AM Briefing #835: Hold The Runner And Play Perfect Chess
AM BRIEFING
ES CHART | KEY LEVELS | SETUPS
ES Technical Analysis — AM Briefing 835 Timeline
Tuesday August 18, 2026
| TIME | CHAPTER |
|---|---|
| 0:00 | Welcome ES MES Futures Traders |
| 1:14 | Week Backdrop and Expectations No news events today, FOMC Minutes tomorrow afternoon. All-time highs with a small expected range. Summer trading and Opex Friday… moderate your expectations. |
| 2:04 | Battle Plan Anatomy How the Battle Plan is built: the unlocked review section, tip of the day, homework, scoreboard, calendar, plus the members entries, exits and adds and a 3 to 5 minute audio read. |
| 3:04 | Trade Review: Positional Short to 7730 Last night's plan called the short to 7730 with a stop above Friday's close. Jackie exited two contracts at 30 for a 60-point day off a Core Strategy entry. |
| 4:34 | Made Target Overnight, No Knife-Catching Price tagged 7730 overnight for an 80-point full move. George mapped zero longs up high… the only longs lived below on a reclaim back above the range. |
| 4:54 | Read the Battle Plan, Not Just the Chart The mappings arrive as an indicator, but skipping the written plan means missing the range and the review. Spend the few minutes and read it. |
| 5:44 | The 80-Point Move and 6-Point Stop The full drop ran 80 points. A 6-point stop against a possible 70-point trade is the risk-reward the system is built around. |
| 6:29 | The System in a Nutshell Fewer, higher-quality, pre-planned trades with laser-tight entries through the 3-Contract System. Peel into strength, hold the runner, add to winners, journal. |
| 7:23 | Trade Your Rules, Process Over Outcome George took two break-even trades then stood down all day. His rule: more than 3 points out, do not let it come back. He missed the afternoon trade and honored his process. |
| 8:14 | How to Back Up Your Levels in TradingView Copy your drawings folder from the object tree, paste it onto the continuous contract, group and rename it with the date. Your levels are saved on a separate instrument. |
| 10:15 | Bottom of the Range: BP3 Long, BP4 Short At the range bottom, hunt the long first. Battle Plan 3 is the long on a reclaim, Battle Plan 4 the short with an aggressive add-on toward the mapped level near 7630. |
| 12:14 | New Feature Preview: The Microscope A new Chart Buddy tool. Click one candle to reveal the lower time-frame candles inside it. Programmable anchor time, display length, clean backdrop and auto-close. |
| 14:50 | Where We Stand: Bounce Levels and VWAP Yesterday's bounce levels held. Dow sits inside its range at the halfback while NQ and ES ride the same train below a downward-sloping VWAP. |
| 16:12 | Sign Off and Live Session That is the plan. Join the simulcast on YouTube and Zoom… George returns 15 minutes before the open. |
MES MICROS TRADE PLAN
HOLD THE RUNNER AND PLAY PERFECT CHESS
Posted: Tuesday August 18, 2026
Yesterday's positional short did exactly what the Battle Plan mapped… ES pressed down and tagged the 7730 target overnight for an 80-point full move. The lesson today is the one George says pays the most: hold the runner, play perfect chess, and take fewer, higher-quality, pre-planned trades. This is a quiet summer tape sitting at all-time highs with a small expected range, no news today, and FOMC Minutes tomorrow afternoon. Moderate your expectations, respect the Battle Plan, and let the mapped levels do the work. This is what an ES futures morning briefing built on discipline looks like.
THE POSITIONAL SHORT PAID… 7730 TAGGED OVERNIGHT
Last night's Battle Plan called the short and said stay short, target 7730, stop above Friday's close. It came in as a strong mapping and a Core Strategy entry with roughly a 6-point stop loss for a possible 70-point trade. That is the risk-reward George builds around.
