10 Lessons for MES Futures Traders
OVERVIEW
Scoreboard
Although the scoreboard this week is light on points, it is heavy in discipline!
This week's totals are dismal compared to previous weeks… points tend to come in cycles.
▶️ Can you stay patient during the dry cycle and not force trades?
If you can… stay the course, your odds of success greatly increase.
The trader who can never say "No!" to the chart… won't be a trader long.
The market consistently rewards the patient and punishes traders without discipline.
10 Lessons
10 lessons for MES Micros futures traders as discussed in our live trade room on Zoom.
Trader Lesson 1
Your trade plan must have a written rule for FOMC days. Do you trade the morning only? Sit it out completely? Watch without touching the keyboard? Decide before the day arrives... not in the middle of a Fed move. Make these hard decisions before you are intoxicated with trading and the tempter of the charts tempts you. If you don't have a trade plan for FOMC, you now know your weekend homework.
Trader Lesson 2
Shorts are microwave trades... they need to pay quickly. Counter-trend trades don't get the same patience as a trend-following long. Get in, get your profit, get out. Don't hold a short hoping for a trend change when bulls are in control.
Trader Lesson 3
Position within the range determines your probability before you ever place the order. Shorts belong at the top of the range. Longs belong at the bottom. Trading against that logic — shorting the lows or buying the highs — stacks the odds against you from the start.
Trader Lesson 4
Strong Levels gain conviction with every test — but they also get worn down. A level tested five times in one session is more validated and more vulnerable at the same time. Track the number of tests and let that inform whether continuation or a break is the higher-probability outcome.
Trader Lesson 5
During the overnight session, the previous day opening should be on your chart... reference it and use it. For one, it can act as a protection layer if you were in a trade... like I demonstrated today on Zoom. watch how price respects the RTH open, even in the overnight session
Trader Lesson 6
Mixed indices means tread carefully. When NQ is holding strong and Dow is pushing down, we are not on the same train. The easiest trades come when all the indices are moving together. When they're split, reduce your size and your expectations. "Are we on the same train?"
Trader Lesson 7
A good morning on FOMC day is a DONE DAY. Lock your profits, close your platform, step away. That's not leaving money on the table! It is protecting yourself from yourself. Green Over Greed.
Trader Lesson 8
You don't need to write a word to journal your trades. Mark up your entry, draw your stop, note your target ... then screenshot it. Store it in a folder on your computer. Or... store the annotations in a folder inside the object tree for your weekend review. Going through your own chart markup is the hard work that makes the difference over time.
Trader Lesson 9
Track your performance on special days. FOMC, OPEX, CPI, GDP, four-day weekends... if you don't know how you trade on those days, "good luck" because you're probably gambling Your journal knows the truth. Use that data to guide your decisions.
Trader Lesson 10
Macro commentary doesn't give you a trade. Paul Tudor Jones predicting a 35% S&P drop is interesting context — not a signal. Know the difference. Keep your eyes on your levels.
TIP OF THE DAY
What does your trade plan say about trading the day after FOMC?
QUOTE OF THE DAY
It is not that we have a short time to live, but that we waste much of it. — Seneca
TRADE OF THE DAY
BATTLE PLAN
🔥 Battle Plan 5️⃣ short was. 20+ point winner.
Battle Plan 5️⃣ had us looking for the right trade in the right trade location. That is the entire purpose of the Battle Plan: knowing where we want to go long and where we want to go short… putting the odds of success in our favor based on trade location.
I was happy I got into my short last night at Battle Plan 5️⃣, captured 20 points, and closed my platform.
For the remainder of the day, I kept mentally trading Battle Plan 5️⃣ as if I had done the 3-Contract System and kept my lotto runner at breakeven. I rarely, if EVER, take 3 contracts on a short... But that does not mean I should not mentally trade it to completion. The mental reps are valuable.
Had you taken the trade with a three contract system and kept your runner at break even,,, a 40+ runner.
ZOOM
NADA… FOMC day…
I expect very little to nothing on FOMC Day.
I was trading my runner and got trailed out.
No new entry recommendations were made.
Contrary to what some gurus say… not every day is a trading day.
Preservation of precioius capital and emotional/mental equity is very valuable.
I treat it with the value it deserves.
I hope you do to!
CORE STRATEGY: (For Full "GOLD" Members)
A killer FS short for 20 points!
Range rules continually benefit Core Strategy traders!!!! It keeps you on the right side of price action - like the Battle Plan!
There are EASIER days to than FOMC.
SCOREBOARD
Accumulated Points THIS Week
View The Trade Setups
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