5d • Daily Market Review
September 22nd Trading Recap – Lessons From the MNQ
Hey everybody, how’s it going?
I wanted to share a quick recap of today’s session. It’s September 22nd, and this morning I traded the MNQ pretty much right from the market open. My session was short—about an hour from 9:30 to 10:30 Eastern—because my son got sick and I had to pick him up from school. My wife had already called twice, the school called too, so the market had to take a back seat today.
Big Picture View 🕵️♂️
Looking at the higher timeframes, we’re flirting with all-time highs. Both the hourly and the 4-hour charts looked solid and suggested the market could go higher. My plan coming in was simple: wait for a pullback and then look for a long entry.
And that’s exactly what happened. Around 7:41, we got the pullback I was waiting for, and I took the trade. The entry itself was good—contracts at 45 and 46—but my management wasn’t. I should have let at least one contract run toward higher prices.
Technically speaking, everything was lined up:
- The 8 and 20 EMAs were pointing up nicely
- Clean structure on the 5- and 15-minute
- VWAP was up from the open
- Strong volume to the upside
The market clearly had buyers, and we lifted right around 8:25. So the setup was there, but my execution wasn’t as sharp as it could have been.
Where I Went Off Plan 🚧
Here’s the honest part. My first couple of trades at 7:39 and 7:41 weren’t even in my original game plan. I took them anyway—and got punished for it.
That mistake messed with my psychology. When I finally did get into a great position later (clean entry, no drawdown), I was already fighting frustration and second-guessing myself. Instead of managing calmly, I cut the trade short.
This is something I know I need to keep working on: not letting earlier mistakes bleed into the trades that actually line up with my plan.
The Opportunities I Passed On 🤦♂️
In hindsight, I should have taken the entry right at 8:50—buyers stepped in hard at the open. That pullback would’ve been solid. Instead, I let it push to the high, then hesitated when price came back down around 7:58.
At the time, I was overthinking the risk-to-reward. I thought it was maybe just a 1:1 setup, so I passed. Looking back, it was clear. Hindsight’s always cleaner, though, right?
Later, when the price dropped back in, I did take a long. But I sized down—only one contract instead of two—because I wasn’t feeling confident. The trade worked, but my entry was a little early. The move still came, but because I sized down, I didn’t get as much out of it as I could have.
And then to top it off, I closed my monitor at 8:26 and completely missed the follow-through move.
Takeaways 📝
The big lesson today: trust the plan.
The higher timeframe analysis was spot on. The setups that actually matched my criteria worked well. The ones I forced outside the plan cost me.
It’s better to sit on your hands and wait than to take a trade that doesn’t fit and then carry that frustration into the rest of the session.
If I’d stuck to my original plan, managed better, and kept at least one runner, today could’ve been a much stronger day. Instead, it turned into a learning experience—and that’s okay. That’s part of the journey.
Thanks for reading this recap. Drop a comment and let me know how your trading went today or what you saw in the price action.
Until next time—trade well 👊
0
0 comments
September 22nd Trading Recap – Lessons From the MNQ
powered by
skool.com/zion-futures-trading-3124
This space is built to help you master the art and discipline of futures trading.
Suggested communities
Powered by