Table of Contents
In this interview, Brian McAboy—full-time trader and founder of Inside Out Trading—breaks down why most people stall after getting “a little profitable” and how to turn the corner into durable consistency. Recorded on a trader-focused podcast, Brian frames trading as a real business with an executive in charge (you) and skills to acquire, from planning and risk to execution and psychology. If you’ve ever made some gains only to give them back, his “treat it like a business” playbook will hit home.
You’ll learn the practical framework Brian uses to stay profitable: write a simple business plan, value your time like a real cost, size risk realistically (especially with prop-firm rules), and measure progress against clear milestones. He also shows how to pick a strategy that actually fits you—so execution gets calmer—and why competence (built via proper training and systemization) melts most psychology problems. By the end, you’ll have a blueprint to stop chasing “hot setups” and start running a trading business that can grow.
Brian McAboy Playbook & Strategy: How He Actually Trades
Treat Trading Like a Real Business
Trading only becomes consistent when you run it like a business, not a hobby. Brian McAboy frames you as the executive: you decide the plan, the metrics, and the quality standards before money is put at risk. This section turns that mindset into concrete operating rules.
- Write a one-page business plan covering: markets traded, sessions, setups, risk limits, review cadence, and growth targets (monthly and quarterly).
- Define two “hard stops”: max daily drawdown (≤ 1.5R) and max weekly drawdown (≤ 4R). Stop trading for the period if either is hit.
- Budget your time: minimum 3 focused sessions per week—prep (20–30 min), trading (your chosen window), review (15–20 min).
- Use a simple P&L and cash-flow sheet that tracks fees, data, and tools so you know your true breakeven and required win rate.
- Reassess the plan monthly; if targets are missed 2 months in a row, adjust risk and frequency before adding complexity.
Build Competence First, Then Size Up
Brian’s big point: psychology improves as competence rises. You don’t “think” your way into confidence—you train it. Use a deliberate practice loop to harden skills before scaling.
- Choose one core setup and commit to 40–60 sample trades before judging it; no sizing up until you log ≥ 40 trades.
- Trade micro-size (0.25–0.5R) during skill acquisition; increase by 0.25R only after three consecutive green weeks and clean execution stats.
- Track three competence metrics per trade: rule adherence (yes/no), timing error (seconds/bars late), and management error (exit off-plan).
- If adherence drops below 85% for a week, cut the size by half for the next 10 trades and fix the specific error with drills.
Fit the Strategy to You (Not the Other Way Around)
A setup that doesn’t suit your temperament will leak discipline. Brian stresses aligning strategy with your attention span, schedule, and tolerance for uncertainty.
- Pick a market/session that matches your availability (e.g., US cash open if you’re alert mornings); avoid FOMO sessions you can’t consistently attend.
- Decide your “uncertainty tolerance”: if wicks and noise rattle you, favor higher-timeframe trend-pullback or session-opening range breaks over scalp fades.
- Codify your setup in 7 lines or fewer: market, timeframe(s), entry trigger, invalidation, initial stop, initial target, management rules.
- Add a “fit check” to your journal: stress level (1–5) and clarity (1–5). If average stress > 3 for two weeks, switch to a calmer setup or timeframe.
Risk & Money Management That Survives Reality
Longevity beats home runs. Brian’s approach is to cap downside, standardize R, and keep upside realistic so compounding can actually work.
- Risk a fixed fraction of equity per trade: 0.25–0.75% for development, max 1% once consistent; never stack correlated trades above 1.5% total.
- Pre-define R: place stops where the trade idea is invalid; size position so stop distance equals your planned R.
- Default targets: T1 at +1R (scale 50%), T2 at +2R; move stop to breakeven only after price advances ≥ 0.8R or structure confirms.
- Daily cap: stop trading after +3R or −1.5R, whichever comes first; protect good days and cut off bad ones before tilt.
A Simple, Clean Entry Playbook
Clarity kills hesitation. Brian favors simple triggers wrapped in structure, not indicator soup. Keep entries visual and repeatable.
- Require a structure context (trend, range, or breakout) plus one clean trigger (e.g., break-retest, engulfing after pullback, or ORB with volume).
- Set a time filter: only take signals during your A-session (e.g., first 90 minutes) and ignore the rest to avoid boredom trades.
- For pullbacks: enter on the first strong candle in the direction of trend after a 38–61% retrace; invalidation beyond the last swing.
- For ORB: wait for the first 5–15-minute range to form; enter on close outside the range with stop on the opposite edge.
