Table of Contents
This interview features Navin Prithyani—founder of Urban Forex—sitting down for a fresh, candid conversation about how he actually trades and why his approach has barely changed since 2009. Recorded for the Desire To Trade podcast, Navin explains why he treats trading as a cash-flow engine (not an end asset), how living in Dubai sharpened his operator mindset, and why he ignores indicator “middlemen” to read the raw tape. He matters because he’s built one of the space’s biggest education communities while posting outsized real trades, all anchored in consistency and market sentiment.
You’ll learn Navin’s core playbook: read the chart as “receipts” of real transactions, time entries by sentiment and context, pyramid in with the biggest size at the best location, and ride winners without choking them with over-tight trails. He breaks down handling drawdowns through preparation (not coin-flip stops), when to take partials if price overshoots target, and how to scale your size responsibly across years—not weeks—so you can survive volatility and still press advantages. If you’re new or rebuilding, this piece gives you a durable, beginner-friendly framework to trade with conviction and stay in the game when it counts.
Navin Prithyani Playbook & Strategy: How He Actually Trades
Core Philosophy: Read Price, Not Indicators
Navin treats charts like receipts of real buying and selling—no middlemen. The goal is to read context and sentiment so your trade makes sense in the bigger picture, not just because a candle pattern appeared.
- Strip charts to raw candles, a 20 EMA (context only), and session markers; no multi-indicator stacks.
- Define bias first: mark yesterday’s high/low and the weekly open; if price trades above weekly open and holds, favor longs until new information flips it.
- Rate every idea A/B/C; only execute A-setups that align structure + momentum + clean risk.
- Avoid “signal hunting.” If you can’t explain who’s trapped and who’s in control in one sentence, pass.
- Trade a small basket you know cold (e.g., XAUUSD, GBPUSD, NAS100) to internalize rhythm and volatility.
Chart Prep & Levels: Context Before Candles
Good trades are found in preparation. Build a simple, repeatable routine that surfaces location, liquidity, and timing so you’re not guessing when the market opens.
- Top-down once per day: Weekly → Daily → 4H → 15M. Draw only fresh levels (HTF swing high/low, clean supply/demand, untested breakout base).
- Tag three “decision zones” for the session: prior day high/low, Asia range extremes, and one HTF level; ignore everything else.
- Note news windows you’ll avoid (e.g., 10 minutes before to 15 minutes after tier-1 releases).
- Pre-write your plan: “Long only above D1 higher-low; wait for 15M reclaim and 5M pullback into broken structure.”
- If the price is mid-range with no story, sit out until it touches a decision zone.
Timing the Entry: Confirmation Without Hesitation
Navin wants context first, then a clean trigger so you’re joining real flow, not fading it. The trigger is simple and repeatable—no second-guessing mid-trade.
- Use 15M for setup, drill to 5M for timing; only act when the 5M structure confirms your HTF idea.
- Long trigger: break → close above level → small pullback holding the 20 EMA/structure → higher-low forms → enter on the first 5M bullish shift; reverse this for shorts.
- Place a stop where your read is invalid (beyond the structure that “should not be reclaimed”), not at an arbitrary pip count.
- If the entry would require >1.5× your standard stop distance, let it go; chase nothing.
- Give a trade one chance: if you scratch or get tagged and the context hasn’t changed, you may re-enter once—never a third time.
Risk & Position Sizing: Protect First, Press When It’s Earned
He treats trading like a cash-flow business: defend the downside relentlessly, then scale when the market proves you right.
- Fixed fractional risk: 0.25–0.5% per A-setup; cap daily risk at 1%.
- Tier trade size by quality: A = 1.0× unit, B = 0.5×, C = no trade.
- Use volatility sizing: base stop on structure, not pips; size lot so “risk $” stays constant.
- Reduce the size after a red day by 50%; restore only after two green days with proper execution.
- Never widen a stop after entry; only move to break-even after a clear 1R push and structural higher-low (or lower-high) forms.
Scaling & Pyramiding: Bigger at the Best Price
Scaling is earned by location and momentum, not hope. Add when the trade is working and the structure is stepping in your favor.
- Enter 60–70% of planned size on the first trigger; reserve 30–40% for an add-on at the next higher-low/lower-high.
- Only add if the prior impulse closed strongly and pullback volatility contracts (smaller candles, shallow retrace).
- Each add has its own stop under the new structure; trail the whole position under the most recent valid higher-low (mirror for shorts).
