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This interview features Paul Langham—longtime price action specialist and former City of London insider—sitting down for a live session to unpack how pros really trade. From his early days through the 1987 crash to running Exact Trading and mentoring retail traders, Paul explains why bank levels, momentum bursts, and disciplined risk control beat prediction and indicators. He also talks candidly about automation on dealer desks, why most FX flow is now machine-driven, and what that means for intraday and swing traders who want to piggyback the big money.
In this piece, you’ll learn Paul Langham’s practical playbook: how to read price pressure into key levels, when to buy high and sell higher on confirmed breakouts, how to time reversals after “exhaustive” pushes, and why ATR-based “Armageddon” stops and small position sizes keep you alive. We’ll also cover his take on trading news (drop timeframes to see definition), using weekly/daily trends to ride institutional flows, scaling out to protect your headspace, and the subtle psychology shifts that turn chasing into following. If you want a clear, beginner-friendly framework that works across intraday and swing, you’re in the right place.
Paul Langham Playbook & Strategy: How He Actually Trades
Big Picture: What Paul Is Trying To Capture
Paul focuses on professional flow around key price levels, then rides the clean impulse that follows. The aim isn’t to predict; it’s to follow pressure when it reveals itself and step aside fast when it doesn’t.
- Trade in the direction of fresh momentum once the price accepts above/below a meaningful level.
- If momentum stalls quickly after a break, scratch or reduce—assume the flow isn’t there.
- Keep all rules simple enough to execute under live market stress.
Markets, Sessions, and Timeframes
He trades highly liquid markets where levels matter and the tape moves cleanly. London and New York sessions are preferred because that’s when institutional flow shows up.
- Focus on liquid FX pairs (e.g., EURUSD, GBPUSD), major equity indices, or top futures with tight spreads.
- Build bias from Weekly → Daily; execute on H1/H15 (intraday) or H4/D1 (swing).
- Prioritize London open to New York lunch for intraday entries; reduce expectations in dead Asia hours (unless there’s a catalyst).
Levels That Matter (Bank/Institutional Areas)
Paul pays attention to prices that real money cares about: prior session highs/lows, weekly opens, round numbers, and clearly defended zones. These are where traps spring and real trends kick.
- Mark: prior day high/low, prior week high/low, weekly open, round numbers (00/50), and obvious consolidation edges.
- Treat the first clean break-and-hold beyond these levels as high-quality signal territory.
- If a level breaks but immediately re-enters (fakeout), switch to mean-reversion mode with tight risk.
Setup 1: Breakout With Acceptance
He buys high to sell higher (or sells low to buy lower) but only after acceptance, not just a tag. This reduces fakeouts and puts you in the stronger hand.
- Wait for a close beyond the level on your execution timeframe (e.g., H15).
- Add a “confirmation bar” rule: next bar must not fully retrace back inside the range/level.
- Enter on a minor pullback toward the breakout zone; invalidate if price closes back inside.
Setup 2: Exhaustion Reversal
When a move runs hot into a well-watched level and stalls, Paul flips to fading the last burst. The goal is to catch the first pullback of the new turn, not the absolute top/bottom.
- Look for extended bars into level + loss of follow-through (smaller bodies, wicks, failed continuation).
- Enter on the first lower high (short) or higher low (long) after the stalling bar near the level.
- Invalidate if the extreme gets taken out and closes through with range expansion.
Risk: Sizing and the “Armageddon” Stop
Survival first. Paul keeps risk tiny and stops being objective, so one bad day never ruins the month.
- Risk per trade: 0.25%–0.5% of account for intraday; cap intraday total day risk at 1%–1.5%.
- Initial stop: beyond the structure that proves you wrong (breakout: other side of level; reversal: beyond the extreme wick).
- If volatility is high, use the ATR of the entry timeframe (e.g., 1.0–1.5× ATR) as a guardrail; never tighten inside ATR noise.
Trade Management: Let Winners Breathe, Kill Losers Fast
He scales out into strength to bank mental capital, then lets a runner attempt the big move. Losers are dispatched without debate.
- First scale at +1R or key intraday level; trail the rest behind swing lows/highs or a moving structure stop.
- If price returns to entry after +1R achieved, reduce to “runner only” or exit and re-enter on fresh signal.
