AM BRIEFING

ES CHART | KEY LEVELS | SETUPS

TRADE LOCATION IS EVERYTHING

Trade location is the thing George comes back to over and over. It is where a trade lives on the map, and it decides which setups are worth taking and which ones you pass. When you know your location, trading gets easier… you get clear on which trades are the best trades to take.

▶ Watch this moment in the AM Briefing

In the Discord group, Mario was building a positional short. George’s coaching was simple: slap on a 20 point stop lossStop LossYour "uncle point"—the price where you admit you were wrong and exit. ALWAYS use stops. Always. No stop = eventual account blow-up. Full entry →, close the platform, and walk. Why walk? Because the setup sat in a high probability trade location, near our last mapped out target where there were no sellers left underneath. Once the plan is on and the location is right, you do not need to babysit the screen.

THE POSITIONAL SHORT THAT PLAYED OUT

Last week the room was long for the move up, and price finally made it to the trendline with bulls in control. That left George unable to map fresh longs, and reluctant to map shorts into a bull tape. So the play moved to Discord as a positional idea rather than a Battle Plan trade.

▶ Watch this moment in the AM Briefing

The mechanics were clean. A 20 point stop loss against roughly an 80 point target… that is a 1 to 4 risk to reward, the kind of asymmetry you want from a reasonable option spread. Risk 10 to make 40, before commissions. The short fired beautifully, ran down to the 80, then 20 more points, a full 120 points into the lower end of the expected range where price was expected to bounce.

Now that it played out, what are we NOT interested in doing? Shorting. The move already balanced exactly where we expected. Chasing it lower here means selling into the bounce zone the plan already paid you at.

WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY ON THE MAP

Wednesday started with an overnight Battle Plan trade that did not quite tag target… but it came close. Battle Plan 3 gave a first look that George flagged in the AM Briefing, and a couple of YouTube subscribers took their day’s profit right there. Then the live session turned into disgusting, sloppy chop.

▶ Watch this moment in the AM Briefing

Then the news hit. A shift in the debt buyback program, moving from a 2 billion pace to 6 billion, printed a 15 point candle out of nowhere. Price pushed down into Battle Plan 4, nearly tagging the ideal entry, then reclaimed back up into the strong range where Battle Plan 3 lived, looking for the reclaim to fire another long. There was even a clean Core Strategy frontside short in the mix.

Thursday overnight told a tidy story. Price came up, came back down, and gave an entry. On a traditional 6 point stop loss you could have held to target. George would have taken a break even here, because one full candle closed underneath and the reclaim gave him his out. Then price made a new overnight low, still inside that 6 point stop, and his eyeballs went to the reclaim of the 76.50 strong level. A strong kill over the top was the entry. Price danced right on that strong level and ran up to take the RTH high… a great take profit.

WHERE ARE WE NOW… THE DISTRIBUTIONS

The zoom dial is the most important view. That is where your eyeballs belong… on the chart, focused, watching price work the map. Right now the ES has made it down into the expected range. Lose that, and the next move is an aggressive one.

▶ Watch this moment in the AM Briefing

George does have a short mapped for a break lower, but in all honesty his eyeballs are still on a long, with a preferred entry even further down. Pull that up on your Battle Plan TradingView indicator and see it for yourself. Across the board, the Russell is down in the lower distribution, the Nasdaq had a nice move overnight before coming back into distribution, and the ES sits in the upper distribution.

Are we all on the same train? No. The markets are floating with no one at the helm and no anchor out. When the indices are not stacked in the same direction, conviction is thin and the tape drifts.

THIS IS A STAND DOWN WEEK

Today is the day before CPI and PPI, with unemployment claims and existing home sales on the calendar too. These are not the greatest days to be trading. In fact, if you were going to take a week off of trading, George says this is the week. Stand Down is a real trade decision.

Be careful judging your results against days like these. A quiet, anchorless week is not the tape to measure yourself on. Green Over Greed.

GO READ LAST NIGHT’S BATTLE PLAN REVIEW

Even if you are not a member, go check out last night’s Battle Plan review section. George wrote up what it takes to be a futures trader, whether you should be a futures trader, and the single greatest skill a person needs to trade futures. There is a full audio version you can just press play on and listen through.

To find it, go to microstrader.com, hit Battle Plan, and scroll down to the review section. Press play on the audio. With the briefing running early like this, you have the time… it is well worth it.

COMMON QUESTIONS FOR ES FUTURES TRADERS

What does trade location mean in ES futures trading?

A: Trade location is where a setup sits on your mapped levels… whether price is at a high probability spot like a Strong Level, the edge of the expected range, or a Battle Plan level. Good location tells you which trades are worth taking and which to pass, which makes the whole session easier to manage.

How does a 20 point stop and 80 point target work on a positional short?

A: That is a 1 to 4 risk to reward. You risk 20 points to make roughly 80, similar to a reasonable option spread that risks 10 to make 40 before commissions. The wide target gives a positional trade room to breathe so you can set it, close the platform, and walk.

Why stop shorting after a mapped move hits its target?

A: Because the edge is already gone. When a short plays out to the lower end of the expected range where price was expected to bounce, pressing lower means selling into the bounce zone the plan already paid you at. The smart move is to look for the reaction the other way.

What is a Strong Level and how do you trade the 76.50 reclaim?

A: A Strong Level is a high conviction price where the market tends to react. On Thursday overnight, price made a new overnight low but stayed inside a 6 point stop, and the plan was to watch for a reclaim of the 76.50 Strong Level. A strong kill back over the top was the entry, and price danced on that level before running to the RTH high.

What is the expected range on the Battle Plan?

A: The expected range is the band where George expects price to travel and react, often lining up with the strong range and Battle Plan levels. Reaching the lower end of it is where mapped shorts complete and bounces get watched, and losing it signals a more aggressive move is likely.

What are market distributions and why do they matter?

A: Distributions describe where each index is sitting in its balance… upper, middle, or lower. On this day the Russell sat in the lower distribution, the Nasdaq came back into distribution after an overnight move, and the ES held the upper distribution. When the indices are not stacked in the same direction, conviction is thin and the tape drifts.

Why is the week before CPI a Stand Down week?

A: Slow, anchorless tape plus a looming inflation print makes for low quality trading days. George’s guidance is that if you were going to take a week off, this is the week. Stand Down is a deliberate choice to protect capital and mindset when the odds are poor.

What is the greatest skill needed to trade futures?

A: George covers exactly this in last night’s Battle Plan review section, with a full write up and audio on what it takes to trade futures and whether you should. To hear it, go to microstrader.com, click Battle Plan, and scroll to the review section to press play.

Should I judge my trading results on a week like this?

A: No. A choppy, news-heavy, anchorless week is not the tape to measure yourself against. Be careful drawing conclusions about your skill from days that punish everyone, and save your evaluation for cleaner sessions.

📅 Upcoming This Week

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

• Friday, Fri Sep 11: AM Briefing · Live Stream