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ES & MES FUTURES TRADE PLAN #375

THURSDAY/FRIDAY RTHRTH (Regular Trading Hours)9:30 AM to 4:00 PM Eastern Time. This is when the big money is active. Higher volume, tighter spreads, more reliable price action. Full entry → SETUPS
📝 Posted: Thursday, August 20, 2026

🎧 Read Aloud

1x

TODAY’S REVIEW: ES FUTURES

Battle Plan 3️⃣ Long | Best ES Long Setup

🔥 20-point Battle PlanBattle PlanA set of pre-mapped trade scenarios created the night before trading begins. This is your roadmap for the day. It outlines specific zones where you're interested in engaging price—long or short—if the market behaves according to plan. Full entry → 3️⃣ Long

Instead of a traditional AM Briefing, we traded live during the AM Briefing.

We dropped into Battle Plan 3️⃣. We’re watching for ES and YM confluence. We got the turnaround trade and went long. 

That’s about as pretty as an ES long setup can be.

MES Micros Daily Trade Plan Recap

This entry provided two different opportunities.

For full members…. the second opportunity corresponded with Core Strategy balance levels.

ES Emini Scalping and Swing Trade Setups

Heck, Battle Plan 3️⃣ even provided a third opportunity later, but man, the first time is the best time. The second is a little more questionable. The third time, well, good luck. By the time price presented the third look, this particular level was tested over and over and over. The higher odds are the level will fail versus bounce. 

In this case, it happened to bounce after camping out for a long period of time. This level is losing its power.

MES Micros Trade Plan Runner Recap Chart

And lost it we did…

MES Micros Trade Plan Price Action Setups

My eyeballs are now on Battle Plan 4️⃣ and Battle Plan 5️⃣.

Battle Plan 4️⃣ 

I tried to be long on Battle Plan 4️⃣ but took a break even. The “snappy” nature of the price action was just dead. 

The Day Before OPEXOPEX (Option Expiration)Occurs on Fridays and is typically associated with "whipsaw" price action, lack of trend, and price pinning. It's considered a dangerous day to chase trades. Full entry → is always tough! 

Break even looks good here! Not every trade becomes a big winner. 

We take breakevenBreakevenMoving your stop to your entry price once the trade moves in your favor. You're now risk-free! This is a psychological win. Full entry → trades, … We take small wins, … We take small losses… and we take big wins, … but we never, ever take a big loss.

We hung out at this Strong Level for over an hour. No thank you.

LAST MINUTE UPDATE: This is the final sentence I will type for tonight’s Battle Plan. We lost this Strong Level. What a great break even trade!!!!

ES Emini Scalping and Swing Trade Setups

Day Before OPEX?

Yesterday I asked, “What does your trade plan say about trading the day before option expirationExpirationThe last day a contract trades before it settles. For ES/MES, this is the third Friday of March, June, September, and December. Full entry →?”

Rarely is it a day worth trading.

Don’t blame price action when you trade on a day like the day before option expiration. 

Tomorrow is OPEX (Option expiration). 

What does your trade plan say about trading on OPEX Friday?

Treat it with the respect it deserves, or you will be humbled.

Fill the Gap

Worthy of note. 

Battle Plan Activated ES Emini Futures Recap

Battle Plan 2️⃣  Notes:

In last night’s Battle Plan 2️⃣ notes I said, “If this fails, I hope we travel far down the chart.”

These turnaround trades are our jam.

We had a beautiful 20, almost 30-pointer today.

We only need a piece of the price action, we don’t need all of it.

Tip of the Day

Scrutinize Your Behavior:

The journal has two jobs… record the trades, and expose the patterns.

Study your own behavior like it’s a chart. Your habits print higher highs and lower lows too.

Tomorrow’s Live Streams

AM Briefing

AM Briefing

▶ Watch on YouTube🔔 Notify Me

YouTube Live Stream

YouTube Live Stream

▶ Watch on YouTube🔔 Notify Me

Scoreboard

Points Accumulated This Week:

Battle Plan: 170+

🔥 20-Points Battle Plan 3️⃣  long.

Zoom: 75+

The best trades were when I was live on the AM Briefing.

Core Strategy: 25+ (For Full Members)

Day before OPEX. 

A no trade day. 

The chart reveals why. 


ECONOMIC CALENDAR

FRIDAY

All DayOPEX Friday
9:45 AMS&P Global Manufacturing PMI Flash
S&P Global Services PMI Flash

MONDAY

   No high-impact events

Get Tomorrow’s Setups Tonight
LockView The Trade Setups

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COMMON QUESTIONS FOR ES FUTURES TRADERS

What is a Strong Level in ES futures trading?

A: A Strong Level is a price zone where buyers or sellers have defended hard in the past. Price tends to react there… bounce, stall, or break with force. The Battle Plan maps these levels in advance so you know where to hunt entries and where to stand aside. Trade the reaction, and always wait for your own confirmation.

What does laddering down mean?

A: Laddering down means the market keeps losing Strong LevelsStrong LevelsProprietary weekly support and resistance levels used to identify areas for "touch and go" trades or reclaims. These levels act like magnets for price. Full entry → one after another as price steps lower. This week the market lost five of them. History says 5 to 7 lost Strong Levels is usually all you get in a move… 12 would be an outlier. The deeper the ladder goes, the more careful you get with knife catching. You don’t have to be the first one long.

Why is the day before OPEX so tough to trade?

A: OPEX is option expiration, and the sessions around it tend to go dead. Price gets pinned, the snappy movement disappears, and setups that normally work just stall out. Rarely is it a day worth trading. Check your trade plan before the session… and if it says pass, pass. Treat OPEX with the respect it deserves, or you will be humbled.

What is the Core Strategy?

A: The Core Strategy is the deeper Micros Trader methodology reserved for full members. It maps balance levels… zones where the market has accepted value… and pairs them with the Battle Plan levels for higher conviction entries. In this session, the second long opportunity lined up right at Core Strategy balance levels, which added weight to the trade.

Why take a break even trade instead of holding for the win?

A: Because protecting your account comes first. We take breakeven trades… we take small wins… we take small losses… and we take big wins… but we never, ever take a big loss. When price camps at a level and the snappy action dies, moving your stop to entry costs you nothing. In this plan, that break even long looked great once the Strong Level finally failed.

MICROS TRADER BASICS

Psychological Distance

Psychological Distance is one of Micros Trader’s five core values. It is the practiced ability to create space between an impulse and an action… to pause before reacting, to step back before overtrading, to recognize when the session is done and close the platform.

George teaches Close the DOM as a discipline technique: physically closing TradingView after a win or a loss. Closing the platform creates distance… a reset, a chance to return with a clear head. The traders who last in this business are the ones who can regulate themselves under pressure. That is the skill Micros Trader develops.

Full lesson: Close Your Trading Platform in the Trading Library

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