- Time stop: if the trade goes nowhere after N bars (e.g., 6–8 on H15), scratch or halve.
Multi-Timeframe Alignment
The higher timeframe tells you whether you’re surfing with the tide or paddling upstream. Execution is easier when the bigger picture agrees.
- Only take breakout longs if Daily is making higher highs/higher lows (mirror for shorts).
- If intraday setup fights the Daily trend, cut size by half and demand cleaner confirmation.
- When Weekly, Daily, and H1 all align, allow a second add-on after a valid pullback.
News and Volatility Spikes
Catalysts can distort spreads and create fake prints. Paul adapts by changing the timeframe definition and avoiding trades right into the blast.
- Stand aside 5–10 minutes before top-tier releases; re-engage once spreads normalize.
- After the release, drop one timeframe (e.g., execute on M5 instead of M15) briefly to read the structure more clearly.
- Only trade post-news if price forms acceptance beyond a level; ignore the first chaotic spike if it lacks follow-through.
Entries: Turning Signals Into Orders
Execution is mechanical. The point is to reduce hesitation and slippage when the market finally gives the green light.
- Use stop orders for breakouts at the pullback continuation point; use limit orders for reversals at the first LH/HL.
- If the entry slips more than half the planned risk (due to spread or gap), cancel and re-plan; don’t chase.
- One trade per setup per level—avoid stacking multiples into the same micro signal.
Exits: Where the Money Is Actually Made
Paul treats exits as a separate edge. You defend open profit ruthlessly and avoid death by a thousand cuts.
- Map two profit targets before entry: PT1 near the next obvious level; PT2 at a measured move (e.g., height of prior range).
- Trail behind structure, not arbitrary ticks; move stop to breakeven only after market proves distance (e.g., +0.7–1.0R).
- If a large impulsive candle prints against your position (range expansion + close), take the hint and reduce.
Add-Ons and Pyramiding
Only add when the market pays you first. Ads are for exceptional conditions, not boredom.
- Add on a fresh HL/LH pullback in trend after PT1 banked; keep added risk ≤ original risk.
- Each must have its own invalidation level; never widen the initial stop to “fit” adds.
- Max two adds per campaign; stop adding if volatility compresses or structure gets choppy.
Playbook Filters: When Not To Trade
The best trades often come from the discipline to skip. Paul is picky on purpose.
- Skip when Daily is inside an inside-day coil and H1 prints overlapping bars around VWAP/mid.
- Skip the first touch of level during Asia unless catalyzed; prefer London/NY tests.
- Skip if the candle that breaks your level is already the largest of the week—expect snapbacks.
Journaling and Review (Fast and Useful)
Data beats memory. Paul keeps a lightweight loop that actually gets used.
- Log: market, level used, setup type (BO/REV), R multiple achieved, and the specific reason for exit.
- Tag outcomes by condition (session, trend alignment, with/against news) to see where your edge really sits.
- Each week, upgrade or downgrade setups based on stats; prune the bottom performers.
Psychology You Can Execute
His psychology is practical: create rules that remove drama, then follow them with small steps until they’re habits.
- Pre-commit: write risk, entry, stop, and PTs before placing the order; no edits post-fill except trailing rules.
- If you break a rule, cut the size to a minimum for the next five trades while still taking all signals.
- Keep screen time purposeful: mark levels, set alerts, and step away—avoid inventing trades between alerts.
Size tiny with defined risk: ATR stops and daily caps
Paul Langham keeps position size deliberately small so one bad sequence never nukes the account. He anchors stops beyond meaningful structure and sanity-checks them with the ATR so noise doesn’t shake him out. If the stop needs to be wide because volatility is up, he simply cuts size to keep the same cash risk. The goal is survival first, opportunity second.
He also sets a firm daily loss cap so emotions never drive the next trade. Once that cap is hit, he stops trading and reviewing because discipline outperforms revenge. Winners are allowed room to breathe, but losers are cut mechanically without debate. This combination of defined risk, ATR-based placement, and daily caps is how Paul Langham stays in the game long enough for the edge to play out.
Trade acceptance, not tags: ride momentum beyond defended levels
Paul Langham trades the close that proves a level is truly won, not the first touch that just pokes it. He wants acceptance: a clean close beyond a prior high/low, round number, or weekly level, followed by a bar that doesn’t immediately yank back inside. When that structure appears, he enters on the first controlled pullback toward the breakout zone instead of chasing the spike. This keeps him aligned with real flow rather than random taps.
