Read the brief, check the setup, then decide for yourself.
Futures Desk is one trader's daily research, shared with a small circle. This page explains what you're looking at and how to use it well.
01What this is
Every trading day, a research assistant reads the economic calendar, overnight market moves and the news, then writes a short brief with a handful of trade setups in futures markets. The approach comes from two books: Jim Cramer's Mad Money: Watch TV, Get Rich (do your homework, know the catalyst, think about where we are in the business cycle) and the study of economic indicators (which reports move markets, and in which direction).
02A day on the desk
The site updates itself a few minutes after each scan. Times are Eastern.
| When | What appears |
|---|---|
| ~7:58 AM | Pre-market brief. Headline, today's releases, overnight moves, and 2–5 graded setups. |
| ~8:28 AM | Sector rotation. Which stock sectors money is flowing into and out of. |
| ~8:58, 10:58, 2:58 | Release reactions, only on days a big report or Fed decision lands. They show what the number was, how markets reacted, and whether the morning setups still hold. |
| ~4:58 PM | End-of-day refresh, including any trades logged that day. |
| Sun ~5:35 PM | Week ahead, before futures reopen at 6 PM: the week's calendar, what to do if each report runs hot or cool, and swing ideas. |
The Today tab always shows the latest brief, with any release updates on top. History keeps everything from the past 90 days.
03Reading a setup
Each idea is shown as a ticket. Here's a made-up example with every part labeled.
3Late-cycle energy shock favors gold, and yields have eased off their highs. Wait for a break of 4,250 to confirm.
Catalyst CPI Wednesday
- 1Market, direction, timeframe. GC is gold futures. long means betting it goes up; short means betting it goes down; watch means not yet. The timeframe is intraday (same day), swing (days to weeks) or position (weeks to months).
- 2Score and grade, out of 10. Section 4 explains the grades.
- 3Thesis and catalyst. Why the idea exists, and the scheduled event that should move it. No catalyst, no trade.
- 4Entry, stop, target, R:R. Entry is where to get in. The stop is where the idea is wrong, so you get out. The target is where to take profit. R:R is reward divided by risk: 2.1 means the possible gain is about twice the possible loss.
- 5Ratings and comments from the circle. Section 9 covers how to add yours.
04Scores and grades
Every setup is scored on the same seven-point checklist, for a total out of 10.
| Checklist item | Points | The question it asks |
|---|---|---|
| Regime fit | 0–2 | Does the trade suit where we are in the economic cycle? |
| Catalyst | 0–2 | Is there a scheduled event inside the holding period? |
| Trend | 0–2 | Is price on the right side of its 20- and 50-day averages? |
| Location | 0–1 | Is the entry at a sensible level, not chasing a stretched move? |
| Positioning | 0–1 | Is everyone already on the same side? |
| Reward : risk | 0–1 | Is the possible gain at least twice the possible loss? |
| Confirmation | 0–1 | Do related markets agree? |
- A 8–10: the strongest setups. Rare.
- B 6–7: worth considering, usually at half size or after confirmation.
- C 5 or less: a watch, not a trade.
05Regime and mode
Each brief names a regime: where the economy sits in the business cycle. Different markets tend to do well in each one.
| Regime | Usually helps | Usually hurts |
|---|---|---|
| Early recovery | Stocks, small caps, copper | Gold, the dollar |
| Mid-cycle | Tech stocks, oil | Bonds |
| Late cycle / overheating | Oil, gold, grains | Tech, small caps, bonds |
| Slowdown | Bonds, gold, the yen | Small caps, copper, oil |
The mode tells you how markets are treating economic news. In "good news is good" mode, strong data lifts stocks. In "good news is bad" mode, strong data hurts stocks, because traders expect the Fed to keep rates higher for longer.
06Release reactions
Some reports move markets hard: jobs, inflation (CPI, PCE), retail sales, ISM surveys, oil inventories, crop reports and Fed decisions. When one lands, a release update appears at the top of Today within about 20 minutes.
