A first entry is the first attempt to resume the trend after a pullback. A second entry is the second attempt: the first push failed or stalled, price made another small pullback, and now buyers (in an uptrend) step in again.
Why the second attempt matters: the first push after a pullback often gets faded by traders taking profits or fading the trend. By the time a second attempt forms, the weak hands have been shaken out. A second entry is the market saying the pullback is over — twice.
In an uptrend, a textbook second entry long looks like this:
- Price rallies, then pulls back.
- A bar tries to resume the rally (first entry) but fails to follow through.
- Price dips again, forming a higher low.
- A bar breaks above the prior bar's high — that trigger is your second entry.
The mirror image, with lower highs, gives you a second entry short in a downtrend.
Counting legs correctly
Most second-entry mistakes come down to miscounting. Two things to watch:
- A pullback leg only counts once it breaks the structure of the previous leg. Sideways bars inside one leg are not a new leg. If you count every small dip as a leg, everything looks like a second entry.
- Failed second entries are information, not noise. When a second entry triggers and immediately reverses, that failure is itself a signal — trends often reverse after a failed second entry. If you only track successful setups, you're reading half the chart.
Add the higher-low / lower-high structure around the count and there's a lot to track manually — on every bar close, across every instrument you watch.
Marking second entries automatically
This is exactly what the WiSE Indicator does. WiSE (Wizdough Second Entry) is a price action analysis tool for NinjaTrader 8 that marks over 16 signal types on your chart in real time — second entries, first entries, higher lows, lower highs, and failed second entries — on any bar type and timeframe, with zero repaint.
A few things that matter in practice:
- Alerts watch the chart for you. Configure alerts for the scenarios you trade and WiSE flags the signal the moment it prints, so you're not glued to the screen waiting for a count to complete. See filtering signals for tuning precision.
- You choose the display density. Run it minimalist (just the 2s) or comprehensive (full leg structure with 1s, Ls and Hs), with configurable symbols and colors per signal.
- It supports third-party strategies, so the signals can feed automation beyond discretionary trading.
If you want to understand exactly how each signal is defined before trading it, start with Understanding WiSE signals.
A sensible way to start
- Pick one instrument and one bar type you already know (a common choice for ES traders is a 2000-tick chart — see our guide on tick charts vs. time charts for why tick-based bars suit this style).
- Mark second entries manually for a week, or run the WiSE free trial alongside your own count and compare.
- Only then add filters and alerts around the subset of signals you actually trade.
Second entry trading rewards patience and a consistent definition of the setup. Get the definition right — or use a tool that applies one consistently — and the rest is trade management.
Trading futures involves substantial risk of loss and is not appropriate for all investors. Nothing here is trading advice; signals are analysis tools, not recommendations.