If the price snaps back inside the level, Paul Langham treats it as a warning and stands down or flips to mean reversion with tight risk. He expects momentum to continue quickly after acceptance; if it stalls, he scratches rather than hoping. A simple time stop—if nothing happens after a few bars, exit—prevents slow bleeds. The result is a playbook that buys strength only when the market votes twice and ejects fast when that vote is withdrawn.
Let structure lead, not predictions: multi-timeframe bias and timing.
Paul Langham starts with the higher timeframes to define the tide, then drops down to execute where the waves break cleanly. Weekly and Daily establish trends, key swings, and meaningful levels; H1 or H15 provides the trigger once the price behaves correctly around those areas. He doesn’t predict; he waits for structure to confirm, then participates. If the lower timeframe fights the higher one, he cuts size or passes.
Once aligned, Paul Langham times entries on the first clean pullback after a break or the first lower high/higher low after exhaustion. He uses recent swing highs/lows to define risk and demands immediate progress; if price hesitates, he scratches. Fresh momentum and acceptance matter more than any narrative. The method is simple: let the bigger structure set the story, let the smaller structure write the entry.
Diversify by session and instrument: stick to liquid, clean movers.
Paul Langham spreads opportunity across sessions and symbols, but he keeps the menu tight and liquid. He favors London and New York hours because that’s when real flow shows up and levels actually matter. Indices, major FX pairs, and front-line futures make his shortlist since spreads are tight and impulses are clean. By rotating attention between instruments, he avoids forcing trades when one market is choppy or asleep.
Paul Langham also adapts expectations by session: London for first breaks and range expansions, New York for continuation or reversal after the open. If a market prints overlapping bars and messy wicks, he shifts to another instrument rather than lowering standards. He tracks which pairs or indices tend to respect his levels that week and leans into those while sidelining the rest. The aim is simple: diversify across time and tickers, but only trade the ones behaving cleanly today.
Manage winners mechanically: scale out, trail behind swing structure.e
Paul Langham treats exit rules as their own edge, not an afterthought. He takes partial profits at the next obvious level or at +1R to bank mental capital and reduce the urge to meddle. After that, he lets a runner work so he can participate if the market trends further than expected. Stops are advanced behind swing lows/highs, not arbitrary ticks, so structure—not fear—does the decision-making.
When momentum cools or an opposing impulse bar closes with range expansion, Paul Langham cuts size or bails rather than negotiating with hope. If the price returns to entry after banking the first scale, he reduces to a token runner or resets for the next clean signal. He avoids averaging up blindly; any add-on must form a fresh higher low/lower high with its own invalidation. The goal is simple: bank something early, protect open equity with structure, and give the remainder a real chance to trend.
Paul Langham’s core message is simple: trade what the market proves, protect capital like a hawk, and let structure—not prediction—make the decisions. He builds bias from the Weekly and Daily, marks bank-driven levels like prior highs/lows, weekly opens, and round numbers, and then waits for clean behavior at those spots. Breakouts are only real if price accepts beyond the level; reversals are only valid when a hot move stalls and prints a first lower high or higher low. Size stays small, risk is always defined, and the “Armageddon” stop—often sanity-checked with ATR—sits beyond the structure that says you’re wrong. If momentum doesn’t follow quickly, time stops, and scratches prevent slow bleeds, daily loss caps halt tilt, and the next opportunity gets a fresh, unemotional read.
From sessions to instruments, Paul Langham keeps it practical. London and New York hours matter because that’s when flow shows and levels get respected; majors and liquid indices keep costs tight and impulses clean. News is handled with discipline: step aside into releases, re-engage only after spreads normalize, and briefly drop a timeframe to see definition more clearly. Exits are a separate edge—scale at the next obvious level or +1R, then trail behind swing structure so winners can actually run. Adds only happen after the market pays first and forms their own invalidation; boredom never justifies a click. The whole playbook loops back into process: journal the setup, session, and R multiple, prune what underperforms, and keep the rules simple enough to execute under stress. That’s how Paul’s strategy survives the rough days and harvests the clean ones.