- Hard rule: no adds within 5 minutes of major data prints or into the day’s extreme unless you’ve already banked partials.
Trade Management & Exits: Let Winners Breathe, Pay Yourself Smart
Navin favors partials at objective points, then a rules-based trail so winners have room to run without giving the day back.
- First partial at +1R if price tags a pre-marked intraday liquidity pool (e.g., prior high/low, Asia range edge).
- Second partial at 2–3R or the next HTF level; after that, trail behind 15M structure until a clear break/close against you.
- If momentum stalls (three failed pushes, shrinking spread, upper/lower wicks at level), tighten to a 5M structure trail and be paid.
- Time-based exit: if the London trend failed to extend by New York lunch, close remainder; don’t donate in chop.
- If you exit early, write why; if the reason repeats, convert it into a rule or remove it.
Session Playbook: When and What to Trade
Markets have personalities by session. He focuses on the windows that consistently pay and avoids the ones that consistently take.
- London: favor FX majors and gold; look for range breaks and first pullbacks.
- New York open to NY lunch: continuation or reversal at daily levels; NAS100/US30 for momentum if you trade indices.
- Asia: primarily range definition; trade only clean reversion setups with half risk or use it for prep.
- No new positions within the final 30 minutes of your trading day; review and journal instead.
A+ Setups (Pattern + Context)
You don’t need many patterns—just the ones you can execute flawlessly. Tie them to context so the pattern actually means something.
- Reclaim & Go: HTF level reclaimed, 5M higher-low prints at the level, enter; stop below the reclaim candle’s low; target the next HTF pool.
- Failed Break Trap: stop-run beyond prior high/low that snaps back inside the range; short/long the first pullback to the break point; stop beyond the trap wick.
- Base → Impulse → Retest: clean base forms, impulsive break, shallow retest with contracting range; enter on first micro-shift; add on next higher-low.
- News Flush Fade (advanced): only after the spike returns inside structure and holds for 15 minutes; half size; fast management.
Drawdown & Recovery: Rules That Keep You in the Game
The edge is partly math, mostly behavior. Protect your equity curve so you’re alive to hit the next streak.
- Max 3 trades/day or 2R daily loss—whichever comes first; stop immediately when hit.
- After any 2R day, the next day’s risk is cut by half, and you trade only A-setups.
- Weekly loss cap: −4R. If hit, stop trading until the next calendar week; conduct a full review before returning.
- During a slump: replay charts bar-by-bar for your A-setup for 5 sessions; journal 10 examples before you size back up.
Journal & Review: Turn Reps into Edge
Edge compounds when you measure it. Make the journal fast to fill and brutal to read.
- Log every trade with: screenshot before/after, reason to enter, where you’re wrong, and management decisions.
- Tag each trade by setup type (Reclaim & Go, Failed Break Trap, etc.) and by session; review win-rate, avg R, and drawdown per tag weekly.
- If a tag underperforms for three weeks running, shelf it for two weeks and study 20 historical samples before re-adding.
- Create a one-page “Rules I Broke” sheet; aim to reduce violations by 20% month over month.
Daily Routine: Make Consistency Inevitable
Consistency isn’t motivation—it’s structure. A tight routine reduces randomness and frees attention for reading the tape.
- Pre-market (30–45 min): mark levels, write plan in one paragraph, set alerts at decision zones, and define your A-setup for the day.
- During market: execute only pre-planned ideas; speak your entry/exit rules out loud before clicking.
- Post-market (15–20 min): journal, grade execution (A/B/C), and screenshot the cleanest missed move to study later.
- Weekly: pick the “Trade of the Week,” document it step-by-step, and rehearse it Sunday evening before markets open.
Read Price Like Receipts: Context First, Signals Second
Navin Prithyani says price is the final receipt of every decision, so you read it before you read anything else. He strips the chart to raw candles and a few session markers to see who is actually in control. Context comes from where price is relative to the weekly open, yesterday’s high/low, and the Asia range, not from a flashing indicator. When you can describe in one sentence who’s trapped and who’s pressing, you have a trade idea; if you can’t, you wait.
From there, Navin Prithyani times the entry only after the structure confirms the story on a lower timeframe. A clean break, a hold above or below the key level, and a small pullback are the ingredients he wants to see before clicking. The stop goes where the read is proven wrong—not at an arbitrary pip count—because the receipt must be invalidated for you to exit. This keeps you focused on context first and “signals” only when they align with the bigger picture.
