Stand Down The Day After FOMC — AM Briefing #856
AM BRIEFING
ES CHART | KEY LEVELS | SETUPS
ES Technical Analysis — AM Briefing 856 Timeline
Thursday September 17, 2026
| TIME | CHAPTER |
|---|---|
| 0:00 | Welcome ES MES Futures Traders |
| 0:46 | Three Reasons For Caution Today Day after FOMC, day before OPEX, and the day after a monster move up. If you choose to trade FOMC, you deserve to lose. |
| 1:26 | Tip Of The Day: Transformation Statement Write who you are trying to become in your trade journal daily. George reads Scott's updated statement as an example. |
| 3:47 | Go Deeper And Entwine Your Why Define each word 1 through 5 like the Serenity Prayer. Your big why must move you emotionally or it will not survive. |
| 4:55 | We Went Live For FOMC George traded FOMC live yesterday afternoon. A short recap video is available to watch. |
| 5:29 | Read The Free Battle Plan Review The review section is free every day and includes the My Bull Bear Target write-up. Go read it or listen. |
| 6:26 | Battle Plan 4 Drop Zone Bounce Price dropped into the BP4 zone and gave a phenomenal bounce. George waited and got long once it was up 20 points. |
| 7:57 | Mapping Longs And Shorts Between Levels No longs mapped between BP4 and BP6, only a short into the strong level. Targets are not promises. |
| 9:41 | Battle Plan 6: The 105 Point Long BP6 was the two-or-die level where bulls had to defend. Projected 100 points, it ran 105 to the Bull Bear Line. |
| 10:10 | Overnight Battle Plan 1 And Strong Levels BP1 easily reached target overnight. The strong levels for the week kept holding beautifully. |
| 11:32 | The Add-Too-Early Mistake George added to his winner too early because livestreaming changed his behavior, costing him the easy 100-pointer. |
| 12:22 | You Cannot Trade Emotionless Emotions are part of trading. Recognize when they accumulate and push you into moves you would not normally make. |
| 13:03 | Longs Only: Hold The Runner The group focuses on longs. Yesterday's 105-point lotto runner rewards traders who hold and hold. |
| 13:44 | Upward VWAPs, Do Not Short All the VWAPs are slanting up. The trade is already long or flat. Please do not short this. |
| 14:03 | Take Trading Seriously Today Day after FOMC, day before OPEX. Work on your transformation statement. Live with traders in 15 minutes. |
MES MICROS TRADE PLAN
Stand Down The Day After FOMC… Caution After The Monster Move
Posted: Thursday September 17, 2026
Three reasons to slow down today… it is the day after FOMC, the day before option expiration, and the day after a monster move up. Your trade plan already answered the question before you asked it. This ES futures morning briefing is less about a new entry and more about protecting the trader you are becoming. We recap yesterday's Battle Plan map, where the Battle Plan 6 long ran 105 points into the Bull Bear Line. And the tip of the day pushes you to go deeper on your personal transformation statement… who you are trying to become, and the big why underneath it.
THE DAY AFTER FOMC, THE DAY BEFORE OPEX
Caution, caution, caution. What does your trade plan say about trading the day before option expiration? What does it say about trading FOMC? No one has to trade FOMC. As George said in last night's Battle Plan… if you choose to trade FOMC, you deserve to lose. Sometimes the truth is just brutal.
Layer the calendar on top and the message gets louder. This is a low-conviction window sitting on top of a monster move, and the professional move is to respect it.
| Driver | Why It Matters |
|---|---|
| Day after FOMC | Post-decision whip and inventory adjustment… conditions your plan flags to avoid. |
| Day before OPEX | Option expiration positioning distorts price. Your plan already says stand down. |
| After a monster move | The easy money already fired. Chasing it late is how accounts give it back. |
Trader Lesson 1
Your trade plan already told you not to trade FOMC and the day before OPEX. The discipline is following the plan you wrote when you were calm, not the impulse you feel when you are itchy.
TIP OF THE DAY: GO DEEPER ON YOUR TRANSFORMATION STATEMENT
All week we have talked about your personal transformation statement… the statement you write in your trade journal every day. It is who you are trying to become. Yesterday Scott updated his, and it read something like: I am a prepared, patient, professional trader who trades Core Strategy levels on the ES/MES during RTH sessions. Clean. He even defined the timeframe he trades. He made no directional statement, and that is totally fine… that is why there are 31 flavors at Baskin-Robbins.
But George's challenge is to go deeper. Don't stop at a word… define it.
- Prepared: What does prepared actually mean? List it out, 1 through 10.
- Patient: What does patient mean to you? List it, 1 through 5.
- Professional: A professional trader is also a professional loser. You have to know how to take losses like a pro. Define it, 1 through 6.
Think of the Serenity Prayer. Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change… so list those things out. Courage to change the things I can… list those out. In counseling and in AA, you make a person name each one. Do the same with your own statement so it stops being a slogan and becomes a map.
Trader Lesson 2
Go deeper on your transformation statement. Define every word 1 through 5, and entwine the big why underneath it… because a reason that moves you emotionally is the only one that survives the hard days.
YESTERDAY'S MAP: BATTLE PLAN 4 TO BATTLE PLAN 6
We went live for the FOMC yesterday afternoon, and there is a short recap video plus the free review section inside the Battle Plan you can read every day. Here is how the map played, because it shows why the levels matter.
