Three Looks At One Battle Plan Into CPI — AM Briefing #831

AM BRIEFING

ES CHART | KEY LEVELS | SETUPS

YOUR TRADE PLAN TRUMPS EVERYTHING ON A CPI DAY

Today is a CPI day. That means the first decision is not an entry… it’s whether you trade at all. George put it plain: your trade plan trumps anything he says and trumps anything in the Battle Plan.

So ask yourself the honest questions before the bell:

• Is it a day off? Some traders simply Stand Down on high-impact news.
• Is it a one-and-done day? One clean look, then walk.
• Is it a watch-the-price-action day? Study the tape for the love of price action and take no size.

George is typically not in a trade going into CPI. Nothing to do is a valid plan. It’s no big deal to sit on your hands when the edge is thin.

BATTLE PLAN 1: THE SAME IDEA, THREE LOOKS, THREE PAYDAYS

The trade review this week was all about Battle Plan 1. The lesson George wants burned in: the Battle Plan is mapped around 2:30 in the afternoon, roughly 24 hours before price arrives. It will not hit every entry tick-perfect. The goal is to put you on the RIGHT SIDE of price action… and then let the same well-mapped idea pay when price keeps returning to it.

▶ Watch this moment in the AM Briefing

Battle Plan 1 gave three distinct looks:

• Look one (Monday): About 4 points of heat, then a 10-point move your direction. Not horrible at all. 10 points on ES is a happy day.
• Look two: Nearly to the tick on entry, roughly a 13-point move… but price was not ready to run all the way down to the aggressive mapping.
• Look three (yesterday): The short set up again. George took it, took about 3 points of heat, and price finally dropped a 25-point move into the target. The alert was set at the 77.50 level, and that would have been a great take profit.

One trade idea, three days in a row, three chances to get paid. That is the Battle Plan doing its job.

HOW GEORGE PLAYED THE SHORT: TOUCH-AND-GO AND THE LOTTO RUNNER

On yesterday’s short, George did not run the full 3-Contract System. He rarely does on shorts… that’s just him. He calls himself a touch-and-go trader on the short side, dials it down, and keeps it personal. Your mileage may vary, and that’s fine. The rule is know your own style.

▶ Watch this moment in the AM Briefing

Here’s the runner math worth studying. If you sold your lotto runner from the minus-3-point position, you captured a 25-point move down to the mapped target at 77.50. That’s the Core Strategy idea in action: hold a model runner to capture the big move while the risk-first entry protects you early.

On Tuesday’s free livestream, George showed the same discipline live. Hovering at a Strong Level, he said that if he were on an evaluation account he’d hold a positional short targeting the level below… possibly a first 50 coin. It ran 45 points. Off by five, and he’ll take it. Three points of heat, an hour of back-and-forth through the Strong Range, then it dropped to target.

TIP OF THE DAY: RANGE RULES RULE, SHORT THE RED, LONG THE GREEN

We are all inside previous day range. This is a chop range, and trading chop ranges is one of the things this group does well. When we have range rules, RANGE RULES RULE. That’s the tip of the day and George loves bringing it home.

▶ Watch this moment in the AM Briefing

Inside a range, the map is simple:

• Look for a short in the RED. The upper, expensive side of the range.
• Look for a long in the GREEN. The lower, discounted side of the range.

Yesterday’s Battle Plan trade made it down into the green range, which is exactly why George was watching for the long back up. It rings true and rings true again. Buy low in the green, sell high in the red, and let the range structure do the heavy lifting.

AUGUST, ALL-TIME HIGHS, AND HOLDING YOUR RULES

All-time highs are sitting right overhead. Will CPI catapult us up through them, crater us down, or disappoint the whole room like last week’s non-farm payroll? Nobody knows before the print, and that’s the point of standing flat into it. If you’re already holding a lotto runner and it drifts higher overnight, you can hold and exit before the number… but there’s nothing new to force here.

