AM Briefing #878 — You Will Not Be In Every Trade
AM BRIEFING
ES CHART | KEY LEVELS | SETUPS
ES Technical Analysis — AM Briefing 878 Timeline
Monday October 19, 2026
| TIME | CHAPTER |
|---|---|
| 0:00 | Welcome ES MES Futures Traders |
| 0:51 | AM Briefing #878 Open Kicking off briefing 878 with this week's scripture on giving thanks always. |
| 1:23 | Light News Week, FOMC Next Week Quiet calendar with just PMI this week. FOMC lands next Wednesday. The large expected range comes from earnings… Tesla and Meta report mid-week. |
| 1:54 | Battle Plan Basics Refresher The Monday walkthrough. Battle Plan lines are where we go long, wrapped around the weekend Strong Levels. Wait for the drop zone, take profit before the next level, hold a lotto runner. |
| 2:51 | The Sunday Gap Down And Ladder Back Last night's Battle Plan called for a small gap down and an aggressive ladder back. The market delivered exactly that. |
| 3:38 | Missing The Trade By A Couple Ticks Battle Plan 4 gave zero pullbacks. Battle Plan 3 missed George by a couple ticks, so he passed. Core Strategy traders caught a clean 30-point move north. |
| 4:11 | Wait For The Right Location You will not be in every trade. No shorts were mapped… the plan was longs, and that worked out very well. |
| 4:20 | The Daily Chart: Parabolic And Extended Price went parabolic, broke a trend line, and back-tested it. An overhead area is now in view, so no chasing longs up there. |
| 5:28 | 53 Days To rollover Plenty of runway left on the contract… no rollover pressure yet. |
| 5:39 | Inside Friday's Range, Above Halfback Price sits inside Friday's range, hovering above the halfback. That reads bullish. Expect a trip a little south, then a reverse. |
| 6:08 | Cautious Above Friday's High Into the overhead daily area we get very careful and watch for a possible turnaround short. Long from BP3 or BP4… congratulations. Flat like George… you wait. |
MES MICROS TRADE PLAN
You Will Not Be In Every Trade
Posted: Monday October 19, 2026
The Sunday plan worked exactly as written… a small gap down, an aggressive ladder back, and a clean run north off Battle Plan 3 and Battle Plan 4. George was flat and missed the entry by a couple ticks. He did not chase. That is the whole lesson today for your ES futures morning briefing… you will not be in every trade, and the right trade location matters as much as the right level. News is light this week with FOMC next Wednesday, so price now sits inside Friday's range, hovering above the halfback, bullish until the tape says otherwise.
THE WEEK AHEAD: A LIGHT NEWS CALENDAR
Not a whole lot on the economic calendar this week. The main show is next week. FOMC is next Wednesday. This week brings just some PMI data… a kind of light week. So why was the expected range so large coming into the weekend? Earnings.
We are in the middle of earnings season. Tesla and Meta report mid-week, with other notable instruments on deck as well. Those reports can stretch the range even when the macro calendar is quiet.
| Date | Event | Significance |
|---|---|---|
| This week | PMI data | Light macro footprint… low scheduled volatility. |
| Mid-week | Tesla & Meta earnings | Main driver of the large expected range this week. |
| Next Wednesday | FOMC | The real headline event… the main show is next week. |
BATTLE PLAN BASICS: THE MONDAY REFRESHER
Every Monday we go over the basics, because the system only works if you know what each piece does. The Battle Plan lines are where we want to go long. Click the number and you pull up that specific plan. Here is how it all fits together.
- Strong Levels: Each weekend George publishes the MicrosTrader Strong Levels… the levels he thinks are the most important for the week. We wrap our Battle Plan trades around these Strong Levels.
- The drop zone: What you are waiting for is price to drop down into the drop zone. That is your signal to go long. You do not chase. You wait for price to come to you.
- Taking profit: Taking profit before the next Strong Level is often very, very smart. You lock in the win the structure already mapped for you.