- Battle Plan 4 drop zone: Price dropped right into the zone and gave a phenomenal bounce, catapulting up. George waited for a deeper fill and did not get long until it was already up 20 points. On the recap he noted that if you were up 20, you could snag your 20-pointer and call it… targets are not promises.
- The Bull Bear Line target: His target was the break of the top up into the Bull Bear Line. He trailed at 50% and snagged a 10-pointer. Where he recommends taking profit is often a great spot for the opposite trade… one advanced trader who loves shorts worked it back down from there.
- The mapped short between BP4 and BP6: No longs were mapped between those two levels… only a short, with the ultimate take-profit down at Battle Plan 6. The strong level defended beautifully.
- Battle Plan 6, the two-or-die long: This was where the bulls had to defend. George said it should go 100 points. It ran 105. Overnight, Battle Plan 1 easily reached target and the strong levels kept holding.
This is what we do. Someone with thousands of live sessions maps the most important levels for the week the night before, and we craft trades off them.
Trader Lesson 3
Map where the bulls must defend before the open. Naming your two-or-die level in advance turns the session into a mapped chess board instead of a reaction.
THE HONEST MISTAKE: ADDING TOO EARLY
George was frustrated with himself. He added to his winning trade too early, and a little pullback took him out before the projected 100-pointer completed. His own read: livestreaming changed his behavior. Without the stream on, he would not have added there. That one cost him the easy 100 of the week.
So should he trade today? Probably not. And here is the deeper point… you cannot trade emotionless. Throw out the advice about getting rid of your emotions. They are just part of trading. The job is to recognize when emotions accumulate to the point where they push you into moves you would not otherwise make. You could see a trader miss that 100-pointer and snap… screw it, I'm shorting this. Good luck with that.
Trader Lesson 4
A change in your environment can change your behavior. Guard your process… and when frustration accumulates, let the emotion dissipate before you touch the platform.
LONGS ONLY: DON'T FIGHT THE UPTREND
Take a peek at everybody. The uptrend is looking good and everything is basically going to have upward-slanting VWAPs. This is beautiful… please do not be shorting this. That is the one piece of advice. The trade is already long or flat.
This is also why the group focuses on longs. Yesterday's 105-point launch was a lotto runner… a violent move for the adrenaline junkies who like to trade. George is rarely in them and could care less. But hold these runners, keep holding, and you get paid. It is the easiest money you will ever make and it grows your account. Green Over Greed still rules how you take it off.
Trader Lesson 5
When the VWAPs slant up across the board, do not short it. The trade is already long or flat… fighting a clean uptrend on a frustrated impulse is how you turn a good week into a bad one.
"This is what we do. This is what we do, this is what we do… come on."
COMMON QUESTIONS FOR ES FUTURES TRADERS
Should you trade the day after FOMC and the day before option expiration?
A: Your trade plan should already answer this before the open. These are low-conviction, distorted windows, especially stacked on top of a big move. No one has to trade FOMC. If your plan says stand down around FOMC and OPEX, follow it.
What is a personal transformation statement in trading?
A: It is a written statement of who you are trying to become as a trader, journaled every day. A strong one names your qualities, your instrument and timeframe, and the big why underneath it. Example structure: I am a prepared, patient, professional trader who trades Core Strategy levels on the ES/MES during RTH sessions.
How do you make a transformation statement actually work?
A: Go deeper than the words. Take each word like prepared or patient and define it in a list, 1 through 5. Then entwine your big why… the reason that moves you emotionally. A statement you can define and feel becomes a map instead of a slogan.
What is the Bull Bear Line?
A: The Bull Bear Line is the key dividing level between bullish and bearish bias. Above it the group looks for longs. Yesterday it was the upside target for the move off the Battle Plan 4 drop zone.
What is a two-or-die level on the Battle Plan?
A: It is the level where the bulls must defend or the move dies. Battle Plan 6 was the two-or-die long yesterday… the spot George projected should run 100 points. It ran 105. Mapping where the bulls must come alive is how the Battle Plan trades are crafted.
Why does the group only trade longs when VWAPs are slanting up?
A: When VWAP is rising across sessions, the path of least resistance is up. Shorting a clean uptrend fights the tape, and the trade is already long or flat. Trading with the trend keeps you aligned with structure instead of against it.
Can you trade without emotions?
A: No, and the advice to get rid of your emotions is wrong. Emotions are part of trading. The skill is recognizing when they accumulate to a point where they push you into moves you would not normally make, then stepping aside until the emotion dissipates.
What is a lotto runner?
A: A lotto runner is a speculative, extended runner you hold for a large move. Yesterday's 105-point launch was one. You hold it, keep holding, and let it pay… while managing the rest of your position with Green Over Greed.
Why did George choose not to trade today after missing the move?
A: He added to a winner too early because livestreaming changed his behavior, and it cost him the easy 100-pointer of the week. Frustrated, he chose to let the emotion settle rather than trade on it. Recognizing that state and standing down is itself a professional trade decision.
LIVE
SESSIONS
📅 Upcoming This Week
Hit the bell — every AM Briefing and live trading session this week is already scheduled on YouTube:
- Friday, Fri Sep 18: AM Briefing · Live Stream
Helping Futures Traders Via Our Core Strategy Academy Training Program and Futures Trading Group – The Best Emini Group IMHO.
📍 Originally published on MicrosTrader.com
Follow MicrosTrader
▶ YouTubeFacebook𝕏 TwitterMediumSubstack🎧 Apple Podcasts🎧 Spotify🎧 Amazon MusicLinkedIn
Comments
Post a Comment