AM Briefing #803 — Hold That Runner Is Often Your Best Trade
AM BRIEFING
ES CHART | KEY LEVELS | SETUPS
ES Technical Analysis — AM Briefing 803 Timeline
Thursday July 2, 2026
| TIME | CHAPTER |
|---|---|
| 0:00 | Welcome ES MES Futures Traders |
| 0:25 | This Week's Scripture Faithful over a few things, ruler over many. A reminder that discipline in small accounts builds the trader you're meant to become. |
| 0:52 | News Drivers & The Week Ahead Thursday NFP on the final session before a long holiday weekend, with Friday closed. Next week looks light — FOMC minutes and existing home sales. |
| 1:21 | Tip Of The Day: Hold That Runner Holding a profitable runner is often your best trade. You're already in and already moving your direction — especially true when holding a long. |
| 1:50 | Trade Review: Wednesday's Short & Long A clean short, then a reclaim of the strong level flipped the eyes to longs. Traders got long for a very nice day. |
| 2:47 | The Speculator Special Explained Where the edge of the move lives — set the trade, set the stop, walk away. A 4-point stop rode a 50-pointer down alongside Battle Plan trade one. |
| 4:04 | One More Tiny High & Trade Mapping A favorite move — price makes one final high before rolling. Strict Core Strategy would have been long earlier than every other mapping. |
| 5:11 | Managing The Monday Multi-Day Runner How to trail a cash-account runner: stop 5-10 points under the RTH low, then lift on each higher low. Up as much as 157 points playing perfect chess. |
| 6:32 | Weekend Review — One Day At A Time Monday's easy long birthed the 150-pointer; Tuesday turned difficult with a knife-catch short. When bulls control, treat shorts like microwave trades. |
| 7:56 | A Banner Week For Battle Plan & Zoom What a difference a day makes — Battle Plan and the speculator special crushed it. A strong week across the whole system. |
| 8:21 | The Core Strategy System In One Breath Fewer, higher-quality, pre-planned trades. Risk first, laser-tight entries, 3-Contract System, hold runners, and add only to winners — never losers. |
| 9:15 | Trader Tools: Battle Plan Buddy Update A member-requested dark mode note feature now injects notes straight onto your TradingView chart. Thanks to Scott for the suggestion. |
| 9:44 | Feature Of The Day: Trade Buddy A virtual stream deck — one green action button sets symbol, timeframe, scale, indicators and folders at once. Orange buttons simply toggle on and off. |
| 11:11 | July Seasonality & Battle Plan Basics Rolling into July is why holding a long runner is your best trade. A tour of the free Battle Plan sections versus the members-only price map. |
| 12:37 | The Chart: Bull Bear Line & Two Ranges Monday bounced right off the Bull Bear Strong Level. Price now ping-pongs between two ranges in the muddy middle. |
| 13:35 | Lotto Runner Target & The NFP Candle A push into the upper range puts the Monday runner back up 150 points. No short on the NFP candle — it printed just 25 points. |
| 15:28 | Wrap-Up & Free Trial Tip No Battle Plan tonight with Friday closed. If you want the free 7-day trial, start it Sunday. See traders live 15 minutes before the open. |
MES MICROS TRADE PLAN
Hold That Runner — It's Often The Best Trade You Can Make
Posted: Thursday July 02, 2026
Today's ES futures morning briefing lands on the final session of a short holiday week… non-farm payroll morning, then a long three-day weekend with Friday closed. The lesson George drilled all week gets one more repetition: HOLD THAT RUNNER. When you're already in a profitable trade that's moving your direction, you don't need a new one… the very best trade is often the one you already have. This MES micro futures trade plan walks the multi-day long from Monday, the speculator special short that caught a 50-pointer, and why July seasonality rewards traders who let their long runners breathe. Bulls control. Shorts are counter. Small, if at all.
