Table of Contents
This interview features trader and hedge-fund partner Albert Suriol, recorded on the Titans of Tomorrow podcast. Suriol operates in a regulated fund structure with access to hundreds of millions in AUM, and he’s built a decade-long track record blending intraday precision with macro context. Why he matters: he shows how to stop guessing on charts and start timing trades around the economic calendar—CPI, NFP, FOMC—so your technical entry lines up with real flows instead of fighting them.
In this piece, you’ll learn Suriol’s fundamentals-first playbook: map the week’s “red-folder” events, pick the pairs that those events truly move, then drop to intraday for precise entries—scaling from intraday to swing only when the macro wind is at your back. We’ll cover how to separate trend from momentum across timeframes, plan around high-impact releases, avoid overtrading, and think like a fund (hedging, risk ceilings, and selectivity) even if you’re trading a small account or prop capital.
Albert Suriol Playbook & Strategy: How He Actually Trades
Market Framework: Macro Wind, Intraday Sails
Before placing a single trade, make the market make sense. This section shows how to frame the week so your intraday triggers ride with real flows instead of guessing against them. You’ll set a top-down view that keeps you selective, patient, and prepared.
- Start each week with a one-page macro map: inflation trend, growth surprises, central-bank bias, and risk appetite (equities/credit/vol).
- Decide your bias per asset class (FX, indices, gold, oil) using that map; if no clear wind, trade lighter or stand down.
- Translate macro to catalysts: circles that print or speeches can actually move your chosen markets this week.
- Pre-commit to what would change your mind (e.g., “core CPI < 0.2% m/m flips me risk-on for USD pairs”).
- If the macro wind is cross-current or messy, prioritize mean-reversion scalps over trend continuations.
Weekly Prep: Event-First Planning
Your edge comes from planning around scheduled volatility, not reacting after the fact. This section lays out a repeatable routine so every trade has context, a clock, and a plan.
- Build a Monday grid: columns for Date, Event, Affected Pairs/Markets, Directional Scenarios, Invalidations, and Trade Types.
- Tag events by “market of choice”: e.g., CPI → USD majors & gold; BoE → GBP crosses; crude inventory → oil & CAD.
- Write a base case and two alternates for each high-impact event; include a one-line plan for each case.
- Set “no-trade windows” (e.g., 10 minutes pre-print to 3 minutes post-print) unless you specialize in straddle breaks.
- Limit the week to 2–3 A-setups; everything else is B/C quality and must have half size or be skipped.
Pair & Instrument Selection: Trade What the Event Truly Moves
Not all assets react equally to the same headline. This section helps you pick instruments with the cleanest transmission from catalyst to price.
- For each event, rank pairs by sensitivity: (1) directly exposed currency/asset, (2) funding/hedge proxies, (3) noise. Trade tier (1) first.
- Avoid “pretty charts” on dead instruments; choose the pair with both catalyst relevance and recent range expansion.
- If spreads or liquidity get ugly at your event time, step down in size or shift to the next-best liquid proxy.
- Don’t mix themes: if you’re trading oil beta, don’t force a USD macro read into the same idea.
- Keep a bench of 5–7 instruments you know intimately; rotate others in only when the catalyst makes them hot.
Timeframe Alignment: Higher-Timeframe Story, Lower-Timeframe Execution
Big money sets the path; your job is to time the steps. This section aligns the daily/4H structure with 15m/5m entries to avoid fading the tide.
- Start with Daily → 4H to mark trend, key SR, and liquidity pools; only then drop to 15m/5m to hunt entries.
- Only take longs when the 4H structure is making higher highs/lows or reclaiming a major level; shorts in the inverse case.
- If HTF is sideways, define the range and trade extremes with mean-reversion rules; mid-range is “no man’s land.”
- A setup is valid only if the LTF trigger and HTF narrative agree; disagreement = pass or half risk.
- Re-validate HTF after major events; structure can and will change in one candle.
Entry Triggers: Let Price Invite You In
Precision beats prediction. This section gives simple triggers that align with how liquidity actually trades around levels and data.
- Use a “break + retest + hold” pattern at HTF levels; entries on the first clean retest that holds on 1–3 consecutive candles.
- For momentum breaks on data, wait for the impulse, a shallow pullback that fails to reclaim 50% of the impulse, then enter with the continuation.
- Confirm with one secondary signal only (e.g., cumulative delta shift, footprint imbalance, or session VWAP reclaim).
- Place stops where the idea is objectively wrong (beyond the level/impulse origin), not where it “feels safe.”
