AM BRIEFING

ES CHART | KEY LEVELS | SETUPS

ROLLOVER WEEK… MODERATE YOUR EXPECTATIONS

It is Tuesday, and this begins the seven days before contract rollover. We will be on a new contract on Monday. This week is notoriously not the best week for trading. Volume is thin the day after a long holiday weekend, and traders start coming back next week as the fall trading season begins in earnest.

• Moderate today: Thin holiday tape means smaller, cleaner plans. Do not force size into a quiet market.
• Toward the end of the week: Volume returns, and with PPI and CPI on the calendar it has a chance to get great.
• rollover ahead: The quarterly transition to the new contract month lands Monday. Know it is coming so a level shift does not surprise you.

TIP OF THE DAY: JOURNAL YOUR ROLLOVER WEEK

This is contract rollover week, so journal it. If you are a full member using Trade Buddy and journaling every day, create a new tag and call it rollover week. Just tag it… rollover.

Then when the next rollover comes, you go back to your dashboard, you pull up the rollover tag, and you read your notes. Do it the next rollover, and the next one after that. You build a database of how you actually trade during contract rollover week. It is really easy to forget how these weeks feel… that is exactly why you journal, so you do not forget.

BATTLE PLAN BASICS: HOW THE MAP WORKS

New to us? Here is the whole idea in one pass. Every day we map out a Battle Plan… where we want to go long, where we want to go short. Those are the squiggly lines, and each possible entry comes with notes.

Then we draw horizontal lines on the chart. We call these the Strong Levels, the most important levels in the ES chart. Together the Battle Plan and the Strong Levels map out your trading zone. Price gets above a level, drops back down, gets you into the trade… and a great place to take profits is right there at the next Strong Level. That is how you capture most of the move and protect it to break even. It works on one ES contract, on MES, and on the micro side just the same. Want to learn it? There is a free Battle Plan Boot Camp.

WHAT THE OVERNIGHT PAID

Whenever the New York Stock Exchange is closed, we are closed. The whole holiday stretch is treated as one overnight session, and George stood down and took the full break. The Battle Plan was still mapped, though, and it delivered.

▶ Watch this moment in the AM Briefing

▶ Watch this moment in the AM Briefing

• Battle Plan 1: A Sunday night entry. The lottery sequence did not tag its full target, but it carried up to the Bull Bear Line and offered a clean 10 pointer.
• Speculator Special: A separate, special trade that is NOT included in your Battle Plan mapping indicator. It was a 76.95 long. The 3-Contract System survived the double tap and it made a very nice move.
• Battle Plan 2: Dropped below a strong range, then reclaimed back above it. The ideal entry sat at the elbow, and it ran to target for 22 points.

Add it up… 15 points here, 22 points there, a full night of opportunity for anyone who was trading it.

MARKET STRUCTURE: THE RANGE THAT KEEPS DEFENDING

The most important thing right now is understanding where we sit. We were in one range, and another range exists below it. Watch what happened the first time price tried to get back inside… it took a monster hard candle to reclaim it. That is the pattern we flagged in last week’s wrap-up videos, the rejectionRejectionRejection is the opposite of acceptance. It occurs when price is quickly pushed away from a level, often leaving tails or single prints behind. Full entry → on the first attempt back into a range.

▶ Watch this moment in the AM Briefing

Since then the bottom has been defended, and defended, and defended again. From here the next target looks to sit lower, down into the range below. And the other index is on a different train… NQ is still stuck at Friday’s halfback, so this is not looking that great for the Bulls at the moment. Either way, we trade it together, live.

COMMON QUESTIONS FOR ES FUTURES TRADERS

Why is contract rollover week harder to trade?

A: Rollover week falls in the seven days before the quarterly contract transition, often on thin volume the day after a holiday. Fewer participants means squirrely price action, so most traders moderate expectations early and let volume return before pressing size.

How do I journal contract rollover week in my trading journal?

A: Create a dedicated tag called rollover week and apply it to every entry during the rollover stretch. Next quarter, pull the tag and read your old notes before you trade, then add fresh ones. Over a few rollovers you build a database of how you actually perform in these conditions.

What is a Battle Plan in ES futures trading?

A: The Battle Plan is a nightly map of where to go long and where to go short on the ES, published with notes for each possible entry. Paired with horizontal Strong Levels, it defines your trading zone so you know your entries and profit targets before the session opens.

What are Strong Levels?

A: Strong Levels are the most important horizontal levels on the ES chart, drawn the night before. Price often reclaims a level, pulls back to it, then runs, and the next Strong Level up or down is a logical place to take profits and move your stop to break even.

What is the Speculator Special?

A: The Speculator Special is a separate, speculative trade that is not part of the standard Battle Plan mapping indicator. It is flagged separately in the written brief, carries its own comfortable stop, and is meant to be managed with strict risk control since it is speculative by nature.

What is the Bull Bear Line?

A: The Bull Bear Line is the key dividing level between bullish and bearish bias on the chart. Overnight, Battle Plan 1 carried price up to the Bull Bear Line, which offered a roughly 10 point opportunity for traders positioned early.

What is the 3-Contract System?

A: The 3-Contract System is Micros Trader’s core position sizingPosition SizingHow many contracts you trade based on your account size and risk tolerance. Proper sizing keeps you alive. Risk too much? Full entry → framework. It lets you scale outScale In/Scale OutAdding to (scaling in) or reducing (scaling out) your position as the trade develops. Our 3-Contract System is all about scaling out—taking profits at different levels while letting a runner work. Full entry → of a trade in pieces… taking partial profits while keeping exposure to the larger move, which is how the Speculator Special survived the double tap overnight and still captured a strong run.

What does it mean when a range keeps getting defended?

A: A defended range is one where price repeatedly holds a boundary, in this case the bottom holding again and again. The first attempt back inside a range often needs a large, hard candle to reclaim it, and repeated defense signals where the next target and the control levels sit.

Why does George stand down when the NYSE is closed?

A: When the New York Stock Exchange is closed for a holiday, the group is closed too. The entire stretch trades as one thin overnight session with unreliable structure, so standing down protects capital and mindset for the sessions that actually pay.

📅 Upcoming This Week

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

• Wednesday, Wed Sep 9: AM Briefing · Live Stream
• Thursday, Thu Sep 10: AM Briefing · Live Stream
• Friday, Fri Sep 11: AM Briefing · Live Stream