- Actual vs. consensus: what came out compared with what economists expected. The difference, called the surprise, is what moves prices.
- Reaction: how each market moved in the first minutes.
- Morning ideas: whether each earlier setup is confirmed or cancelled.
07Sector rotation
The stock market is split into 11 sectors, each tracked by a fund (XLK for tech, XLE for energy, and so on). The sector scan sorts them into four groups by recent performance:
- Leading strong over the past month and the past week
- Improving weak for the month, turning up this week
- Weakening strong for the month, fading this week
- Lagging weak over both
When the leaders match what the regime predicts, the brief's view gets more weight. When they don't, it's a warning sign.
08The trade journal
This tab shows trades the desk actually took, win or lose, with the setup score each had. Results are shown in R: +2R means the trade made twice what it risked, and −1R means it hit its stop.
Separately, every setup is graded automatically after each close, whether anyone traded it or not. Each ticket gets a Result line (waiting for entry, in trade, target hit, stopped out, time exit or never triggered), and the Scorecard tab totals them by grade, market and timeframe. Grading uses real daily futures prices and counts a day that touched both stop and target as a loss, so results lean conservative.
09Rating and comments
- Tap Rate & comment on any setup.
- Pick 1–5 stars for how much you like the idea.
- Add your name and a short comment, such as "Would wait for the CPI number first" or "Stop looks tight to me".
- Tap Post. Everyone with the code sees it within seconds.
Comments are encrypted with the access code, so only people in the circle can read them. Be kind and specific; the point is better decisions.
10Market cheat sheet
| Symbol | Market | Micro version | What moves it |
|---|---|---|---|
| ES | S&P 500 | MES | Earnings, jobs, Fed, broad risk appetite |
| NQ | Nasdaq-100 (big tech) | MNQ | Interest rates, inflation, AI and tech news |
| RTY | Russell 2000 (small caps) | M2K | Borrowing costs, the domestic economy |
| ZN | 10-year Treasury note | – | Inflation and Fed expectations. Falls when yields rise. |
| CL | Crude oil | MCL | Inventories, OPEC, Middle East supply |
| NG | Natural gas | – | Weather, storage reports |
| GC | Gold | MGC | Real interest rates, the dollar, fear |
| HG | Copper | – | Global growth, China |
| ZC ZS ZW | Corn, soybeans, wheat | – | USDA reports, weather, exports |
| 6E 6J | Euro, Japanese yen | – | Rate gaps between central banks |
11Risk basics
Futures are leveraged: a small move in price is a large move in your account, and losses can exceed what you deposited. If you're new, these rules are the ones that matter most.
- Paper trade first. Follow the setups on a simulator for a month before risking real money.
- Use micros. A micro contract is one-tenth the size of the full one. One MES moves $5 per S&P point instead of $50.
- Risk a small, fixed slice. Many traders risk 0.5–1% of the account per trade.
- Set the stop before you enter, and never move it further away.
- Size from the stop. Example: a $10,000 account risking 1% has $100 to risk. An MES trade with a 10-point stop risks $50 per contract, so that's 2 contracts.
12Questions
I forgot the access code, or it stopped working.
Ask the person who invited you. The code is changed now and then, and the site will say so when yours is out of date.
Can I add it to my phone's home screen?
Yes. On iPhone, open it in Safari, tap Share, then Add to Home Screen. On Android, open it in Chrome, tap the ⋮ menu, then Add to Home screen. With "Remember on this device" ticked, it opens straight to the desk.
Why is a level shown as "spot" or described in words?
When the research couldn't find a current futures price, it either gives the spot (cash) price and labels it, or describes the level, such as "pullback to the 20-day average", rather than guess a number.
Can I share the site with someone else?
Ask first. The circle is kept small on purpose, and every new person needs the code.
Is this financial advice?
No. It's one person's research and opinions, shared for discussion. Make your own decisions, and talk to a licensed professional about your situation.