Pre-Trade Checklist (Do Not Skip)
Brian’s quality-control roots show here: consistent prep removes 80% of avoidable errors. This checklist keeps you from freelancing.
- Environment: mark session highs/lows, overnight range, and nearest HTF level; note scheduled news within your session window.
- Bias: define “trend,” “range,” or “breakout watch” in one sentence.
- Tradeability: Is volatility normal for your setup? If ATR or spread doubles, skip or halve size.
- Trigger: Is your exact entry condition present now? If not, no trade.
- Risk: confirm stop location and size to the penny; R defined, position sized.
- Execution: place stop and OCO target with the entry (no manual stop “later”).
- Journal card pre-filled with hypothesis and invalidation.
In-Trade Management You Can Execute Under Pressure
The goal is to manage the trade you planned, not the one you wish you had. Brian keeps rules simple to avoid mid-trade bargaining.
- No averaging down. If stopped, you’re done unless a fresh, independent signal appears after a full reset.
- If price moves +0.8R and stalls at structure, reduce to 2/3 size; at +1R hit T1; trail only below/above clear swing structure, not candle-by-candle noise.
- One “re-arm” allowed: if stopped by a wick and the setup immediately reforms with better structure, you may take one re-entry at half size.
Journal for Decisions, Not Just Outcomes
What you decide matters more than the P&L of a single trade. Brian’s journaling focuses on the quality of choices, so improvements are obvious.
- Log each trade with: setup name, screenshot, hypothesis, invalidation, R planned, R realized, adherence (Y/N), and one improvement note.
- Tag errors by type (entry timing, stop placement, management, rules violation). Review weekly and pick one error to eliminate next week.
- Track a rolling 20-trade sample per setup; if expectancy < 0.2R or adherence < 85%, fix the process before adding risk.
Weekly Review & Continuous Improvement
A light but regular review locks in progress. Brian treats each week like a mini sprint: measure, adjust, and get back to work.
- Hold a 30-minute review: totals (R, win rate, avg R), top 3 screenshots (good and bad), and one action for next week.
- If you hit your weekly drawdown limit, analyze first—trade later. Write the single rule that would have prevented the drawdown and install it.
- Increase size only after two green weeks with adherence ≥ 90% and no category-A errors (stop moved early, revenge trade, added to loser).
Adapting to Prop-Firm Rules (If Applicable)
Constraints change behavior. Brian’s approach is to adapt the plan so it passes prop rules without wrecking edge.
- Set a stricter daily loss: ≤ 1.0R and stop trading for the day at −1.0R to respect trailing drawdown logic.
- Favor one high-quality trade per session; avoid stacking correlated positions that spike intraday drawdown.
- Withdraw or scale down after 2–3 payout cycles; protect the personal equity curve from evaluation churn.
Growth Roadmap: From One Setup to a Portfolio of Edges
Once the machine runs smoothly, you can add gears. Brian’s growth path is methodical, so consistency survives expansion.
- Add the second setup only after the first shows ≥ 60 trades with positive expectancy and adherence ≥ 90%.
- Stagger edges across either timeframe (intra-day + swing) or structure (trend-pullback + ORB) to reduce correlation.
- Keep global risk constant: total open risk across all trades ≤ 1.5% and never more than 1% in a single correlated theme.
Execution Hygiene & Energy Management
Consistency is physical and mental. Brian bakes simple habits that keep the operator (you) sharp.
- Trade only when sleep ≥ 6.5 hours and no alcohol within 12 hours; if not met, half size or skip.
- Use a pre-session 3-minute ritual: breath reset, plan review, first alert levels set, and distractions off.
- End-of-day shutdown: screenshots saved, journal done, platform closed; no chart-staring after hours.
Size Risk Like a Pro: Fixed R, Strict Daily Drawdown
Brian McAboy treats risk like inventory—you never put more on the shelf than your plan can carry. Set a fixed R per trade so every position is sized by the distance to the invalidation, not by feeling. Keep development risk small (0.25–0.5% of equity) and cap single-trade risk at 1% once you’re consistent. If your stop losses are where the idea is clearly wrong, you can survive the losers long enough for the edge to show up.
Pair that with a hard daily drawdown, so tilt never gets a vote. Decide the line in advance—common choices are −1.5R or −1%—and shut it down the second it’s touched. Brian McAboy’s twist is to also cap good days, locking gains at +3R so you don’t hand them back chasing a “bonus” win. Fixed R builds clean data; strict daily limits protect the operator, which is how consistency compounds.