Size Risk By Structure And Volatility, Not Arbitrary Pip Stops
Navin Prithyani treats risk as a fixed dollar decision, then lets structure and recent volatility dictate the stop distance. If the trade requires a wider stop because the level that invalidates the idea is farther away, he simply reduces the size so the risk stays constant. He avoids round-number stops and “standard 20 pips” because markets don’t care about your template; they care about where the story breaks. ATR or recent range helps gauge whether the move has room, but the true line in the sand is the last swing that should not be reclaimed.
When volatility compresses, Navin Prithyani scales size modestly because tighter structural stops keep the same risk with more units. When volatility expands, he automatically sizes down and demands cleaner confirmation to avoid paying spread and noise. He refuses to widen stops after entry; the read is either intact or it isn’t. Daily loss is capped, so a run of losers can’t snowball, and he restores size only after execution quality improves. This keeps the account curve steady and ensures position size always follows the market’s breathing, not his hopes.
Build A Small Playbook, Diversify By Underlying, Strategy, And Duration
Navin Prithyani keeps a tight playbook of A-setups he can execute in his sleep, then spreads those edges across a few instruments he knows deeply. He argues that traders don’t need ten strategies; they need one or two that fit their eyes, repeated across clean markets like XAUUSD, GBPUSD, or a single index future. Diversification then comes from mixing trending and mean-reversion variants, not from throwing spaghetti indicators at the wall. By limiting patterns and expanding contexts, he gets more quality reps without diluting discipline.
To smooth the equity curve, Navin Prithyani diversifies by duration as well—taking intraday plays around session levels while holding occasional swing positions from daily structure. Risk per idea stays fixed, but he staggers exposure so one theme doesn’t dominate the day. If an instrument turns noisy, he rotates attention rather than forcing trades where the read is fuzzy. The goal is simple: a compact set of rules, expressed across multiple underlyings and time horizons, so edge isn’t hostage to a single market mood.
Trade Mechanics Over Prediction: Time Entries, Scale Winners, Pay Yourself
Navin Prithyani focuses on mechanics you can repeat, not forecasts you can’t control. He wants the sequence to be obvious: level identified, break and hold, pullback with contracting range, then entry on the first higher-low or lower-high. If that chain isn’t present, he passes, because a clean process beats a clever prediction. The invalidation is structural—where the idea is wrong, not a random pip count.
Once in, Navin Prithyani pays himself on objective liquidity tags and then trails behind structure so winners have room to breathe. Adds are earned only after momentum proves itself again; no adds into chop, no adds just to fix a mediocre first fill. If momentum stalls—three soft pushes, long wicks at the level—he tightens management and takes more off. The goal is simple: let the market do the heavy lifting while your rules handle entry timing, scaling, and exits.
Process Discipline: Daily Prep, A-Setups Only, Strict Loss And Reentry Rules
Navin Prithyani treats routine as a performance edge, starting each session with clean levels, a one-paragraph plan, and alerts at decision zones. He commits to A-setups first and B-setups only if the read is crystal clear; everything else is a pass. A hard daily loss cap stops the spiral before it starts, and once it’s hit, he’s done for the day—no exceptions. The focus is on perfect execution, not perfect prediction.
When a trade fails, Navin Prithyani allows one reentry if the structure quickly revalidates; a third attempt is prohibited. He logs every action with screenshots and a short “why,” then grades execution so improvement is measurable. After a red day, the size is cut automatically and restored only after back-to-back clean sessions. If rules are broken, the consequence is immediate—reduced size or no trading the next day. Over time, the discipline compounds: fewer violations, tighter selection, and a smoother equity curve.
Navin Prithyani’s core message is relentless consistency built on reading raw prices as “receipts” of real transactions. He’s traded the same way since 2009, prioritizing market sentiment and chart context over indicator “middlemen,” because what matters is who’s in control and where the idea is invalidated—not a signal blinking on your screen.
He treats trading as a cash-flow engine that funds bigger life goals, which keeps him disciplined about risk, routine, and patience through volatility. The approach doesn’t change when markets speed up; the mechanics remain: define location, wait for structure to confirm, and manage winners with objective levels. Even sizable drawdowns are framed as part of execution—endured when the read is intact, as with his CAD/JPY position that dipped $15–17k before turning green toward a higher-timeframe target. The throughline is timeless principles over shiny new tricks: context, conviction, and consistency that can last for years.
