ES & MES FUTURES TRADE PLAN #388

The Novelist…

It takes years to become a novelist.

And for many writers, the first novel they publish isn’t the first novel they wrote… it’s their 4th novel on average.

Imagine thinking you could write your first novel and hit the bestseller list in your first year of writing.

You would be laughed out of the writing workshop.

Nobody would tell you that grinding on a novel for twelve months and missing the bestseller list means you don’t have what it takes.

They would tell you:

Keep writing.

Keep learning.

Keep doing the work.

The Painter

A traditional university fine-arts education can easily consume four years.

Years spent learning to draw.

Years spent learning to paint.

Years studying composition, color, light, form, perspective, and technique.

Now imagine walking into your first drawing workshop and asking how you get your work hung in a museum.

Same laugh. Same room.

Pay your dues, young John Singer Sargent. 

The Futures Trader

Why should trading be different?

Why do intelligent people understand that becoming proficient at almost anything worthwhile takes years… yet somehow expect to become consistently profitable futures traders within months?

Deep down, we know better.

Yet we secretly believe:

“Maybe I’m the exception.”

You are not the exception.

I am not the exception.

Nobody in the ES Trading Room is the exception.

There is only one door a successful trader walks through. It is painted the color of pain and trimmed with hours of boredom studying price action.

Homework. End-of-day charts.

Journaling. Reviewing trades.

Watching setups work without you.

Watching trades fail even though you did everything correctly.

Learning when to act.

Learning when to sit on your hands.

And doing it over and over and over again.

I would even go so far as to say that a trader needs to experience multiple cycles before he can truly appreciate how differently markets can behave.

Different administrations.

Different interest-rate environments.

Different headlines.

Different volatility.

Different fear.

Different greed.

You cannot earn the freedom of a disciplined, consistently profitable trader without acquiring some scars along the way.

Good barbecue needs smoke and time. A good trader needs discipline and time.

So stop counting months.

Start counting days journaled.

Every journal entry is another page toward your fourth novel. 

Should You Be a Futures Trader?

That is the same question aspiring novelists and painters ask themselves.

And they ask it often.

I’ve told myself I was quitting probably 23,622 times.

I have thrown objects.

I have been furious.

During those first years, I literally cried.

I mean that.

I literally cried. Have you?

Then I dusted myself off and got back on the horse.

Because I am not a quitter.

I knew I could become a great trader.

And if you are still here… still studying, still journaling, still trying to understand what you’re doing wrong and how to do it better… there is something inside you that hasn’t quit either.

Our doubts are plentiful.

At times, our progress is barely measurable.

That is why journaling is so critical to a trader’s development. It lets us look backward and see growth that was almost impossible to recognize while we were living through it.

Much like Christian’s journey in John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress… a book every Christian trader should read… our path will not be easy or straight.

We will slog through our own Slough of Despond. We will face giants. We will wander from the path. We will stumble. We will get back up. We will lose companions along the way and gain new ones.

And eventually, if we remain faithful to the journey, we may look back and realize that the struggles we once thought were keeping us from becoming the trader we wanted to be… were actually part of what made us that trader.

So should you be a futures trader?

Are you obsessed?

Are you willing to bleed for it?

Do you dream about it? (I do.)

And one of the beautiful things about futures trading is that this journey isn’t reserved for the young. You can pursue it at 25, 45, 65, or beyond. You can trade during seasons when it fits your life and step away when it doesn’t. The market will still be here. There will always be another trade.

But wanting it isn’t enough.

You have to be willing to become the person capable of doing it.

The Greatest Skill 

The greatest skill any futures trader must cultivate is self-denial.

Patience runs a very close second.

“No, I will not chase this trade.”

“No, I will not add to this losing trade.”

“No, I will not purchase another reset. I will wait until it recycles.”

“No, I will not trade today because I did not do my pre-trade prep properly.”

We live in a society built around instant gratification.

Trading is anything but instant gratification.

Our little egos want what we want.

And we want it right freaking now.

We want twice the results with half the discipline.

Trading will punish that mentality.

It can punish it severely.