Build Volatility-Based Positioning That Scales Without Blowing Up
Brian McAboy sizes positions by what the market is actually doing, not what he hopes it will do. Use volatility to set distance and size: when ATR expands, you either widen the stop and cut size or you skip; when ATR contracts, you can hold normal size with tighter risk. He treats volatility like a cost of entry—if it’s expensive today, you buy fewer shares or smaller contracts so the same R is at stake. The result is steady exposure that doesn’t explode when markets get jumpy.
To scale up, Brian McAboy increases risk only after volatility normalizes and execution stays clean, not just because the account grew. He anchors add to recent realized variance and equity curve stability, so the new size comes in increments that your psychology can carry. He also avoids stacking correlated positions in the same high-vol regime, because volatility clusters and drawdowns travel in packs. Positioning expands when conditions are friendly and contracts when they’re not—that’s how you keep the edge while protecting the equity curve.
Diversify by Setup, Duration, and Market—Reduce Edge Correlation
Brian McAboy spreads risk across independent edges so one cold patch doesn’t sink the week. He mixes a trend-pullback and an opening-range breakout so both aren’t punished by the same conditions, then staggers timeframes—an intraday playbook for cash-session momentum and a swing play for higher-timeframe structure. He also rotates markets: if he’s active in equities, he’ll balance with a futures index or a liquid FX pair so news shocks don’t hit everything at once. The aim is simple: when one lane chops, another can still pay.
Brian McAboy keeps total open risk capped across the portfolio and avoids stacking trades that respond to the same driver (e.g., all tech beta or all dollar moves). He evaluates correlation by outcome patterns in his journal—if two setups win and lose together too often, he treats them as one and cuts exposure. He reviews a rolling 20-trade block per setup to confirm each has positive expectancy on its own, not just because the market was hot. Over time, this mix of setup, duration, and market diversification smooths the equity curve and makes compounding far less fragile.
Trade the Mechanics, Not Predictions: Rules, Checklists, and Reviews
Brian McAboy builds his edge around execution, not forecasts. He uses a short ruleset to frame every action: when the trigger prints, he enters; when the invalidation hits, he’s out; when the target is reached, he scales—no bargaining. A pre-trade checklist forces alignment with trend, level, and volatility before a single order goes live. By making the decision tree visible and repeatable, Brian removes the “maybe” that burns time and capital.
During the trade, Brian McAboy manages by structure, not gut feel, and he documents each decision in a compact journal card. After the session, he reviews screenshots to grade adherence, not just P&L, and tags any lapse with a corrective drill for tomorrow. The cycle is simple: rules → checklist → execution → review → tiny upgrade. Over weeks, this mechanical loop compounds skill—so even when markets shift, the process stays stable and the equity curve keeps climbing.
Choose Defined Risk First; Manage Undefined Risk With Hard Stops
Brian McAboy prioritizes trades where risk is defined from the start—your worst case is known before you click. That means entries with clear invalidation and position sizes set so a stop-out equals one planned R, not a mystery number. When the structure won’t let you define risk cleanly—like news-driven bursts or thin levels—he either passes or cuts size and tightens the plan. The point is simple: if you can’t name the loss in advance, it’s not a professional trade.
For situations that carry inherently undefined risk, Brian McAboy bolts on non-negotiables. He places hard stops at the broker, uses OCO orders for targets, and refuses to “give it a little room” once the idea is broken. He won’t pyramid into losers, and he treats slippage as a cost to be expected, not a reason to widen stops after the fact. Over time, this bias toward defined risk—and strict control when risk can expand—keeps losers small, data clean, and the equity curve trending up.
Brian McAboy’s message is simple but demanding: run trading like a real business and make the operator competent. That starts with a one-page plan, fixed risk per trade, and hard daily/weekly drawdown limits so tilt never controls the day. He pushes volatility-aware sizing so exposure breathes with the market instead of your emotions, and he favors defined-risk structures with stops where the idea is genuinely broken. When risk can expand unpredictably, he either cuts size or skips entirely—professional decisions made before the heat of the moment.
The edge lives in mechanics, not predictions. Brian McAboy’s loop—rules → checklist → execution → review—turns every trade into training that compounds skill. He diversifies intelligently by setup, timeframe, and market to reduce edge correlation, caps total open risk, and scales size only after clean execution and stable variance. For prop-style constraints, he tightens loss caps and favors one high-quality idea over stacks that blow through trailing drawdowns. Put together, his approach creates a durable machine: small, known losses; steady, rules-driven gains; and a rhythm of weekly improvements that make consistency the default instead of a lucky streak.
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