AM Briefing #822 · Build The Pre-Flight Checklist That Earns Your Right To Trade

AM BRIEFING

ES CHART | KEY LEVELS | SETUPS

THE PRE-FLIGHT CHECKLIST — EARN THE RIGHT TO TRADE

Tip of the day. Make sure you have a pre-flight checklist before you sit down to trade. An aircraft pilot does not turn the key until he has walked the plane… he checks the fuel, the tires, the battery, all of it. You do the same. When you complete your pre-flight check, you have earned the right to actually trade.

Do not rely on your memory. Have the checklist on your chart and make it a ritual. Full members have access to Trade Buddy, which builds these checklists with you and keeps them front and center on the chart. You can build as many as you want, attach an image… a scripture, a quote, your ideal trade setup… and check each item off. The next day it clears them for you to run again.

FEWER TRADES, RISK FIRST, THEN LASER ENTRIES

Traders in general should be taking FEWER trades. Fewer, higher quality, pre-planned, well-thought-out trades. That is the Battle Plan… mapping out where you want to go long and where you want to go short before the bell.

Then comes your risk-first focus. You set your leverage matrix when you were sober… not drunk on the chart. You decide exactly what your risk parameters are and you stick with them. Only then do you work the laser-tight entries. That is the Core Strategy.

• Map it: Longs and shorts marked in advance, no improvising in real time.
• Risk first: Leverage matrix decided calm and clear-headed, then obeyed.
• Enter tight: Precise entries at the mapped Strong Levels and Battle Plan tiers.

THE THREE-CONTRACT SYSTEM AND HOLDING THE RUNNER

Most traders get into a winning trade and the very first thing they think is, where do I get out? Using the 3-Contract System changes that narrative completely. When you are trading live, you talk about where to peel your initial contracts off… and then you talk about how to hold the lotto runner and how to ADD to your winning trade.

That is where the big moves get captured. Play perfect chess so you can hold a lotto runner into the extended move. When price runs beyond your Battle Plan levels and then starts reclaiming them, those levels are often still great locations to enter or add.

TRADE REVIEW — BATTLE PLAN 1 AND THE 100-POINT FOMC RUNNER

On the FOMC livestream, price opened in the middle of the range, right at halfback. George said it plainly: nothing here interests me, I am going to WAIT until we get down to Battle Plan 1. That is perfect patience. There is nothing to do in the muddy middle.

Price came down to Battle Plan 1 and the Apex trade fired… a preferred trade, in green. Nice move, contracts peeled, runner held. Every time price hit the bottom of the strong range, it bounced… boom, go, go, go. The Battle Plan 1 notes also flagged that for the aggressive, if the level could not reclaim, a short down to Battle Plan 2 was on the table. That short paid.

Here is the gift. Traders who took the long and held a single lotto runner could have captured a 100-point move on FOMC. You were given the move. How many of those do you need? One a week pays for your membership, and the room sees one to two of those a week.

NEVER SHORT A SHORT-COVERING RALLY

A warning for the open. Never short a short-covering rally. When the market opened, George went aggressive and got long, because everything fit exactly what he mapped… only longs, wanting price to clear the strong range and go, go, go. If you waited, the cleaner entry was price clearing the strong range, then the retap back in for the long.

▶ Watch this moment in the AM Briefing

▶ Watch this moment in the AM Briefing

The upward-slanting VWAP was building, price was above it, halfback was being reclaimed. Those are the tells that short covering is in play. Fighting that with a short is how good traders give money back.

SHOULD I BE TRADING? THE READINESS CHECK

Before the news, ask the honest question: should I even be trading right now? Trading requires the best you, so make sure you are the best you.

• Emotionally ready? Are you calm and clear, or carrying something into the chair?
• Physically ready? Did you sleep well, are you hydrated, are you hurting or just over an illness?
• Set up right? Right location, right equipment, right time to trade.
• Prepared? Reviewed the Battle Plan, checked the economic calendar, written trade plan in hand, ready for max loss because that is always possible.
• System over opinion? Trade your system, not your opinion.

