AM Briefing #813 — Judge Your Battle Plan On The Right Side Of Price Action
AM BRIEFING
ES CHART | KEY LEVELS | SETUPS
ES Technical Analysis — AM Briefing 813 Timeline
Friday July 17, 2026
| TIME | CHAPTER |
|---|---|
| 0:00 | Welcome ES MES Futures Traders |
| 0:20 | OPEX Friday & This Week's Scripture It's OPEX Friday, not a normal Friday, so put your hard hats on. George opens with the week's scripture: to everything there is a season. |
| 0:50 | Sentiment & Membership Preview A sentiment expectations check comes 30 minutes after the open. Prospective members get a full walkthrough of the membership options at the end. |
| 1:10 | Tip Of The Day: Judge The Plan Judge the Battle Plan on one thing — did it keep you on the right side of price action, hunting the right trades in the right locations? Stay out of the mall. |
| 1:44 | Weekly Review: Sunday Through Wednesday Sunday/Monday gave a 60-pointer with a short off the Bull Bear Line. Tuesday was longs only, two trades 50-plus points each. Wednesday added two more longs. |
| 2:44 | Same Trade, Mapped Again The Bull Bear Line was defended and paid all week. You can take the same Battle Plan trade more than once, especially when it gets mapped more than once. |
| 3:29 | Yesterday Live On The Zoom Got down into the Battle Plan area, took the long for 5 points, then lost the Bull Bear Line and mapped three short contracts. One filled, trailed for 10 points before price slammed back to the bull. |
| 5:52 | The Reclaim & Aggressive Short A reclaim setup printed with plenty of doubt. Taking the short meant being aggressive on the open, or using Core Strategy to enter later in the move for an 82-point run. |
| 7:19 | Bull Bear Strong Level Short — Aggressive Trades right at the Bull Bear Line are low probability because longs and shorts both live there. The short carried the best risk-reward but was strictly for the aggressive. |
| 8:37 | Adding With Built-In Profit You can add aggressively into a short only when you already have tons of built-in profit. Running the Three-Contract System may keep your initial contracts and add-on live much lower. |
| 9:11 | The First Ladder Is The Riskiest Under the Bull Bear Line, never take the first ladder long — always the second. George would rather see an Apex trade. Every entry has risk; you dial it down by picking the safer rung. |
| 10:28 | Yesterday Wrap-Up & A Difficult Strong Range Long entry, add-on, and take-profit reviewed. George flagged the level as a very difficult Strong Range — he wouldn't be shocked if it marked the high. |
| 11:17 | How The Ranges Work Price rotates between ranges — bottom of one range targets the top of the next. Losing a range triggered the Battle Plan 2 short into the Battle Plan 3 area. |
| 13:43 | Still In Sell Mode We're below the Bull Bear Line, so it's a sell mode and all longs are counter. Longs stay cautious but can pay dramatically on the reclaim of the Strong Levels. |
| 14:44 | Runner Management & The 7430 Target Still holding a Battle Plan 2 runner? This is a location to continue the short. Roughly 7430 is the outsized target, and Battle Plan 5 gets taken together on the stream. |
| 15:28 | The System In A Nutshell Fewer, higher-quality pre-planned trades, held with a longer runner, added to when winning, then journaled and refined. Trade the same process every day to improve. |
| 16:03 | How To Participate & Membership Options Free Foundations course, Sunday CITREP educational emails, a free livestream, and a YouTube channel membership around $2.50 a day for the simulcast and Battle Plan. |
MES MICROS TRADE PLAN
Judge The Battle Plan On One Thing: The Right Side Of Price Action
Posted: Friday July 17, 2026
It's OPEX Friday… not a normal Friday, so put your hard hats on. Today's ES futures morning briefing is a week-in-review with one question at the center: did the Battle Plan keep you on the right side of price action? The Bull Bear Line was mapped, defended, and PAID all week long — longs above, the counter short below. George walks the Sunday-through-Thursday tape, breaks down yesterday's live session, and lays out where the reclaim of the Strong Levels sets up the next long. If you want a clean lesson on trade location, laddering, and the MES micro futures trade plan that ties it together, this is it.
