Table of Contents
Greg Rubin is a senior trader at Global Prime with more than a decade in the markets, known for his metals expertise, Elliott Wave chops, and a no-ego, rules-driven approach forged across London and Sydney trading desks. In this interview, Greg breaks down how he plans his day, the tools he trusts, and why risk control—not prediction—is the real edge for any trader.
You’ll learn exactly how Greg Rubin blends Elliott Wave with Fibonacci to build a clear “roadmap,” waits for five up/three down structures, and sizes every position from the stop outward. He explains when to day trade versus hold a core swing, how to avoid FOMO by letting setups come to you, and the daily routines and mindset shifts (humility, probabilities, strict max-loss rules) that keep him consistent through changing markets.
Greg Rubin Playbook & Strategy: How He Actually Trades
Core Market Framework: Build Bias Before You Trade
Before Greg Rubin thinks about entries, he builds a simple directional bias. He cares less about predicting the exact move and more about defining the most probable path and the invalidation point. This keeps decisions clean when volatility spikes.
- Define the active trend on the daily: higher highs/higher lows = bullish, lower highs/lower lows = bearish.
- Mark the prior week’s high/low and the most recent swing structure—your map for continuation or failure.
- No bias if price is stuck in a tight, overlapping range; reduce size or skip.
- If news/volatility regime shifts (ATR jump > 1.5× 20-day), tighten risk and trade smaller until structure is clear.
Structure First: Elliott Wave as a Roadmap
Greg uses Elliott Wave to label where the market likely is in its impulse–corrective cycle. The point isn’t perfect counts; it’s to avoid trading into exhaustion and to time pullbacks.
- Favor longs after a clean 5-wave impulse up and a 3-leg pullback (A-B-C) into support.
- Favor shorts after a 5-down impulse and a 3-leg corrective rally into resistance.
- If the “impulse” overlaps excessively or has no momentum expansion on waves 3/5, treat it as suspect—de-risk or stand aside.
- If you can’t label it in 30 seconds, you don’t have an edge—skip the setup.
Precision Zones: Fibonacci Confluence, Not Guesswork
He refines zones with Fib confluence so the stop and target are objective. This keeps the trade mechanical and prevents chasing.
- Longs: look for 38.2–61.8% retrace of the prior impulse overlapping a prior swing high/low.
- Shorts: mirror the rule; prioritize where 50% and 61.8% cluster with a supply pivot.
- Add an external retracement/extension (127.2%/161.8%) to locate likely exhaustion for profit-taking.
- If no confluence within a tight band (≤0.4× daily ATR), skip—your stop will be sloppy.
Triggering In: From Zone to Execution
Bias and zones aren’t entries. Greg waits for the price to “prove it” on the lower timeframe, so he’s trading flow, not hope.
- Drop to the execution timeframe (e.g., 15m/5m) and require a micro higher-high/higher-low (for longs) from your zone.
- Use either a break-and-retest or an engulfing close through the micro structure to trigger.
- If the candle that triggers is >0.4× daily ATR, halve position size to control slippage risk.
- No trigger within two full sessions after tagging the zone? Abandon the idea.
Risk First: Size From the Stop Outward
Greg talks risk before reward. He fixes a hard max daily loss and sizes each trade from the invalidation point to keep PnL volatility tame.
- Hard rules: max risk per trade ≤0.5–1.0% of equity; max daily loss = 1.5–2.0× single-trade risk.
- Stop goes beyond the invalidation level (behind the swing that negates your wave/zone thesis).
- Position size = account_risk ÷ (entry − stop) adjusted for instrument tick value.
- If spread/volatility widens and stop distance doubles, cut size in half—do not widen risk.
Targets & Scaling: Pay Yourself With Structure
He scales out at objective levels and never lets a winner turn into a loser. This is about building a smooth equity curve.
- First scale at 1R; move stop to breakeven after partial take.
- Second scale near Fib extensions (127.2%/161.8%) or prior impulse extremes.
- Trail the remainder behind higher lows/lower highs on the execution timeframe.
- If momentum dies (divergence + shallow pullbacks failing), exit the remainder rather than “hoping” for the last tick.
Timeframe Stack: Keep the Story Consistent
Multi-timeframe alignment is the filter that prevents most bad trades. Greg keeps the story straight from higher to lower timeframes.
- Direction must not conflict: higher timeframe bias (D1/H4) should agree with execution (M15/M5).
- If conflict exists, only take A+ mean-reversion plays with half size, or skip.
- Update the stack daily: if the daily trend flips, flush all previous intraday plans.
- Never counter the weekly swing trend with full size.