- Jackie's trade: two contracts, both exited at 30 points… a beautiful 60-point day and a textbook example of perfect chess.
- If you were forced out: prop rules or an end-of-day exit did not disqualify a re-entry. The job was to make it to target.
- No knife-catching: George mapped zero longs up high. The only longs lived below, tied to reclaiming and getting back above the range.
THE SYSTEM IN A NUTSHELL
The whole approach is designed around fewer, higher-quality, pre-planned, well-thought-out trades with laser-tight entries, run through the 3-Contract System. You peel contracts into strength, then send a runner back out to capture the big move.
- Hold the runner: you do not know how far a strong move goes… so you hold the line and let it run.
- Add to winners: when a mapped move really gets going, add to the trade per the notes.
- Journal and refine: scrutinize your trade performance, refine your setups, and run the same process every day.
Trader Lesson 1
Learning to hold onto a runner is the single most profitable skill you can build. You will never know how far a strong move goes, so hold the line and let the winner work.
Trader Lesson 2
Take fewer, higher-quality, pre-planned trades with laser-tight entries. A 6-point stop against a 70-point target beats ten reactive scalps every time.
TRADE YOUR RULES… PROCESS OVER OUTCOME
George walked his own talk yesterday. Two break-even trades, then he stood down for the rest of the day and said he had no interest in trading again until price reached the bottom of the range. He missed the afternoon trade… and that was fine.
His rule is simple: anytime he is out more than 3 points, he does not let it come back against him. He traded the rules that work for him, honored his process, and let the missed setup go. There is always another high-probability trade around the corner.
Trader Lesson 3
Honor your exit rules even when it costs you a winner. Missing a trade you would not have taken by your own rules is a win for your process, not a loss.
OPEN THE BATTLE PLAN… THE MAPPINGS ARE NOT THE WHOLE STORY
Long-time members get comfortable. The mappings arrive on your chart as an indicator, so actually opening the Battle Plan starts to feel like a chore. That is exactly when you start missing things.
Yesterday's range was published inside the price map, and skipping the read meant skipping that context… plus the entire review section. Spend the few minutes. The Battle Plan review section is completely unlocked, so even non-members can read what happened and why.
Trader Lesson 4
The indicator on your chart is not the full Battle Plan. Read the notes and the review every day or you will miss ranges, context, and the reasoning behind the levels.
WHERE WE ARE… BOTTOM OF THE RANGE
Price made it down to the bottom of the range overnight, right where the plan pointed. At the bottom of the range, George prefers to look for the long first and the short second. Two paths are mapped.
- Battle Plan 3 (long): reclaim the range and get back above it, then look for the move north. This one has been working… it nearly delivered a 10-pointer already.
- Battle Plan 4 (short): also a valid short and, for the aggressive, an add-on short if price loses the bottom. If you were short from above and up 70 points, patience let you wait for the bounce off the bottom before adding.
- Aggressive mapping below: if the range breaks, the next mapped level sits down near 7630.
The broader tape: bounce levels drawn yesterday did their job. The Dow is still inside yesterday's range and pulling back to its halfback, while NQ and ES are on the same train, well below a downward-sloping VWAP. Short trades try to stay short… longs off Battle Plan 3 try to stay long.
Trader Lesson 5
At the bottom of a range, hunt the long before the short. Price often bounces there first, so let the mapping show its hand before you commit.
BACK UP YOUR LEVELS BEFORE THEY VANISH
Could every drawing on your chart get deleted by accident? You bet it could. George showed a simple TradingView backup routine so a bad click never wipes your mapped levels.
- In the object tree, select the folder holding your drawings and copy it (Command or Control + C).
- Open a different instrument… the continuous contract works well.
- Paste into that chart's object tree, then group the drawings into a folder.
- Rename it something clear, like "Back Up August 18."
Now your levels live safely on a separate instrument. Do it more often than you think you need to.