THE TIP THAT RAN ALL WEEK: HOLD THAT RUNNER
One theme, repeated every single day this week… and for good reason. Holding a runner is often the very best trade you can make. Why? Because you're already IN a profitable trade. It has already moved your direction. You don't need to go hunt a fresh setup and take on fresh risk. And this is especially true when you're holding a long in a market where bulls control.
The chess board is already mapped. A new trade means new risk, new stops, new uncertainty. The runner you already own has done the hard part for you.
Trader Lesson 1
Holding a winning runner is often better than hunting a new trade. You're already profitable and already moving your direction… don't trade away a good position just to feel busy.
THE MONDAY LONG — MANAGING A MULTI-DAY RUNNER
The runner conversation isn't theory this week… it's live. Monday's long, called out on Zoom and YouTube right off the Bull Bear Line, became the genesis of a monster move. If you were playing perfect chess and holding into the week, here's exactly how the stop management works in a cash account built for a multi-day hold:
- Initial trail: Move your stop 5 to 10 points under the RTH low.
- Ratchet up: Once price prints a higher high and a higher low, lift the stop to the new structure.
- Bank options along the way: A 100-pointer was there Tuesday. A 150-pointer showed up too… at maximum the position sat up roughly 157 points.
- Perfect chess: If you're not cashing out, park the stop behind the Wednesday low and let it run. You don't know how far price goes… neither does George. Bulls control.
If it was your first-ever 100-pointer or 150-pointer and you wanted to take it, take it. There's no shame in banking a milestone. But if you're playing for the big move, you trail… you don't guess the top.
Trader Lesson 2
Manage a multi-day runner with structure, not hope. Trail 5–10 points under the RTH low, then lift the stop to each new higher low. Let price tell you when it's done… don't call the top yourself.
THE SPECULATOR SPECIAL — SET IT, STOP IT, WALK AWAY
Yesterday's afternoon delivered a textbook speculator special. This isn't a level George posts every day, let alone weekly… it's where he thinks the EDGE of the move is going to live. It's also a prime spot to entertain an option trade. The whole design is simple: you set your trade, you set your stop, and you walk away.
The short sat right at the top of the strong range near 76. With just a four-point stop, you'd have ridden the entire move down… a clean 50-pointer. That was also where Battle Plan trade number one lived. Right trade, right location.
Trader Lesson 3
A tight, pre-planned entry lets a tiny stop capture a huge move. Set the trade, set the stop, and walk away… let the plan work without you babysitting it.
WHAT ONE DAY CAN DO — MONDAY EASY, TUESDAY UGLY
George is now posting one screenshot per day so you can see exactly how the group traded. The through-line this week: some days hand you clean price action, others make you fight for every point. Monday's long was easy… genesis of that 150-pointer. Tuesday was warned to be difficult, and it was.
Here's the key read. When bulls control, you treat shorts like MICROWAVE TRADES… get in, take the money, get out. Tuesday's knife-catch short had a nice move, but price eventually took it right back out. So your choice on a difficult day is simple: you're either holding a lotto runner from the easy day before, or you're grinding through tough two-sided price action.
Trader Lesson 4
When bulls control, treat shorts like microwave trades — quick in, quick out, take the money. Counter-trend shorts get reclaimed… don't marry them.
THE SYSTEM IN ONE BREATH — AND ADD ONLY TO WINNERS
Strip it all down and the Core Strategy is this: take fewer, higher-quality, pre-planned, well-thought-out trades. Risk first. Laser-tight entries with the 3-Contract System. Play perfect chess. Hold the lotto runner. Capture the big moves. And when you add, you add to WINNERS.
George added to his winning trade yesterday. It didn't get the follow-through he hoped for… but the principle never bends: we do not add to losers in this group. You journal your progress, refine your Battle Plan, run your behavioral analysis, and trade the same process every day with perfect patience. Constant and never-ending improvement.
Trader Lesson 5
Add to winners, never to losers. Scaling into a trade that's already working compounds an edge… averaging down a loser just deepens the wound.