Session Planning: Routine That Reduces Noise
Consistency comes from a repeatable pre-market checklist. Greg plans before prices move so he can execute fast and calmly.
- Pre-market: mark trend, key levels (prior H/L, weekly H/L), ATR, and scheduled events.
- Define 2–3 instruments with the cleanest structure; ignore the rest.
- Write the exact conditions that would trigger a trade (zone + trigger candle pattern + stop/size).
- After two stopped trades on the same idea, ban that idea for the day.
News & Volatility: Respect the Calendar
He treats economic releases as regime shifters, not prediction contests. Survive first, then trade.
- 15 minutes before/after high-impact news: no new entries unless already risk-free.
- If already in a trade pre-news, reduce to half size or take 1R if available.
- Post-news, wait for structure to re-form (two swings and a clear pivot) before considering re-entry.
- If realized volatility remains >2× 20-day ATR for the session, cap total trades at two.
Instrument Personality: Know What You Trade
Greg adapts rules to the instrument—metals, FX majors, indices each “move” differently.
- Use tighter partials on spiky metals; scale earlier and trail wider to avoid wick-outs.
- FX: respect session overlaps (London/NY) for momentum; Asia session = range tactics or pass.
- Indices: anchor to prior day’s value area/POC or equivalent composite levels for rotations.
- If your backtest shows a poor edge during a specific session, hard-ban that window.
Trade Management: Clear Do-This/If-That Logic
Once in, he removes discretion as much as possible. The plan tells him what to do before emotions kick in.
- If price tags 1R and are immediately rejected, take partial and lock the BE stop.
- If a fresh impulse forms in your favor, add only on a pullback into a new micro zone with risk kept at the original R.
- If invalidation is tapped intrabar, exit without negotiation—no “close of candle” exceptions.
- Never widen stops; the only adjustment is tighter (lock-in) as structure forms.
Data Discipline: Journal With Tags That Matter
Greg tracks what actually drives results so he can cut what doesn’t. The goal is faster iteration to a tighter playbook.
- Tag every trade by pattern (impulse-pullback, break-retest, range-fade), instrument, session, and volatility regime.
- Review weekly: kill the lowest-Sharpe tag and double down on the highest.
- Track “plan adherence”: A-grade (full adherence) vs B/C (deviations); only A-grade ideas may scale up risk next week.
- Screenshot pre-plan, entry, and exit; write one improvement you’ll apply tomorrow.
Psychology & Pace: Trade Less, Earn Cleaner
He keeps risk small enough that execution feels boring. Bored execution is consistent execution.
- Limit to 1–3 high-quality setups per day; FOMO trades are recorded as violations.
- Use a daily cutoff time; if no setup by then, you’re done.
- After a max-loss day, the next day’s risk per trade is halved—no “revenge” normalization.
- Celebrate adherence, not P&L: green from bad process is still a fail.
Upgrade Path: From Basic to Advanced Without Chaos
Greg evolves by adding one refinement at a time—never five. This keeps the edge measurable.
- Add only one variable per month (e.g., a new exit rule or confirmation filter).
- Backtest on your main instrument first; if it improves expectancy and drawdown, then roll to others.
- If a change doesn’t improve the journal metrics in four weeks, revert—don’t rationalize.
- Keep a “core play” unchanged so you always have a dependable base setup.
The One-Page Checklist (Use Before Every Trade)
He reduces the entire method to a single pre-flight review so nothing gets missed when the market is moving.
- Bias aligned across daily/H4 and execution timeframe.
- Valid Elliott structure identified (5-impulse + 3-pullback or vice versa).
- Fib confluence zone defined with hard invalidation and position size calculated.
- Entry trigger confirmed on execution timeframe; news window checked; volatility assessed.
- Targets and scaling plan set; journaling tags prepared; max daily loss guardrail in place.
Build Daily Bias First, Trade the Map, Not the Guess
Greg Rubin starts every session by defining a simple daily bias so he’s reacting to structure, not chasing a hunch. He marks the prior day’s high/low, the most recent swing points, and notes whether the price is printing higher highs and higher lows or the opposite. With that map, Greg decides if he’s hunting continuations or mean reversion, and he dials down size when the daily looks choppy and overlapping. The key is clarity: if the picture isn’t clean in 30 seconds, the idea gets benched.
Once the bias is set, Greg Rubin only looks for intraday triggers that agree with the daily story. He waits for the price to revisit mapped zones and insists on a fresh shift in microstructure before pulling the trigger. That keeps him out of the “I think it’ll turn here” trap and inside the “prove it, then I’ll act” lane. The result is fewer trades, tighter risk, and a plan that holds up when volatility tries to shake you out.