But something entirely different can happen when a trader builds slowly.

The account grows.

Confidence grows.

Discipline grows.

And eventually the trader earns the right to use greater leverage—not because he *wants* to trade bigger, but because his behavior has demonstrated that he is ready to trade bigger.

Then something quiet begins to happen.

The trade you used to chase… you let it go.

The loser you used to add to…you let it die the death it deserves.

The reset you used to buy…you let it recycle.

And the grip those self-destructive behaviors once had around your throat begins to loosen.

Slowly.

One journaled day at a time.

One disciplined trade at a time.

One “No” at a time.

Until one morning you notice something has changed.

You can breathe.

And trading begins to feel almost effortless.

Not because the market became easier.

Because you became different.

So here’s the question:

Can you trust yourself to say “No!” when everything inside of you is screaming:

“Yes! Just do it. Just one more time. This one last time. I promise I won’t do it again.”

Can you teach yourself to be patient?

Can you tell yourself “No”…mean it… and then actually do it?

By the way, you might actually have to say that word out loud.

Literally.

Move your mouth.

Use your vocal cords.

Let it echo off the walls: “NO. I WILL NOT ADD TO THIS LOSING TRADE.”

With self-denial and patience on your side, you are approaching something close to the Holy Grail of trading: The ability to wait for ideal trading conditions.

A trader without self-denial and patience won’t be a trader for long.

Because eventually you will force a trade.

You force one trade…”Let’s just see.” Then you force another to make back what you lost on the first forced trade. Then you force another… with even larger leverage.

And before you know it, you’ve wounded your spirit, your ego, and your account balance.

Worse yet… you no longer trust yourself.

Then, when it’s finally time to strike—when that preferred trade is setting up—you are too wounded.

You’re limping.

You’re hurting.

You’re blinded by the fog of your recent disorderly conduct.

And you’re unable to take the trade when it’s finally time to take THE TRADE.

Then you’re pissed because you missed it.

And of course… that’s the trade that runs. And runs. And runs without you.

I often preach this phrase:

Protect yourself from yourself.

You know yourself better than I do.

All I can do is provide guiding principles and reinforce them day after day after day.

You might listen to them.

But do you take heed?

Eventually, you will get sick and tired of being sick and tired.

You will either hang up the mouse…or you will practice self-denial and patience until they become second nature.

There is no shortcut around that work.

The path is narrow.

And most will not pass.

But if you’ve read this far, there is clearly something inside you that still wants this.

So keep doing the work.

Keep studying.

Keep journaling.

Keep saying “No.”

Keep getting back on the horse.

And keep walking.

Become the trader you were meant to be.

Trading the ES Overnight Session 

🔥 18-Point ES Long 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 → 2️⃣ 

You had to be trading in the overnight session, but this one paid.

Another ES Long Setup

🔥 10-15 Points for Battle Plan 3️⃣ as called in the AM Briefing. 

ES went deeper into Battle Plan 3️⃣ and offered several looks today. 

All profitable, although follow-through was very difficult.

Later in the day, I took the Battle Plan 3️⃣ long at 12:38 p.m. at 7638. 

As a side note: Beautiful price action around our Strong Levels. 

Tip of the Day

Close The Platform Between Setups:

No setup on deck? Close the platform.

Space between you and the DOM is space between you and the impulsive click.

Tomorrow’s Live Streams

Scoreboard

Points Accumulated This Week:

Battle Plan: 45+

🔥 10-15 Point Battle Plan 2️⃣ Long. 

🔥 5-15 Point Battle Plan 3️⃣ | Several Looks offered

Follow-through has just been difficult this ‘shortened’ contract rolloverRolloverWhen you close your current contract month and open the next one. ES contracts expire quarterly. Most traders roll a week or two before expiration to maintain liquidity in the front month. Full entry → week.

Any run more than 15 points is an outlier move at this juncture.

Zoom: 10+

We called out a couple of trades… small greens or break evens.

We read price action extremely accurately. What more can we ask for?!?!

Core Strategy: 20 (For Full Members)

A small-range sloppin’ chop day with a violent news event.

The beauty of contract rollover week continues.