- The lotto runner: You hold a lotto runner just in case it goes, goes, goes. This time it did not go, go, go, but you made your profit and still gave yourself every opportunity to ride the Big Blue.
THE SUNDAY SETUP: GAP DOWN AND AGGRESSIVE LADDER BACK
In last night's Battle Plan, George wrote that he would be watching the Sunday opening for a small gap down and an aggressive ladder back. That is his favorite Sunday opening trade. The market delivered… we got the gap down, and we got the aggressive ladder.
He tried to get long at Battle Plan 4, but there were zero pullbacks into it. Price just skyrocketed up. There was an entry at Battle Plan 3 on the first touch, but trade location missed him by a couple ticks. His rule held… he would not chase. For Core Strategy traders who took the ideal entry, that entry came in exactly right… a little heat, then a nice 30-point move back to the north. A beautiful way to start the week.
Trader Lesson 1
You will not be in every trade. It is impossible. Missing a beautiful setup is not a loss… do not put pressure on yourself to be in every single one.
Trader Lesson 2
Wait for the right trade AND the right trade location. A couple ticks of missed location is a reason to pass, not to chase. The entry has to come to you.
THE DAILY CHART: CAUTION ABOVE FRIDAY'S HIGH
There was not a whole lot else to talk about, so the focus went to where we sit on the daily chart. Price went parabolic, we had a trend line, we broke it, and we back-tested it. That is a little concerning, and it puts an area overhead in view.
Right now price is all inside of Friday's range. That is not bearish… if anything it is bullish, hovering about the halfback position. The expectation is a further trip a little south, then a reverse. We have 53 days to rollover, so no contract pressure yet.
The caution lives overhead. As we push above Friday's high into that outlined daily area, George will not be chasing the longs. He will be watching for a possible turnaround short during the live stream instead. If you are long from Battle Plan 3 or Battle Plan 4, congratulations on a beautiful night. If you are flat like George, you wait.
Trader Lesson 3
Do not chase longs into extended air. When price is parabolic and pressing above Friday's high, map a possible turnaround short and let the trade come to you.
"You're not going to be in every single trade. It's impossible. Take solace… wait for the right trade, and the right trade location."
COMMON QUESTIONS FOR ES FUTURES TRADERS
What is the Battle Plan in ES futures?
A: The Battle Plan is MicrosTrader's nightly ES trade plan. It maps tiered levels (Battle Plan 1 up to Battle Plan 8, the count varies by day) where George wants to go long. Click a number and you pull up that specific plan. It is the backbone of the ES futures morning briefing.
What are Strong Levels?
A: Strong Levels are the levels George publishes each weekend that he believes are the most important for the week ahead. Battle Plan trades are wrapped around these Strong Levels, and taking profit before the next Strong Level is often the smart play.
What is an aggressive ladder back on the Sunday open?
A: It is George's favorite Sunday opening trade. You watch the Sunday open for a small gap down, then ladder back into long entries aggressively as price pulls into the Battle Plan levels. Last night it produced a clean 30-point move north off Battle Plan 3.
What is the halfback and why does it matter?
A: The halfback is the midpoint of a prior session's range, used as a key level. Price hovering above the halfback inside Friday's range is read as bullish, not bearish, even when the market is quiet.
What is a lotto runner?
A: A lotto runner is a small speculative portion of your position you hold after taking profit, just in case price keeps going, going, going. It gives you upside exposure to a big move while your core profit is already banked.
Why not chase price above Friday's high?
A: Price went parabolic, broke a trend line, and back-tested it, leaving an extended area overhead. Chasing longs into that air is poor trade location. Above Friday's high the plan shifts to watching for a possible turnaround short instead.
What is the Core Strategy?
A: The Core Strategy is MicrosTrader's method for taking ideal entries at mapped levels. Last night, Core Strategy traders who took the ideal entry caught the move George missed by a couple ticks… proof that location discipline pays.
What does it mean to Stand Down in trading?
A: Stand Down is the command to stay flat when the right trade or the right location is not there. George was flat and missed the setup by a couple ticks, so he stood down rather than chase. You will not be in every trade, and that is okay.
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