AM Briefing | Trade Location and Intentional Trading Explained
MES MICROS TRADE PLAN
TRADING WITH INTENTION — KNOW WHERE YOU ARE BEFORE YOU PULL THE TRIGGER
Posted: Wednesday March 18, 2026
Wednesday, March 18th brings a packed macro calendar — PPI in the morning and FOMC this afternoon — and with it, a session built almost entirely around one unifying theme: intention. George opened with scripture from 2 Chronicles on Jehoshaphat setting himself to seek the Lord, and carried that word — intentional — into every chart observation of the morning. Price is pressing against a major resistance range that has produced continual rejection, a runner was held to 6,800 overnight, London delivered its characteristic reversal off Asia's extreme, and heading into FOMC, the single most important message George delivered is this: just because the market is moving doesn't mean you need to be in a trade. Know where you are. Trade with intention.
📖 This Week's Scripture — 2 Chronicles
George opened the session with a word from 2 Chronicles — Jehoshaphat facing an overwhelming situation, choosing not to react in panic but to intentionally set himself to seek the Lord and call a fast throughout Judah...
The theme George drew from this passage was not passive. Set himself. It required a decision. It required intention. That same principle applies directly to the trading day ahead — especially on a high-stakes FOMC day when the pull to react, to overtrade, to force a setup is at its strongest. The trader who sets himself with intention before the session begins is already ahead of the crowd.
📅 FOMC Day — Two Catalysts, One Clear Rule
Today carries two significant macro events that any ES/MES trader must account for before sizing up or entering new positions. George was direct about his own approach: platform not open, not trading, watching for the love of price action...
- Morning — PPI: Producer Price Index data hit pre-market. George flagged this as a reason to stay flat and observe going into the session open rather than pressing into a directional bias.
- Afternoon — FOMC: Federal Open Market Committee decision and press conference. The single biggest scheduled volatility event of the month. George noted a potential FOMC live stream / watch party — subscribers were encouraged to hit the notification bell in case he goes live.
- High Risk of Early Zoom End: George explicitly stated there is a real possibility the live session wraps early. With FOMC, ES can do absolutely nothing for hours and then move violently. Forcing trades into that environment is low-intention trading at its worst.
- The Rule: On dual-catalyst days like this, the professional move is to reduce size, increase selectivity, and be genuinely prepared to sit on your hands. Watching counts. Patience is a position.
📍 Trade Location & Intention — The Resistance Range Nobody Should Be Chasing
The dominant chart story of the morning was ES pressing up against a major resistance range that has produced continual rejection. George spent significant time making sure every trader in the room understood exactly what it means to be "bumping your head" against a level like this — and why chasing a long here is the opposite of intentional trading...
- The Resistance Range: ES has challenged this overhead range multiple times and been turned away every time. It is not a new level — it is a known, tested ceiling. Until price proves it can sustain above it, this is not a long location.
- What Intentional Trading Looks Like Here: It means looking at the chart, identifying that you are at a rejected resistance range, and not going long just because price is moving higher. The move up does not create a trade — location creates the trade.
- What It Does NOT Mean: George was equally clear on the other side — being at resistance does not automatically mean you should be short. The message is simple: if you are not in a trade location that fits your battle plan, you are not in a trade. Full stop.
- The Back-Test Setup: When we lost this range, the correct behavior to watch for is a back-test of it from below — price returning to the underside of the level and failing to reclaim it. That is confirmation of resistance. Multiple back-test attempts with continued rejection are visible on this chart right now.
- What Is Needed for a Real Breakout: George's assessment — a much more significant pullback is likely required before ES has enough energy to genuinely break through this level and sustain. Grinding against resistance without depth does not produce clean breakouts.
🗺️ Overnight Action — Asia Monster, London Reversal, Battle Plan Delivering
The overnight session produced some of the cleanest battle plan confirmation George has seen recently. Asia made a monster run to the highs. London then did exactly what London does — and a member was holding a runner well into the morning...
- Asia Session: Took out the prior high and made a significant directional run. Classic Asia behavior when a move is in play — clean and extended.
- London Session: Pulled back sharply into the range — doing what London characteristically does. George reminded the room that London regularly takes out both Asia's high and Asia's low before the RTH open. When you are at an extreme edge of the Asia range during London hours, you need to be ready for a reversal move to the other side. That is London's nature.
- The Battle Plan Long: Price dropped into the battle plan's pre-mapped long zone overnight. One member was in the trade, holding a runner at 6,800. When price dipped on the London reversal, that was the exit. George called it a beautiful trade location execution — the kind of setup the battle plan is designed to produce.
- Battle Plan One — Round Two Criteria: George walked through his thinking on whether to re-engage battle plan one after the initial move consumed significant bounce power (the full RTH 50-point move). His criteria for a second entry: smaller position size, waiting for a deeper pullback into the lower end of the mapped zone, and seeing the price return to the label area before considering entry. If those criteria are not met — the professional move is to toggle off battle plan one entirely and focus on what's next.
- Toggling Off a Battle Plan Level: When a level has been fully consumed by a large move, George demonstrated using the battle plan indicator's master toggle to turn that level off — removing it from view entirely. Out of sight, out of mind. Staying focused only on the levels still in play is intentional chart management.
📊 Volume Profile — Where Are We Inside the Structure?
George pulled up a volume profile overlay to give additional context on where ES currently sits inside the broader value structure. These reference points don't necessarily produce trades on their own — but knowing where you are relative to them sharpens every decision you make...
- Value Area High (VAH): ES has made multiple attempts to reclaim the value area high and been pushed back both times. George noted a clean bounce off the VAH — "Look at that bounce off that value area high. These levels are important." Multiple rejections of a value area boundary are meaningful data.
