You can find solid setups in the S&Ps today -- Here's your triggers

Sessions ahead of FOMC meetings are usually directional and potentially profitable as well. Once the September contract option-expiry settlement gyrations sift out this morning, we should have solid opportunities to profit from today.

ES (+$50 per index point)

S&P 500 held a gap-up open move on Friday and lifted into the afternoon toward recent resistance levels. 1239.50 is initial support while 1236.50 marks lowest level of support for continued upside potential. Sideways churn has not been thwarted yet... index(es) are merely marking time to the next directional decision.

MD (+$100 per index point)

S&P 400 held inside another muted range last Friday: contracting price action is fixing for a big break soon. The 12-point swing from recent high to low and 50% retrace of that may be the near-term top for now.

YM (+$5 per index point)

Dow Industrial futures are sticking near the daily pivot = 38% retrace dual support as we await cash-market session to begin. 10620 should hold any tests today if upside has further potential ahead.

ER (+$100 per index point)

Russell 2000 futures see 672.40 and then 670.10 as the well-watched lines on a chart today. Bullish above and bearish below as the overall bias for this session.

{Price levels posted in charts above are compiled from a number of different measurements. Over the course of time we will see these varying levels magnetize = repel price action consistently}

Simply Profitable
I get a lot of email questions from prospective customers asking about what I consider the most aggressive methods of trading. How many index points' profit per day = week are expected from scalp-trade tactics, what the biggest point-gain profit sessions are, etc.

It is natural for human logic to assume the most active trading methods using smallest possible stops have best potential for success. After all, if we take enough trade signals using tight stops, eventually the breakout moves will erase cumulative small losses.

As the email conversation wears on, we usually discover said trader is barely profitable or not yet profitable overall. There are likely holes in all aspects of their trading, i.e. poor money management, irregular trade entry decisions, impulse trades, several methods = approaches mixed together, lack of confidence due to previous trading experiences, etc.

Aspiring and/or struggling traders usually gravitate to the most active, therefore most aggressive methods of trading. This group mostly fixates on max potential performance of a system or method while ignoring degree of difficulty involved with operating the method in question. Instead, I always suggest it is far more important to concentrate on being profitable, period.

First Things First
Before a trader can average +5 points daily profit in the ER or ES, they must be able to average +2 points. Before that can happen, averaging +1 point per day is the goal. Before that occurs, breaking even and keeping losses small are previous steps to take.

Impatience for success prompts too many traders toward chasing intermediate-level goals rather than base-level goals. Those who are already profitable overall can focus on honing skills to improve efficiency of performance. Those who are not yet profitable on a sustained basis CANNOT have the same performance goals of traders who are. Same game, different stages for all of us!

In my oft-stated opinion, intraday swing trading is much easier to book consistent profits from than intraday scalping. We demonstrate overall profitable emini trading each week inside our educational forum and so do many, many other services similar to us. The fact is clearly proven that retail traders, individuals trading from home can trade emini markets profitably.

Various degrees of difficulty are involved with that accomplishment. There is absolutely no easy, out of the box, 1-2-3 approach to trading any financial market without time, effort and degree of learning curve involved. Once traders exhaust their search for no-brainer / no-effort secrets to trading that don't exist, they stop wasting precious time and begin to focus on what it truly takes to succeed in our profession.

From there, a realistic goal to be profitable overall is step one. That is the primary goal for everyone. May I suggest that before we can run, it is important we learn how to walk. Instead of fixating on max potential performance most aggressive methods first, get good at the easier tactics for trading until methodical profits are a reality instead of an expectation if not merely a distance dream. 

Trade To Win
Austin P
www.CoiledMarkets.com
(free pivot point calculator, much more inside)

Austin Passamonte is a full-time professional trader who specializes in E-mini stock index futures, equity options and commodity markets.
Mr. Passamonte's trading approach uses proprietary chart patterns found on an intraday basis. Austin trades privately in the Finger Lakes region of New York.