THE CHART: BULL BEAR LINE, TWO RANGES, AND AN NFP CANDLE
On the 30-minute, last week's most important level did its job all week. This week's Bull Bear Strong Level sat right where Monday bounced… a beautiful launch straight off the line for that big move. Now price is boxed between two ranges, ping-ponging in the muddy middle.
If you're holding that Monday lotto runner long, you want price to push up into the upper range… that range then becomes a protection layer and puts you back up around 150 points. The top of that range is the kind of level where you'd entertain both a short and a long — it's just that type of spot. But not on a non-farm payroll candle. No sir re Bob. The end-to-end NFP candle printed only about 25 points… a little disappointing, and no reason to force a short into the news.
Looking Ahead
| Date | Event | Significance |
|---|---|---|
| Thu Jul 2 | Non-Farm Payroll (NFP) | Headline jobs print on the final session before the holiday; drives the end-to-end open candle. |
| Fri Jul 3 | Market Closed (Holiday) | No session, no Battle Plan tonight. Long three-day weekend. |
| Next Week | FOMC Minutes & Existing Home Sales | A lighter economic calendar; Monday after a holiday tends to be a slower, choppy day. |
"You're already in a profitable trade. It's already moved your direction. You don't need another trade."
COMMON QUESTIONS FOR ES FUTURES TRADERS
What does "hold that runner" actually mean in futures trading?
A: A runner is the final portion of a position you leave open after banking partial profits, letting it "run" for a much larger move. "Hold that runner" is the reminder that the best trade is often the profitable one you already own — it has already moved your direction, so you don't need to take on new risk chasing a fresh setup.
How do you manage a runner over multiple days in a cash account?
A: Start by trailing your stop 5 to 10 points under the RTH (Regular Trading Hours) low. Each time price prints a higher high and a higher low, lift the stop up to the new structure — for example, behind the prior day's low. This lets a strong trend keep running while your risk stays defined and your profit is protected.
What is a speculator special?
A: It's a rare, high-conviction level where Micros Trader believes the very edge of a move will live — not posted daily or even weekly. The idea is a set-and-forget play: you set the entry, set a tight stop, and walk away. It's also a prime spot to consider an option trade because a small stop can capture an outsized move.
Why treat shorts like "microwave trades" when bulls control?
A: When the broader trend is bullish, short setups are counter-trend and tend to reverse quickly. Treating them like microwave trades means getting in, taking the profit fast, and getting out — because price will often reclaim the level and take the short back out if you hold too long.
What is the Bull Bear Strong Level?
A: It's the key structural level that divides bullish from bearish bias for the week. Price bouncing cleanly off this line — as it did on Monday — signals a high-probability launch point. Micros Trader maps these Strong Levels in advance to give the chart structure and define where longs and shorts should be considered.
Should I add to a losing trade to lower my average price?
A: No. The Micros Trader rule is to add only to winners, never to losers. Scaling into a trade that's already working compounds a proven edge, while averaging down a loser simply increases risk on a position the market is telling you is wrong.
Is it worth taking a smaller profit like a 100-pointer instead of holding for more?
A: Yes, if it's meaningful to you — especially a personal first, like your first 100-pointer or 150-pointer. There's no shame in banking a milestone. The alternative, "perfect chess," is to trail your stop and let the runner ride, but taking a defined win is always a valid, disciplined choice.
Why avoid trading on a non-farm payroll (NFP) candle?
A: The end-to-end candle formed right at a major economic release like NFP is unpredictable and prone to violent whipsaws. Even at a level you'd normally trade, it's not worth forcing an entry into the news — better to wait for structure to re-form after the initial reaction settles.
What does the free Battle Plan include versus the members-only version?
A: The free, unlocked portion includes the trade review, the tip of the day, tomorrow's live stream links, a performance scoreboard, and a two-day economic calendar. The members-only section adds Micros Trader's overnight notes and the actual price map showing where the high-probability longs and shorts are expected to live.
Helping Futures Traders Via Our Core Strategy Academy Training Program and Futures Trading Group – The Best Emini Group IMHO.
📍 Originally published on MicrosTrader.com
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