Which direction is correct? Long or Short?

Here is a problem to ponder if you're learning how to trade futures. If you don't know the answer then try and work through a couple of scenarios to see what you come up with.

Two ES traders are filled at the same time at the same price for the same number of contracts but in different directions. One trader is long and the other short, otherwise the trades are identical - i.e. they traded with each other.

Is it possible that both traders are correct and can they both have winning trades?

Yes, but highly unlikely.

I like riddles, got anymore?

If one trader closed his trade at a profit and at that point the other opened his entry into the market and the market followed the second traders direction then they both made a profit

Especially if they're different time frame traders. If one is short term and the other longer term.

The answer that I was looking for is Yes.

@ak1 - they both get filled at the same price at the same time.

@fantastic4 - they don't need to be different time frame traders.

It has less to do with strategy and more to do with money management with respect to stops (and perhaps targets). Let's say that both traders target 2 points of profit and use a stop of 3 points. From this you can see that Trader A can get filled on his target and Trader B is still 1 point away from her target. If the market turns and moves favorably for Trader B then her target can also be filled. So both traders, using the same stop and target size end up profitable with the same entry but in opposite directions.

As an aside they would obviously need a 2-1 win-lose ratio to make their trading plan a profitable one in the long term.