Trader Lesson 6
Back up your chart drawings by copying the folder onto a separate instrument and dating it. Your mapped levels are work… protect them like work.
NEW FEATURE PREVIEW… THE MICROSCOPE
A new tool called Microscope is coming to Chart Buddy, George's TradingView automation software. Click a single 30-minute candle and it drops the 10-minute, 3-minute, and 1-minute candles inside that one candle… no time-frame switching required.
- Fully programmable: pick the anchor time, choose which time frames to reveal, and set how long they display.
- Zip back up: the view can snap closed automatically after a set time, or stay open.
- Clean backdrop: toggle it to clear the chart and show only the exploded candles, so you see the internal structure without clutter.
Drop to a 3-minute candle and see the 1-minute and 30-second candles inside it… including the clean levels hiding in there.
THE BATTLE PLAN ANATOMY
George walked through how the Battle Plan is built so you get the most out of it.
- Review section (unlocked): what happened, a recap, trade analysis, the tip of the day, trader homework, the scoreboard, and the economic calendar for the next two days.
- The Battle Plan (members): where we are, which trains we want, where to enter, exit, and add.
- Audio read: a 3 to 5 minute narrated version so you can absorb the plan on the go.
Backdrop for the week: all-time highs, a small expected range, summer trading with no real macro drivers, and Opex Friday ahead. Moderate your expectations in this environment… overtrading here will not lead to great results.
"There's another high probability trade around the corner… I traded my rules. Perfect patience."
COMMON QUESTIONS FOR ES FUTURES TRADERS
What was the ES futures trade plan today?
A: Yesterday's positional short targeted 7730 and tagged it overnight for an 80-point full move. At the bottom of the range, two paths are mapped… Battle Plan 3 is the long on a reclaim back above the range, and Battle Plan 4 is a short with an aggressive add-on if the range bottom breaks toward the mapped level near 7630.
Why is holding a runner so important in the 3-Contract System?
A: A runner is the contract you keep working after peeling profit into strength. Because you can never know exactly how far a strong move will travel, holding the runner is how you capture the big move. George calls learning to hold a runner the most profitable skill he can teach.
What is a positional short?
A: It is a higher-time-frame short taken from a mapped level with a defined target and a stop placed above a structural reference, in this case above Friday's close. Yesterday's version risked about 6 points for a possible 70-point move down to 7730.
Why does George look for a long before a short at the bottom of a range?
A: The bottom of a range is where price frequently bounces first before any further breakdown. Hunting the long there lets the mapping reveal itself… you wait for the bounce and reclaim rather than blindly shorting into support.
How do I back up my chart levels in TradingView?
A: Select the folder of drawings in the object tree and copy it, open a different instrument like the continuous contract, paste it into that chart's object tree, group the drawings into a folder, and rename it with the date. Your levels are now saved safely on a separate instrument.
What is the Microscope feature coming to Chart Buddy?
A: Microscope is a new TradingView automation that lets you click a single candle and reveal the lower time-frame candles inside it. Click a 30-minute candle to see the 10-minute, 3-minute, and 1-minute structure without switching charts. It is programmable and can auto-close after a set time.
Why should I still read the Battle Plan if the levels already appear on my chart?
A: The mappings arrive as an indicator, but the written Battle Plan carries context the chart alone does not… like the day's range, the reasoning behind each level, and the full review section. Skipping the read means missing information you should not be missing.
How should I trade a slow summer tape near all-time highs?
A: Moderate your expectations. With a small expected range, no major macro drivers, and Opex Friday ahead, overtrading tends to punish size. Take fewer, higher-quality, pre-planned trades and let the mapped setups come to you.
What is George's rule for exiting a trade that moves against him?
A: Anytime he is more than 3 points out on a trade, he does not let it come back against him. It is a fixed process rule that protects capital and mindset, even when it occasionally costs him a trade that later would have worked.
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- Friday, Fri Aug 21: AM Briefing · Live Stream
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