THE ONE THING TO JUDGE THE BATTLE PLAN ON
George put it flat out: judge him on ONE thing. Did the Battle Plan trades keep you on the right side of price action? Are you looking for the right trades in the right trade locations? You can't be in the mall… the muddy middle. That's the whole game.
He maps the levels, but the standard is location. Right trades, right locations. Everything else — the point counts, the runners, the add-ons — flows from getting that one thing correct.
Trader Lesson 1
Grade your plan on ONE thing… did it keep you on the right side of price action, hunting the right trades in the right locations? Stay out of the muddy middle.
THE WEEK THE BULL BEAR LINE PAID
The Bull Bear Line was the star all week. It was mapped, it was defended, and it paid session after session. Here's the tape George walked through:
- Sunday/Monday: A 60-pointer if you could have caught it — two longs and one beautiful short off that Bull Bear Line.
- Tuesday: Longs only, baby. Two trades, 50-plus points EACH… roughly 100 points on the day if you were in both. The first fired at midnight while George was sound asleep. Oh well… you can't be in every trade.
- Wednesday: Two beautiful longs again against the Bull Bear Line, roughly 50 points of clean action.
Some days had no short mapped at all… because it wasn't time to look for a short. That's the discipline. The Bull Bear Line was defended and paid all week long.
Trader Lesson 2
You CAN take the same Battle Plan trade more than once… especially when it gets mapped more than once. The same level paid all week because it kept showing up.
YESTERDAY, LIVE ON THE ZOOM
Price got back down into the Battle Plan area. George was hoping for a deeper move, didn't get it, and called out the first possible ladder. He took the long right at the bull and locked in 5 points… that's all it gave. It is what it is.
Then the market LOST the Bull Bear Line — and that's where he looks for a short. He mapped three contracts. The fill only got him into one. In the power hour, 30 minutes left, he trailed his stop to capture 10 points and took profit just before the Strong Range… then price slammed right back to the bull. Jackie in the group booked a 25-pointer and a 20-pointer and called it a nice day.
THE LADDER RULE: FIRST IS THE RISKIEST
George caught his own mapping slip and turned it into the day's cleanest lesson. When you get under the Bull Bear Line and you're laddering down, he will NEVER suggest you take the first ladder long. It's always the second ladder.
Why? The first ladder is the riskiest trade you can take. He'd rather see you take an Apex trade than a first-ladder trade. If you made him pick, it's the Apex or the second ladder… never the first. And understand this: every trade has risk, no trade is 100%, every entry is at risk of getting stopped. You don't eliminate the risk… you dial it down by picking the safer rung.
Trader Lesson 3
The first ladder is the RISKIEST trade on the board. When you're laddering down under the Bull Bear Line, take the second ladder or the Apex… never the first rung.
THE AGGRESSIVE BULL BEAR STRONG LEVEL SHORT
When the market published a reclaim setup, there was doubt it would happen… then a beautiful short came into the area. To take it you had to be a little aggressive on the open and push it in. If you passed, Core Strategy — the advanced scalping system — could get you into the move a little later.
The notation mattered: Bull Bear Strong Level short — AGGRESSIVE. Trades around the Bull Bear Line are low probability in George's opinion, because you have longs AND shorts living at the same level. On an initial down move a couple times this week, the highest-probability trade was the LONG. The short carried the best risk-reward… but it was a trade for the aggressive only.
Trader Lesson 4
Trades right at the Bull Bear Line are LOW probability… longs and shorts both live there. Trade them small, if at all, and only when you're built for the aggressive entry.
Trader Lesson 5
On an initial down move, the highest-probability trade is the LONG. The counter short may carry the better risk-reward… but it's the aggressive play, not the base case.
ADD TO WINNERS — BUT ONLY WITH BUILT-IN PROFIT
On the follow-through, George showed where you could add aggressively into an existing short. Why aggressively? Because you had tons of built-in profit already banked in the position. That's the green light. This time the monster follow-through never came and price came back to the entry… but if you were running the Three-Contract System, you may not have exited your initial contracts until much lower, and the add-on could still be short.
Trader Lesson 6
Add aggressively to a winner only when it has already handed you built-in profit. The cushion is what earns you the right to press… never the hope.