Size From the Stop Outward and Cap Daily Losses
Greg Rubin starts with the invalidation point and sizes the trade backward from there. He fixes a percent-of-equity risk per trade and refuses to move the stop once placed. If volatility doubles and the stop must be wider, Greg Rubin halves his position size instead of taking more risk. He also pre-sets a hard daily loss cap so one bad morning can’t wreck the week.
When the trade reaches 1R, he scales and locks to breakeven, so the worst-case outcome is flat. If spread or slippage expands during entry, he automatically reduces size to keep risk constant. Greg Rubin treats every decision as math, not mood: risk = account_risk ÷ (entry–stop) adjusted for tick value. By ritualizing these guardrails, he frees his attention to execution and lets the numbers protect the equity curve.
Use Elliott Waves and Fibonacci Confluence to Define A+ Entries
Greg Rubin maps the bigger impulse first, then waits for a clean three-leg pullback into a Fibonacci pocket to do business. He wants the 38.2%–61.8% retracement overlapping a prior swing, so price is reacting where traders actually care. If the supposed impulse is messy or overlapping, Greg Rubin marks it “suspect” and stands down rather than forcing a count. The goal isn’t perfect labels; it’s avoiding late entries into exhausted moves.
Once the price reaches the confluence zone, he asks for proof—a micro shift in structure or an engulfing close from the level. Stops live beyond the invalidation swing, and targets anchor to extensions like 127.2% and 161.8% of the prior leg. If there’s no tight confluence band, he passes because the stop would be sloppy and risk inefficient. This way, Greg Rubin turns Elliott and Fib from theory into a mechanical, repeatable entry process.
Scale at 1R and Trail Winners; Never Let Gains Reverse
Greg Rubin treats the first 1R as a checkpoint, not a victory lap. He takes partial profits there and snaps the stop to breakeven, so the worst-case outcome is flat. If momentum extends cleanly, Greg Rubin lets price breathe but advances the stop behind fresh higher lows or lower highs, turning structure into protection. This keeps him emotionally detached because the trade is now house money plus clear rules.
From there, targets step up to measured levels—prior swing extremes or Fibonacci extensions—while the trailing stop ratchets methodically. If momentum stalls or divergence creeps in, Greg Rubin exits the remainder rather than giving back a strong run. He refuses to let a green trade flip red; once paid, the market doesn’t get refunds. That discipline compounds small wins into a smooth equity curve without the gut-punch drawdowns.
Trade Fewer Markets, Respect News Volatility, Journal Process Every Day
Greg Rubin narrows his universe to the cleanest two or three symbols so attention stays sharp and playbooks remain repeatable. He filters by structure and ATR, preferring instruments with clear trends or well-defined ranges instead of noisy chop. When high-impact news is on deck, Greg Rubin either sits flat or scales down, treating the release as a regime shift rather than a lottery ticket. He avoids fresh entries 15 minutes before and after the print unless already risk-free. This restraint reduces slippage, surprise gaps, and the urge to revenge trade when spreads blow out.
After the session, he journals like a technician, tagging each trade by setup, instrument, session, and volatility regime. Greg Rubin rates plan adherence, notes emotional drift, and captures screenshots so tomorrow’s plan is built on facts, not memory. Each week, he prunes the weakest tag and doubles down on the best, forcing evolution instead of inertia. Over time, the smaller watchlist, the news discipline, and the tight journaling loop create a calm, repeatable edge.
Greg Rubin’s edge is built on clarity and discipline: a mapped bias, an Elliott Wave–plus–Fibonacci roadmap, and risk defined before a trade even exists. He uses wave structure to locate the trend, leans on Fib relationships to frame pullbacks and targets, and—crucially—draws a hard invalidation line so he always knows where he’s wrong and how much he’ll lose if the thesis fails. That structure keeps him focused on probability, not certainty, and turns entries and exits into repeatable mechanics rather than gut feel.
Risk is never an afterthought for Greg Rubin—it’s the starting point. He sizes from the stop outward, fixes a max loss he’s willing to take, and refuses to widen risk once the trade is live. When conditions change or volatility jumps, he scales position size down instead of stretching stops. The routine behind it is just as strict: early prep, charts reviewed before the session, and the same rules applied day after day, so market noise can’t knock him off plan.
Under the hood sits a mindset forged by experience. Greg Rubin treats trading like poker: play only when the odds lean your way, fold quickly when you’re beat, and check the ego at the door. He rejects the hunt for a “holy grail,” doubles down on understanding what actually moves markets, and stays patient enough to let setups come to him instead of trading every tick. That combination—probability thinking, humility, and a codified process—explains why his approach travels well across metals, indices, FX, and crypto without losing its edge.