▶ Watch this moment in the AM Briefing

And yes, it’s August. Volume is lower, the kids are heading back to school today, last-minute vacations are thinning the tape. August stinks and George will say it plainly. It improves once everyone is back in their routine in the fall. The trap is letting a slow summer tape talk you into changing your rules.

FEATURE OF THE DAY: THE BATTLE PLAN REVIEW SECTION AND THE FOUR BADGE CHALLENGE

The feature today is the Battle Plan review section. Every night George breaks down how we traded the Battle Plan, how we traded our Core Strategy, and how we traded live on Zoom. Right now that review section is unlocked for everybody. At some point it will be locked away for members only, so take a look while it’s open… go to microstrader.com and click Battle Plan.

For full members, there’s the Four Badge Challenge. You learn to mark levels that bounce through a graded series of charts: you watch George mark them, you copy what he did, then you do it yourself and submit your chart to Bern. George personally reviews it, gives feedback, and tells you what to adjust and resubmit. Few places actually train you AND grade your marked levels this way.

COMMON QUESTIONS FOR ES FUTURES TRADERS

Should I trade ES futures on a CPI day?

A: That’s a decision your written trade plan should make before the open, not the market. On a CPI day the edge is thin and volatility is unpredictable, so your options are a day off, one clean look, or simply watching the price action with no size. George is typically flat going into CPI. Your trade plan trumps anything he says and anything in the Battle Plan.

What does “range rules rule” mean in the ES futures morning briefing?

A: When price is trapped inside a defined range, you trade the boundaries instead of the middle. You look for shorts in the red at the top of the range and longs in the green at the bottom. Being inside previous day range tells you to respect those edges and stop fighting the muddy middle.

Why look for shorts in the red and longs in the green?

A: The red marks the expensive upper zone of the range where sellers have the edge, and the green marks the discounted lower zone where buyers step in. Selling high in the red and buying low in the green keeps you trading with the range structure. Yesterday’s Battle Plan trade dropped into the green range, which set up the watch for a long back up.

What is Battle Plan 1 and why did it give three looks this week?

A: Battle Plan 1 is the first tiered level in the nightly Battle Plan, mapped by George around 2:30 the afternoon before. Because it’s high-probability structure rather than a one-time signal, price returned to it Monday, Tuesday, and again yesterday, paying roughly 10, 13, and 25 points. The same idea can set up several days running when the level holds its edge.

Why isn’t the Battle Plan perfect to the tick on every entry?

A: George maps the levels about 24 hours before price arrives, so the aim is to put you on the right side of price action, not to nail every tick. Some looks are near-perfect, others take a few points of heat first, and some don’t reach the aggressive mapping at all. Treat it as a map, manage your risk, and let the good entries pay.

What is a lotto runner and how do I manage one?

A: A lotto runner is a speculative extended runner held past your first targets to reach for a much bigger move. Yesterday, holding the runner from the minus-3-point position captured a 25-point drop into the 77.50 target. You protect the entry with a risk-first, laser-tight stop, then let the runner reach for the 50, 75 or 100-point moves.

Does George always use the 3-Contract System?

A: No. He runs the 3-Contract System on longs but rarely on shorts, where he trades touch-and-go and dials the size down. The 3-Contract System is the core position-sizing framework, but the lesson is to match the tool to your own trading personality rather than force it on every trade.

Should I change my trading rules for the slow August tape?

A: No. August brings lower volume with vacations and back-to-school thinning the market, but that’s seasonal. Keep your rules steady through July and August unless you deliberately built separate summer rules. The tape improves in the fall when everyone returns to routine.

How do I learn to mark levels that bounce?

A: Full members work through the Four Badge Challenge. You watch George mark bounce levels, copy his work, then mark charts yourself and submit them to Bern for a personal grade and feedback with adjustments to resubmit. It’s hands-on training that verifies you can actually mark your own Strong Levels.

📅 Upcoming This Week

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

• Thursday, Thu Aug 13: AM Briefing · Live Stream
• Friday, Fri Aug 14: AM Briefing · Live Stream