How to read the map

Every trading day, minutes after the open, you get one map: a short session note and a handful of prices for ES and SPX. Here's how to read it — and how experienced subscribers trade it.

What the levels are

Each level is a price where we expect real two-sided business: places where large players are likely to transact and potentially support or defend the level. They're built by hand every morning from developing market structure. They are not the output of a pivot formula, and there's no indicator to install.

The map format

Each instrument's levels are listed price-descending — resistance above, support below — with one row marked REF. That's the reference level: the anchor price from which the day's support and resistance levels are defined. It is not a bullish/bearish line in the sand or a directional signal — it's the map's starting point, nothing more. Some days have three levels, some have six — we publish what matters, not a fixed quota.

How to trade it

• First touches are the highest-quality reactions. The first time price reaches a level, the reaction tends to be cleanest. The third or fourth test of the same level is a weaker bet — levels wear out.
• Trade the reaction, not the prediction. Let price come to the level and show its hand. A level is a place to do business, not a promise of reversal.
• Target the next level. The map is also your profit-taking guide: enter against one level, scale or exit into the next one.
• Define risk just beyond the line. If price accepts beyond your level (not just wicks through it), the trade idea is wrong — and the next level in the map becomes the new reference.
• ES or SPX — same map, your language. The two maps are the same structure in futures and cash prices. Futures traders execute off ES; stock, stock index and options traders read SPX.

What this is not

No entries, no signals, no alerts, no bias calls. We don't know your account, your size, or your risk tolerance — so we'll never tell you what to do at a level. We publish the map; you drive.

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Impersonal market information for educational purposes only — not investment advice. Stock, Futures, Cryptocurrency and Options trading involves substantial risk of loss and is not suitable for all investors. Past performance of published levels is not indicative of future results. See our Terms.