Waiting For Your Pitch – May 21 ESDaily Gameplan

We waited 9 hours after the open. One setup came. We took it. That’s the job.

Wednesday, May 21, 2025

Last week, we laid the groundwork. The signs were stacking:

“For a trend pullback we typically see 3 things:
– Divergence after stretched run
– Failed attempt at new high
– Break in key demand where RSI is sub 40”
— May 16 Gameplan

By Friday, it was all but confirmed:

“Divergence was the first warning.”
“We failed to print a new high… 5927 never broke.”
“By the final hours of the session, signs of a liquidation event began creeping in.”
— May 17 Gameplan

The market followed the map.

Monday evening tagged 5993.50 — the high.
By 3PM Tuesday, we were down nearly 70 points, trading 5926.75.

But a lot of sitting was done beforehand…

Yesterday, May 20 I wrote this in No Trigger No Problem

We did wait.

Tuesday reminded us:
Patience isn’t a skill. It’s a weapon.

I published the May 20 Gameplan at 6:30 AM, fresh off a clean zero-trade Monday.
And still—we sat. For over 8 hours.

Look at this chop pre 2:15PMEST.

A brutally tight ~15 pt range:

We were in a very compressed Noise state during most of the day. Volatility was low - a lot of yawning going on…

As outlined in “State Switch,” when ES is the Noise State - price chops, traps, fakes, and resets. It doesn’t trend cleanly. It oscillates. One moment we’re bouncing off a low, then we stall, fade, rally again—and we’re right back where we started.

-We didn’t flinch during the morning chop.
-We didn’t bite on the noise.
-We didn’t overtrade because we were “bored”
-We didn’t settle.

Because we weren’t waiting for a trade.
We were waiting for our trade - the ones that fit our core strategy

We waited.

And patience paid off

The structure cracked. Liquidity rushed in at 2:15PM. That’s when opportunity returned.

And we were ready.

Trade Review — May 20, 2025 - 1 Trade

We started the day with one level in focus: 5947.

Monday’s Gameplan laid it out:

If we flush below 5947 and reclaim it, we’re long.

This wasn’t just any level — 5947 had anchored Monday’s closing structure, and a clean failed breakdown there would offer strong long-side risk/reward. But we weren’t buying a flush. We were waiting for the reclaim — confirmation first, action second.

2:15 PM, the market finally moved.

Price flushed below 5947. We were on high alert.
After such a boring day, — this was the setup we’d been sitting for.

Price bottomed at 5936.75 and I alerted on X:

You can see below how the opportunity came together.

We got as high at 5946.75.

1 tick off the reclaim.

Remarkably close and still. We weren’t triggered.

This is how discipline plays out in real time.
It’s not a motivational quote. It’s an action — or in this case, inaction.

Called the level. The flush happened. The market gave you 90% of the setup.
But without the last 10% — the reclaim — we hold the line.

That’s the job.

After the 5947 failed breakdown never reclaimed, the market did what it does best when a setup fails: it moved lower.

Fast.

By 3PM, ES had dropped to 5926.75 — almost 70 points off Monday night’s 5993.50 high. That flush gave us what we’d been waiting for all day: liquidity.

Now it was about spotting the reclaim.2nd opportunity of the day = 5935 reclaim:

This time we were able to engage:

Around 2:30 PM, ES had built a base near 5937. It failed on the breakdown, but that level stuck in memory — you knew if buyers took it back with tempo, we’d have our trade.

Price pushed back above 5937, and this time it stuck.
Entry 5937 3:09PM
I alerted on X the entry and targets

Here’s a screen shot of what took place prior to T1 being hit. (If you click on the image you’ll see I detailed out the failed reclaim of 5947 and wrote notes on the chart)

As from 3:09 PM to market close — we rallied.

I updated X along the way by ultimately,

T1 was hit at 3:31PM
T2 was hit at 3:58PM

Before leaving for the day, we moved price to BE as we always do once T2 is hit.

At the opening of ATH price fell back to our entry spot and we were stopped out at breakeven on the runner.

This is what nine hours of patience earns you.
Not more trades — just the right trade.

That’s how we do this.

So where do we go from here today Wednesday May 21?
Do we continue to press down?

I discuss that and the opportunities I’m looking at below