AM BRIEFING

ES CHART | KEY LEVELS | SETUPS

FOMC DAY: YOUR TRADE PLAN TRUMPS THE BATTLE PLAN

This afternoon is FOMC. The morning should trade normal, so the goal is simple… get into one good trade, make your point for the day, call it done. But before any of that, ask the question that matters most.

Does your written trade plan say you can trade on FOMC? Does it say be more careful? Does it say Stand Down? Whatever it says, it trumps anything George writes in the daily Battle Plan.

When George maps the Battle Plan levels, he has to map them like it is normal price action. On FOMC, it is not normal price action. So the mapping is a guide, not a green light. Your own rules for news days come first.

THE PERSONAL TRANSFORMATION STATEMENT

The tip of the day is one George is writing every day this month, if not the whole year. Your personal transformation statement is what you want to BECOME as a trader. You write it, you read it, you grow into it.

His own runs like this… I am a patient futures trader. I wait for my re-planned, re-mapped, re-journaled great ideas. It will vary for every person, and George encourages you to build your own. You can even keep it as a public journal so the group holds you to it.

A member named Jake shared his in the group, and it is a clean model to copy:

Notice the shape. It names the identity, the discipline, and the exact kind of setup he will and will not take. That is the point of the exercise… you decide who you are before the market tries to tell you.

THE SYSTEM: BATTLE PLAN PLUS CORE STRATEGY

The whole method is built to take fewer, better, higher-quality, pre-planned, well-thought-out trades. That is the Battle Plan… the written trade plan members get every day.

• Battle Plan: risk-first, laser-tight entries, using the 3-Contract System and playing perfect chess with your position.
• Core Strategy: holding a lotto runner to capture the big moves, which works hand in hand with the Battle Plan levels.
• Journaling: refine your trade plan, analyze your behavioral patterns, scrutinize your performance, and read the same process every day.

Even in the lulls of July and August, it is the same plan, traded the same way, with perfect patience. That repetition is how you become the trader you were meant to be.

TRADE REVIEW: MONDAY AND TUESDAY

A quick look back at how the week set up, and why discipline mattered more than prediction.

▶ Watch this moment in the AM Briefing

▶ Watch this moment in the AM Briefing

• Monday: the plan warned to be careful taking a short and expected the overnight low to go. Price took out the overnight HIGH instead, then offered a Core Strategy and Battle Plan alignment. After roughly 55 points had already run, George posted a Discord warning to be careful with the next entry… which turned out to be a break-even trade.
• Tuesday Battle Plan 2: break-even at best.
• Battle Plan 3 (overnight): for the international members burning the midnight oil, it worked mechanically to the mapping for a clean 10 points. You can make a good living 10 points at a time.
• Battle Plan 4 (London): bounced right off the ideal trade location. Aligned with a Core Strategy entry, it offered a 30 to 50 point partner in your hands.

The through-line… the mapping was not always right about direction, but the levels and the risk-first entries kept losers small and let the winners pay.

RANGE RULES RULE

Yesterday the market settled into an established range, and that made the plan easy. At the top of the range it was a better place to look for a short. At the bottom, a better place to look for a long.

▶ Watch this moment in the AM Briefing

George was already long, so he was not hunting a short at the top. When the room got short into that top, the management was straightforward… stop above the high, take profitTake ProfitYour target—where you take money off the table. Having a plan for profits is just as important as stops. Don't get greedy. Full entry → at the bottom of the range. Why the bottom? Because now you ARE at the bottom.

The chart marks it plainly. Red zone up top, better for shorts. Green zone down low, better for longs. Range rules rule, and it played out clean.

THE OVERNIGHT AND THE FOMC PLAN

The night before FOMC, George has zero interest in watching price action. The Battle Plan mapping brought price up into the Strong Level, which pushed it back down. These Strong Levels keep playing out beautifully, containing price like bumper cars.

▶ Watch this moment in the AM Briefing

▶ Watch this moment in the AM Briefing

Right now price is sitting in the middle of the overnight rangeOvernight RangeThe high and low established during the Globex session before RTH opens. Breaking out of this range during RTH? That's often your first trade opportunity of the day. Full entry →. Not George’s favorite place to trade, and on FOMC it is even less so. The Battle Plan 3 note said it straight… the Bulls held this area again, impressive.

The only thing George is interested in is the first long, and only if the area gets defended with a vengeance. Anything else on FOMC day is a wait. Note also that the Russell contract rollover ran overnight… ignore it, it does not matter today, because it is FOMC.

COMMON QUESTIONS FOR ES FUTURES TRADERS

Should I trade ES futures on an FOMC day?

A: Let your own written trade plan decide. On FOMC, price action is not normal, so any mapped Battle Plan level is a guide rather than a green light. If your plan says be careful or Stand Down on news days, that instruction outranks everything else.

What is a personal transformation statement in trading?

A: It is one or two sentences naming the trader you want to become, written and read daily. An example: I am a prepared, patient trader who studies the ES and only takes my preferred setups. It anchors your identity so you act from who you want to be, not from impulse.

What is the Battle Plan?

A: The Battle Plan is the written ES trade plan MicrosTrader publishes every day, built to take fewer, better, higher-quality, pre-planned trades. It uses risk-first, laser-tight entries and the 3-Contract System so you play perfect chess with your position.

What is the Core Strategy and how does it fit the Battle Plan?

A: The Core Strategy is holding a lotto runner to capture the big directional moves. It works alongside the Battle Plan levels… you enter risk-first at a mapped level, then let a runner ride for the larger target.

What does range rules rule mean?

A: Inside a defined range, the top is the better place to look for a short and the bottom is the better place to look for a long. You let the range edges set both your direction and your profit target instead of chasing the muddy middle.

What is a Strong Level in ES futures?

A: A Strong Level is a high-conviction price level that tends to contain and reject price, acting like bumper cars. When price pushes into one it often gets shoved back, which makes those levels useful for both entries and profit targets.

When should I Stand Down?

A: Stand Down when a defended level breaks and price starts collapsing, or when your plan says a day is too dangerous, such as FOMC. No one needs to be a hero on a liquidation flush. Protecting capital and mindset is the trade.

Why does George say be careful with an entry after a big run?

A: After price has already run something like 55 points, the next entry is chasing extension and often ends up break-even at best. The higher-probability move is to take profit into the run and skip the late chase.

Does the Russell contract rollover matter to my ES plan today?

A: Contract rollover happens quarterly and can shift where levels sit, but on an FOMC day it is noise. The instruction is to ignore it and let the news day and your own plan govern your decisions.

📅 Upcoming This Week

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

• Thursday, Thu Sep 17: AM Briefing · Live Stream
• Friday, Fri Sep 18: AM Briefing · Live Stream