TODAY'S MAP: RANGES, SELL MODE, AND THE RECLAIM
George drew it out simply. Price rotates between ranges. If it's at the bottom of a range, you look for a move to the top. We lost a range — that was the Battle Plan 2 short — and dropped into the next range, which is the Battle Plan 3 area. The play there: dip your toe into the range, get back ABOVE, and look for a ladder-back long. The loss and reclaim of any of these Strong Ranges can constitute an entry. George prefers the deeper Battle Plan mark… Battle Plan 3's front edge is what activated Tuesday night for a monster move.
But the bias is clear: we are still in a sell mode. We're below the Bull Bear Line, so all longs are COUNTER. Longs should be cautious here — they can pay dramatically if we get the move, but you respect the mode you're in.
- Long trigger: reclaim the Strong Levels, get long, and go back to attack the Bull Bear Line.
- Runner short: if you're still holding a runner from the Battle Plan 2 short — congratulations — this is a location to continue it. Roughly 7430 is the outsized target on a real down move.
- Battle Plan 5: if we get down there, George takes that one together with the room on the stream.
Trader Lesson 7
Below the Bull Bear Line you're in SELL mode… every long is a counter-trade. Trade them cautious and small, and let the reclaim of the Strong Levels prove itself before you press a long.
THE SYSTEM IN A NUTSHELL
George closed on the philosophy that runs every session. The system is built to take FEWER, higher-quality, pre-planned, well-thought-out trades… that's the Battle Plan. You hold a longer runner to capture the big move. You add to your winning trades. Then you take the extra time to journal, refine, and analyze your performance.
And then you trade the same process every single day to become a better trader. That's it. Fewer and better, held longer, added to when right, reviewed honestly, repeated daily.
"Judge me on this one thing… did the Battle Plan trades keep us on the right side of price action?"
COMMON QUESTIONS FOR ES FUTURES TRADERS
What is the Bull Bear Line in ES futures?
A: The Bull Bear Line is the key dividing level between a bullish and a bearish bias on the ES/MES chart. Above it you favor longs; below it you're in a sell mode and every long is a counter-trade. This week it was mapped, defended, and paid session after session — which is why it's the level George grades the whole plan against.
How do I judge whether a trade plan is any good?
A: Judge it on one thing — did it keep you on the right side of price action, hunting the right trades in the right locations? A good MES micro futures trade plan keeps you out of the muddy middle and positioned where the setups actually live. Point counts follow from correct location, not the other way around.
Can you take the same Battle Plan trade more than once?
A: Yes. You can take the same Battle Plan level repeatedly, especially when it keeps getting mapped. This week the same trade off the Bull Bear Line paid multiple days. If the location is valid and it's re-mapped, re-taking it is disciplined, not greedy.
Why is the first ladder the riskiest trade?
A: When price is laddering down under the Bull Bear Line, the first ladder is the earliest, least-confirmed rung — so it's the most likely to get run over. George prefers the second ladder or the Apex trade instead. You never remove risk entirely, but stepping back one rung dials it down meaningfully.
What is the Apex trade?
A: The Apex is a high-conviction entry location George would rather take than a first-ladder long. If forced to choose, he'll take the Apex or the second ladder every time over the riskier first ladder. It's about picking the rung with the best odds, not the earliest fill.
When should I add to a winning trade?
A: Add aggressively only when the position already has built-in profit — that cushion is what earns you the right to press. Adding to winners is core to the Three-Contract System, but the profit has to already be there. Adding to hope instead of to a cushion is how good trades turn into bad ones.
What is a loss and reclaim entry?
A: A loss and reclaim happens when price loses a Strong Range or Strong Level and then reclaims it back above. That loss-and-reclaim of a key level can constitute a valid entry. Today's map calls for dipping into the Battle Plan 3 range, reclaiming the Strong Levels, and looking for a ladder-back long toward the Bull Bear Line.
Should I take longs when price is below the Bull Bear Line?
A: You can, but understand you're in a sell mode and every long is a counter-trade. Those counter longs can pay dramatically if you get the move, but they demand caution and smaller size. The base case below the line stays short until the Strong Levels are reclaimed.
Why does OPEX Friday change how I should trade?
A: OPEX — options expiration — is not a normal Friday. Positioning and hedging flows can make price behavior squirrelly, so George's advice is to put your hard hats on and respect that the tape can move differently. The Battle Plan levels and the sell-mode bias still guide you, but you stay alert to sharper, less orderly moves.
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