- If spread spikes at entry, switch to limit orders or skip; poor fills kill R multiples.
Risk & Sizing: Protect the Next 100 Trades
Account longevity funds your edge. This section locks in rules that stop a single bad day from nuking a good month.
- Hard daily max loss: 1R–1.5R; hit it and you’re done, no screenshots, no “one more.”
- Per-trade risk: 0.25R–0.5R on B-setups, 1R only on A-setups that align HTF + catalyst + liquidity.
- Reduce size by 50% during event minutes or widening spreads; keep size normal only on clean retests after the dust settles.
- Never widen stops; either cut or re-enter later with a fresh read.
- Cap total correlated exposure (e.g., USD basket) to 1.5R across all positions.
Trade Management: From First Partial to Trail Logic
Capturing asymmetric outcomes requires disciplined scaling and exits. This section turns vague “let it run” into exact steps.
- First partial at +1R or at the next HTF level, whichever comes first; move stop to entry only after first partial prints.
- Trail behind structure, not price: last swing/mini-consolidation on the 5m/15m, depending on volatility.
- For trend days, keep a micro-runner (10–20% size) until the session changes character or VWAP flips back.
- If an event invalidates your thesis, flatten—do not “give it room” based on old context.
- Use time stops: if price goes nowhere for one full session after entry, scale out or close.
Session Behavior: Know When Your Edge Lives
Not all hours are equal. This section defines when to push and when to observe so you stop burning R during dead tape.
- Pre-event: observe and mark liquidity; no impulsive entries within your no-trade window.
- Event window: trade only pre-planned scenarios with reduced size; avoid mid-wick chasing.
- Post-event: this is prime time—look for the first clean retest or VWAP reclaim/fail to join the real move.
- Outside your sessions of edge (e.g., late NY or Asia drift), either don’t trade or switch to strict mean-reversion with half risk.
- When the range compresses for hours, set alerts and walk away; boredom trades are expectancy killers.
Play Selection: A-Setups Only
You don’t need more trades; you need better ones. This section spells out what earns “A” status so your journal becomes predictable and profitable.
- A setup checklist must hit: HTF bias aligned, fresh catalyst, clean level, clear invalidation, and favorable liquidity.
- B-setups miss one element—size them at half and be quick to cut.
- Skip if three or more conditions are fuzzy; passing is a profitable decision.
- Track win rate and R multiple by setup tag to prune weak plays monthly.
- When two A-setups conflict, choose the one with tighter invalidation and clearer catalyst linkage.
Advanced Tactics: Scaling, Hedging, Correlation
Professionalize your book without overcomplicating it. This section adds polish for days when the market is trending hard or correlations bite.
- Scale in only after risk is paid: add on retests that keep net stop-out to ≤ original 1R.
- Use a light hedge (e.g., index micro or FX inverse) around binary prints if you must hold—but reduce position first.
- Don’t double-count correlated risk: two USD longs against different crosses are one macro bet.
- For event straddles, trade directionally after the first post-print structure forms; pre-print option-style straddles are for specialists only.
- If volatility regime shifts (ATR explodes/implodes), recalibrate stop distances and size midweek.
Journal & Review: Close the Feedback Loop Daily
Edges decay without review. This section makes iteration automatic, so your next trade is statistically better than your last.
- Log every trade with five tags: Setup, Catalyst, HTF Context, Entry Pattern, Exit Reason; add chart snapshots.
- Score plan adherence (0–2) and emotional state (−1/0/+1) per trade; bad process voids good P&L.
- Weekly, kill the bottom 20% of plays by expectancy and double down on the top 20%.
- Create two “do-more” screenshots and two “never again” screenshots each week; pin them before Monday’s open.
- If three red days in a row, trigger a mandatory reset day: no live trades, replay + sim only.
Size Every Trade by Volatility; Protect Capital Before Chasing Gains
Albert Suriol insists that position size should breathe with the market, not your mood. Start by fixing a dollar risk per trade, then translate it through current volatility so your stop sits beyond meaningful noise. ATR or average true range equivalents are your friends: wider ranges mean smaller size, tighter ranges allow slightly larger size—never the other way around. This keeps a single candle from turning a good idea into a catastrophic loss.
Suriol also caps damage at the day level, because survival funds the next hundred trades. He cuts size during news spikes, widening stops only if the math keeps total risk constant, otherwise he passes. If a setup is B-quality, he halves the risk automatically and demands cleaner confirmation. Protect capital first, he says, because compounding works only for the traders who are still in the game.