- POC (Point of Control): George flagged that if ES doesn't test the POC before reclaiming the VAH, that would actually be a bullish signal — price holding above the POC without needing to flush down to it suggests underlying bid. However, his personal preference given the macro calendar was to see a deeper move down before re-engaging.
- Current Positioning: ES had taken back the value area high level at session time. George's read: interesting, but not enough to generate a trade. It is, however, useful for being intentional — knowing you are at a value area boundary and that it has rejected price twice means you are alert to the possibility of rejection again.
- Flat Heading Into PPI: With PPI on the calendar and FOMC looming, George stated he was flat and intended to stay that way — watching the volume profile interaction without forcing a trade off it.
🛠️ Battle Plan Indicator Setup — Pinning to Scale A
George walked through an important platform setup tip for traders using the battle plan indicator on TradingView. If your indicator is displaying incorrectly or appears cluttered with other data, this fix resolves it...
- The Issue: When the battle plan indicator is added, it may default to a scale that conflicts with price, compressing or distorting the visual display.
- The Fix: Click the three dots next to the indicator name → select Pin to Scale A. This locks the indicator to the primary price scale and clears up the display immediately.
- Move to Front: After pinning, click the three dots again and select Move to Front. This slides the indicator to the top of the stack, placing it on top of all other overlays — exactly where George wants it for clean visibility during live trading.
- Why It Matters: When a large move has occurred and price is near a battle plan level, you need the indicator rendering cleanly without interference. A cluttered chart leads to hesitation. A clean chart supports intentional decision-making.
"You are the pilot of your trading aircraft. I'm the navigator that helps you see the bigger picture, helps you zoom out, helps you with where are we. That's my role."
COMMON QUESTIONS FOR ES FUTURES TRADERS
What does "trading with intention" mean and why did George make it the theme of this session?
A: Trading with intention means making deliberate, pre-planned decisions based on where price is on the chart — rather than reacting emotionally to movement in real time. George drew the theme from the morning's scripture: Jehoshaphat didn't panic, he set himself intentionally. In trading terms, that means identifying your trade locations in advance, knowing which battle plan levels are still valid, understanding the macro calendar, and choosing not to trade when the setup is not present — even when price is moving and the urge to participate is strong.
Why is ES pressing against resistance dangerous for long traders right now?
A: ES is currently back-testing a range it lost — meaning price is approaching the underside of a prior support level that has now flipped to resistance. This area has produced continual rejection across multiple attempts. Going long at a level that has repeatedly turned price back is low-probability trading regardless of how bullish the price action looks in the moment. George's assessment is that a meaningful pullback is likely needed before ES can build the energy required for a genuine breakout and sustained move above this level.
What is London's typical behavior and why does it matter for trade location?
A: London's characteristic pattern is to take out both the Asia session high and the Asia session low before the RTH open. This means that if you are trading during the London session and price is pressing against an extreme edge of the Asia range, you should be prepared for a reversal move toward the opposite extreme. Today was a textbook example — Asia made a monster run to the highs, and London pulled back sharply into the range. Traders who understood this pattern and the trade location context were positioned for a high-probability move.
What is "bounce power" and how does it influence whether George takes a second entry at a battle plan level?
A: Bounce power refers to the amount of price energy a level has already consumed in producing its initial move. When a battle plan level fires and produces a large move — like the full 50-point RTH run George referenced — that level has used significant bounce power. Taking a second entry at that same level requires higher standards: smaller position size to account for reduced odds, waiting for a deeper pullback into the lower portion of the mapped zone, and ideally seeing price return to the label area before committing. If those conditions aren't met, the professional decision may be to declare the level done and move on.
How do you turn off a battle plan level once it has been fully traded?
A: Within the battle plan indicator on TradingView, each individual level has a master toggle. Once a level has been consumed by a large move and you have no intention of re-entering it, click into the indicator settings, locate the specific battle plan level (e.g., Battle Plan One), and turn off its master toggle. The level disappears from your chart entirely — out of sight, out of mind. This is intentional chart management: removing levels that are no longer relevant keeps your focus sharp and prevents you from being pulled back into a setup that no longer meets your criteria.
How should traders approach FOMC days specifically?
A: FOMC days call for elevated caution and reduced activity. The Fed decision and press conference create conditions where ES can trade flat and choppy for hours and then move violently in seconds — making standard setups unreliable and stop placement difficult. George's personal approach for today was to keep his platform closed, stay flat through PPI and into the FOMC window, and treat the session as a watching and learning day rather than a trading day. Reducing size, tightening criteria for entries, and being fully prepared to do nothing are all legitimate and professional approaches on high-stakes macro days.
What is the difference between the battle plan and the core scalping strategy, and how do they work together?
A: The battle plan answers the question of where to trade — it pre-maps the specific price zones where long or short setups have the highest probability based on structure, range context, and trend. The core scalping strategy (also called the core strategy) answers the question of how to get into the trade — it provides the entry trigger and execution framework once price arrives at a battle plan level. The two systems are complementary: the battle plan defines the location, the core strategy pulls the trigger. Used together, they give the trader both a clear map and a precise entry mechanism.
What does it mean when George says "the value area high bounce doesn't give me a trade"?
A: Knowing a level is important and trading off a level are two different things. When George says a bounce off the value area high doesn't give him a trade, he means that while the reaction at that level is meaningful and confirms its relevance, it does not meet his full criteria for a live entry — particularly given the macro calendar (PPI and FOMC), his current flat position, and the broader resistance context overhead. Awareness of where you are on the chart is the foundation. A trade requires that awareness plus a setup that checks all the boxes. One without the other is not enough.
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