AM Briefing #817 · The 3-Contract System Rode This One All The Way Down

AM BRIEFING

ES CHART | KEY LEVELS | SETUPS

NEW: BATTLE PLAN REPLAY + END-OF-DAY CHARTS ARE LIVE

There is an official homework URL now. The end-of-day charts and the daily Battle Plan replay are both available. You need to be logged into the main website first… then it is all links, and it signs you in automatically.

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The feature worth your attention is trigger comments. On any chart you will see a little yellow dot telling you how many comments live there. Click it open and you get a running thread of comments right ON the chart… not buried inside a Discord group. The Battle Plan replay carries the exact same functionality.

• Where to find it: Log into the main website, then follow the links to the end-of-day charts and Battle Plan replay.
• Why it matters: Comments sit on the price action itself, so the end-of-day charting and Battle Plan review can become a community effort.
• Share it: You can share your end-of-day chart directly inside the Discord group.

THE EARNINGS BACKDROP

Keep your head up on the tape driving this session. Today is the after-effects of Tesla and Google. Tonight is Intel. That is the earnings-season context sitting under every level on the Battle Plan… so know where the volatility is coming from before you commit.

THE WEEK IN REVIEW — MAPPED AND EXECUTED

The board has been mapped all week, and it keeps paying. Here is the quick walk:

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• Sunday trade review: A nice 10-point short.
• Monday Zoom: Three shorts on the table.
• Tuesday livestream: Down into the level, then the call flipped… “now we’re looking for longs,” and off it went. We did not make it all the way to the Bull Bear Line. It happens.
• Wednesday livestream: George was long from a little earlier. Some back and forth, took a little, got the final follow-through of what happened overnight.

George’s personal position was long from a Core Strategy entry after a beautiful Strong Level held. Then came a really strong move up.

THE MEMBER QUESTION — DO YOU ADD INTO THE BREAKOUT?

Tim, one of the members, asked the exact question you should be asking… “Big push through. Would you add at the breakout at the top of the strong range and every test of it? Or wait for the gap above?”

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George’s read… this area was so thoroughly tested and pushed back and forth through, that he was NOT looking to add. Let the position ride the way it is. Location is everything, and a zone already chopped up is a poor place to press size.

The Battle Plan called it. Price did come back, it did touch, it did tap… but it did not follow through. We were just not going to hit that whole Bull Bear Line. Could you have taken that trade back down? Absolutely… it was mapped, and it likely paid a few points. Did it bounce where it was supposed to? It did. Scratch in George’s own opinion.

OVERNIGHT — THE 3-CONTRACT SYSTEM CARRIES THE RUNNER

Here is where the system earns its keep. In the overnight session price came down, and you could have taken the short. Run it through the 3-Contract System, keep your negative runner tight at minus 3 points… and you were in the whole move.

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That structure is what let George hold the single lotto runner. Hold, hold, hold. All the way down. And we found him… all the way down into the drop zone of Battle Plan 5.

THE DROP ZONE — RECLAIM OR WATCH OUT BELOW

We are now in the drop zone of Battle Plan 5. We’re here. The question… can we reclaim the Strong Level? Below here it is pretty much watch out below, and those levels were Battle Plan 4. A collapse back into the range is possible IF we get this short with violence. George is not going to call it with violence… it was a good move, but not that. So the posture is Stand Down.

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At this point we have made it down to the next Battle Plan long. If you were short, George would move the stop to right here and let it play out. What do I know… it could keep going and going and going. But if we get any reversal, ladder back and trade it back the other way.

COMMON QUESTIONS FOR ES FUTURES TRADERS

Should I add to a winning position at the breakout of a strong range?

A: Not when the zone has already been thoroughly tested and chopped back and forth. In this session a member asked exactly that, and the answer was to let the position ride as-is rather than press size into an area that had been worked over repeatedly. Adds want fresh location, not the muddy middle.

What is the 3-Contract System in ES micro futures?

A: It is Micros Trader’s core position-sizing framework that splits a trade across three contracts so you can bank early, manage the middle, and carry a runner. Keeping the negative runner capped tight — minus 3 points in this session — is what lets you hold a single lotto runner through a large move without giving back the trade.

What is a lotto runner and how do I hold one all the way to target?

A: A lotto runner is a speculative, low-probability extended runner you let ride toward a distant mapped target. You hold it by keeping the rest of your risk tight through the 3-Contract System, so the runner costs you little if it fails and pays big if the move extends. Today’s runner was held down into the Battle Plan 5 drop zone.

Where should I place a limit order to catch a long?

A: At an edge — a defined level where you know exactly where you’re wrong. Parking a limit order “just to catch this” without a clear invalidation point is how traders get run over. Location plus a known stop is the whole game.

What is a Strong Level and why does reclaiming it matter?

A: A Strong Level is a high-conviction price zone that tends to hold and produce clean reactions. In the drop zone the key question was whether price could reclaim the Strong Level… reclaim it and buyers have a case, lose it and it is watch out below toward the lower Battle Plan levels.

What does “Stand Down” mean in the Micros Trader system?

A: Stand Down is the command to stay out when conditions don’t meet your criteria. Today the move down was good but not violent, so George would not call it with violence and the posture was to Stand Down rather than force a continuation trade.

What is laddering back after a short reaches a target?

A: Laddering back is scaling into a new position in the opposite direction as price reverses off a mapped level. After a short reaches the next Battle Plan long, you move your stop to that level, let it play out, and if you get any reversal you ladder back to trade the bounce.

What are trigger comments on the end-of-day charts?

A: Trigger comments are threaded notes attached directly to a point on the chart, shown by a small yellow dot. They let members comment on the price action itself during end-of-day charting and Battle Plan replay, turning the review into a community effort instead of comments lost in a chat feed.

How do earnings season catalysts affect my ES trade plan?

A: Big single-name reports move the whole index. This session was still digesting Tesla and Google, with Intel due tonight, so any overnight runner had to be weighed against that scheduled volatility. Always know which earnings catalysts sit under your levels before you commit.

📅 Upcoming This Week

Hit the bell — every AM Briefing and live trading session this week is already scheduled on YouTube:

• Friday, Fri Jul 24: AM Briefing · Live Stream