The overnight session ties into the same discipline. You never HAVE to trade it. How do you decide? Simple. Are we on a Battle Plan? If yes, it may be worth your attention. If not, set your alerts, go about your day, go about your eating. London tends to grab an Asia Low or an Asia High, sometimes in reverse order, so let the alerts do the watching.

JOURNALING, ACCOUNTABILITY AND TRADER GAMES

You only know when you trade best if you journal. Are you sharp in the morning and a net-net loser in the afternoon? Amazing on Tuesday and shaky on Monday? Journaling your progress, refining your plan and scrutinizing your performance is how you protect yourself from yourself when you know you are about to get stupid. In the Discord you can request a public journal as an accountability mechanism… Scott posted his and locked in 20 points on a clean trade.

This weekend is another Trader Games competition, Saturday and Sunday, member or not. Free members from the Foundations course can join. You now get a service record showing your games, placements and ribbons. There is a new practice range so you can rehearse the charts as many times as you want. The new game is The Inspection… white gloves on, your discipline score IS your score, highest discipline wins the squared-away ribbon.

COMMON QUESTIONS FOR ES FUTURES TRADERS

What is a trading pre-flight checklist and why does it matter?

A: A pre-flight checklist is a fixed set of items you confirm before every session… emotional and physical readiness, correct setup, Battle Plan reviewed, economic calendar checked, written trade plan in hand. Like a pilot inspecting the aircraft before takeoff, completing it means you have earned the right to trade rather than relying on memory. In the MES micro futures trade plan approach, running this ritual daily is what protects your discipline before the first tick.

Why should traders take fewer trades?

A: Fewer, higher-quality, pre-planned trades beat a high volume of reactive ones. The Battle Plan maps your best longs and shorts in advance, so you wait for laser-tight entries at proven levels instead of chasing the ES futures key levels today in real time. Quality of location, not quantity of trades, is what compounds.

What is the 3-Contract System?

A: The 3-Contract System is Micros Trader’s core position-sizing framework for ES micro futures. You peel off initial contracts to lock in gains, hold one as a lotto runner for the extended move, and can add to the position when the trade keeps working. It shifts your focus from where do I get out to how do I manage a runner and press a winner.

How do you manage a runner in futures?

A: You bank your initial contracts at your first targets, then hold a small lotto runner with the risk already reduced. On FOMC this week, traders who held a single runner from Battle Plan 1 could have captured a 100-point move. The runner is how you turn a normal 10 to 30 point trade into an outsized day when the market gives you the gift.

What does never short a short-covering rally mean?

A: A short-covering rally is a sharp push higher driven by shorts buying back their positions. Fading it with a short fights strong upward momentum. The tells are an upward-slanting VWAP with price holding above it and halfback being reclaimed. When you see that ES futures short squeeze setup, you trade with the move, not against it.

What is Battle Plan 1 and why wait for it?

A: Battle Plan levels (BP1, BP2 and up) are the tiered daily trade locations Micros Trader publishes. Battle Plan 1 was the mapped level where the FOMC long fired. Waiting for it rather than trading the muddy middle of the range is perfect patience… there is nothing high-probability to do until price reaches a mapped Strong Level.

Should I reenter after price passes my Battle Plan level?

A: Often yes. When price runs beyond a Battle Plan trade and then starts reclaiming that level, it is frequently still a great location to enter fresh or add to a winning position. The Strong Levels in particular bounced multiple times, offering repeated go entries off the same zone.

How do I decide whether to trade the overnight session?

A: Ask one question: are we on a Battle Plan? If price is sitting at a mapped level, the overnight session may be worth trading. If not, set your alerts and go about your day. London commonly grabs the Asia Low or Asia High, sometimes in reverse order, so alerts let you stay ready without staring at the screen.

Why is journaling important for futures traders?

A: Journaling is how you discover when you actually trade best… strong in the morning, break-even at lunch, or losing in the afternoon. It reveals your patterns, refines your plan and protects you from yourself when you sense you are about to get stupid. Futures trading psychology improves fastest when your behavior is written down and reviewed, and a public journal adds accountability.

📅 Upcoming This Week

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

• Friday, Fri Jul 31: AM Briefing · Live Stream