Overnight Levels vs RTH Levels: Which Session Levels Matter

RTH levels carry ten to twenty times the volume… so which overnight references still deserve a line on your chart?

From the free MicrosTrader Trading Library… 140 lessons mined from 1,042 live ES and MES futures sessions taught since 2018.

RTH levels are king. Levels formed during regular trading hours (the RTH session) carry far more weight than levels formed overnight, because far more participants defend price when the cash market is open. In ES E-mini futures that volume gap runs ten to twenty to one. So you build your Core Strategy setups from RTH levels, and you treat most overnight levels as background noise.

This page gathers everything George teaches about the overnight session versus RTH across hundreds of hours of live ES and MES micro futures trading… why RTH volume wins, which overnight references still count, and how an untested level carries forward from one session to the next. Get this right and your chart stays clean, with only the levels that actually move price.

“"This is why I don't give overnight levels very much credibility. RTH levels are the king. You got many more people defending price."”

— George, live session, Aug 8, 2025

ES futures Battle Plan chart from George’s published record

From George’s published record: Micros Trade Plan #324 — a 100+-point move, mapped in advance.

Why RTH Volume Wins

Why does the RTH session matter so much more? Volume. The overnight session, the ETH session, trades thin. A handful of participants push price around while most of the world sleeps. When the cash market opens for regular trading hours, the crowd shows up. Every level you drew now faces real defense. That is what makes a level strong.

George says it plainly. Only the RTH prints carry weight, so that is where your levels come from.

“"Obviously these RTH levels are of a magnitude of 10 to 1, 20 to 1 maybe of importance compared to anything in the overnight session… the only single prints that ever matter is what happens in RTH. Just focus on the levels that are created during RTH."”

— George, live session, Mar 26, 2025

George has taught this in 20+ recorded sessions… and every claim in the full lesson links to the recording it came from. The full lesson covers far more than fits here.

Read the full lesson free at MicrosTrader.com →

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📍 Originally published on MicrosTrader.com

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