Diversify by Underlying, Strategy, and Duration to Smooth Your Equity Curve
Albert Suriol argues that diversification isn’t owning more tickers—it’s mixing different edges that win at different times. He pairs uncorrelated underlyings (e.g., USD majors vs. commodities) so one theme doesn’t dominate risk. Then he layers distinct play types—trend continuation, mean reversion, and event-driven breaks—so the book doesn’t rely on a single market mood. The result is fewer cold streaks and a calmer equity curve.
Suriol also stretches trades across time—some quick intraday clips, some structured multi-day swings—so P&L doesn’t hinge on one session’s tape. He scales risk by regime: quieter weeks favor carry and mean reversion; volatile weeks favor momentum and breakout plays. If two positions rhyme (same macro driver), he counts them as one risk and sizes down. This way, the account compounds on consistency, not lucky streaks.
Trade Mechanics Over Predictions: Let Triggers, Levels, and Rules Make Decisions
Albert Suriol treats forecasts as background noise and mechanics as the edge. He builds a plan around objective levels, then waits for price to confirm with a trigger—break, retest, and hold—before committing risk. If the level fails the retest, he cancels the idea without debate; the rule is the boss. He uses pre-defined invalidation points so exits are automatic, not emotional. The goal is to convert “I think” into “If X, then I do Y.”
Suriol’s checklist keeps him from improvising mid-trade. He requires alignment across timeframes, a clean place for a stop, and a measured target that offers at least 2R before spreads and slippage. No trigger, no trade—even if the narrative feels perfect. If he gets partial fills or sloppy liquidity, he reduces size or walks away; poor mechanics are a cost, not a challenge. Over time, this discipline turns randomness into repeatability.
Favor Defined Risk Setups; Avoid Undefined Tail Exposure That Blows Accounts
Albert Suriol builds every idea around a known maximum loss—no exceptions. He prefers structures where the stop sits beyond meaningful liquidity and the position size is calculated so that hit equals a pre-defined R, not a surprise. If risk can’t be boxed (e.g., gapping products into binary events, thin liquidity at rollover), he either prices that risk with a smaller size or stands down entirely. The rule is simple: if you can’t write the worst-case number on paper before entry, you don’t deserve the trade.
Suriol avoids “pray-and-stay” tactics that morph small errors into tail disasters. He refuses to widen stops after entry, choosing to cut and re-enter rather than convert a defined risk into an undefined one. Around major releases, he trims or flattens unless there’s a clean post-print structure that lets him re-establish with clarity. Over time, this habit preserves mental capital and keeps compounding intact—because defined downside is the only path to durable upside.
Build a Repeatable Process: Pre-Plan Scenarios, Execute Disciplines, Review Honestly
Albert Suriol starts every session with a written game plan: base case, two alternates, exact invalidation, and what will make him pass. He scripts entries and exits before the candle prints, so he isn’t negotiating with fear in the moment. During live action, he follows the playbook verbatim—no adding size mid-drawdown, no chasing, and no moving stops. When the plan is wrong, he closes and re-frames rather than rescuing a bad idea. Consistency of behavior is the edge, not the brilliance of any single call.
After the close, Suriol audits the process first and the P&L second. He tags each trade for setup quality, execution grade, and emotional state, then highlights two “do-more” examples and two “never-again” patterns. The next morning’s plan starts with those notes, turning review into tomorrow’s edge. If he logs three rule breaks in a week, he triggers an automatic size cut until discipline metrics recover. The goal is simple: trade your plan so well that the market has to pay you eventually.
Albert Suriol’s message is simple and relentless: build your week around the economic calendar and let price action do the talking. He scales from intraday to swing only when a fresh catalyst (CPI, NFP, FOMC, central-bank speeches) pushes in the same direction as higher-timeframe structure, then times entries with clean mechanics—break, retest, hold—at meaningful levels. He trades the instruments that the event truly moves, keeps spreads and liquidity front-of-mind, and treats no-trade windows as a professional edge, not a limitation. When context changes after a print, he re-frames quickly; prediction is background noise, execution is the edge.
Risk is always boxed before the click. Suriol sizes by volatility so stops live beyond real noise, never widens those stops after entry, and caps daily damage so one day can’t erase a month. He diversifies by underlying, strategy, and duration—mixing trend, mean reversion, and event plays across intraday clips and selective swings—while counting correlated bets as one risk. Every session starts with a written plan and ends with an audit of setup quality, adherence, and emotion. The result is a calm, repeatable process: let catalysts set the wind, let structure set the path, let rules run the trade, and let honest review power the next one.
