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Jason Graystone sits down to talk candidly about how he actually trades, why he moved up in timeframe, and how the COVID era pressure-tested his philosophy of being “always free.” In this conversation, the UK trader explains having his best day on April 3, 2020, why he shifted from lower-timeframe noise to higher-timeframe swing trades, and how a clear routine lets him spend less time at the screens while still compounding skill and capital. You’ll hear Jason’s plain-English take on building wealth around life (not the other way around) and why focusing on percentage returns—not dollar targets—keeps traders consistent and confident.
Read on to learn the exact playbook Jason Graystone leans on: his portfolio “pyramid” (heavy on low-risk, smaller slices for speculation), the setups he actually pulls the trigger on (ascending/descending channels, breakouts, trend continuation), and the timeframes he uses to keep trading efficient (weekly/daily for swing; H4/H1 for entries and management). You’ll also pick up his journaling method in Google Sheets and Notion, his “wins/losses due to error” audit to remove luck, and a beginner-friendly roadmap: pick a timeframe your lifestyle can support, give yourself 12 months to learn, and prove consistency by hitting percentage goals before scaling up.
Jason Graystone Playbook & Strategy: How He Actually Trades
Core Philosophy: Percent First, Time Free
Jason keeps the game simple: compounding by percentage, not chasing dollars, and building a routine that doesn’t handcuff your life to the screens. This section lays out the non-negotiables that shape every decision he makes.
- Define a fixed risk per trade (e.g., 0.5%–1.0% of equity) and never break it—no matter how “good” the setup looks.
- Judge performance in rolling 30/90-day percentage returns, not P&L dollars.
- Pre-decide your trading hours and days; if the setup doesn’t appear inside those windows, skip it without regret.
- Only trade strategies you can explain in two sentences; if it requires “convincing,” it’s out.
Markets & Timeframes: Slow Charts, Clean Decisions
He favors a higher-timeframe structure for direction and lower-timeframe precision for entries. That keeps decisions clear and drawdowns manageable without babysitting every candle.
- Bias from the Weekly/Daily; execution on H4/H1. No trade if W/D bias is unclear.
- Only trade liquid majors/indices you can monitor daily; cut any market that doesn’t give you a clean structure.
- If Weekly and Daily conflict, stand down until they realign—no “making it work” on the lower frames.
- Cap simultaneous instruments to what you can manage (e.g., 5–8); focus on beats FOMO.
Setup Menu: Channels, Breakouts, Trend Continuation
His “edge” isn’t fifty patterns—it’s a tight menu you can master and measure. These rules define what a valid setup looks like before you even touch the keyboard.
- Trend Continuation: trade only after a clean impulse + shallow pullback to a prior structure zone or moving average you actually track.
- Channel Breaks: draw ascending/descending channels; take breaks that align with higher-timeframe bias and retest holds.
- Structural Breakouts: require a prior multi-touch range, a decisive close beyond the boundary, and a retest that rejects on a lower timeframe.
- Disqualifiers: overlapping wicks, broadening formations, or 3+ conflicting signals—skip and wait.
Entry Triggers: Simple, Repeatable, Testable
Entries are about consistency, not genius timing. You’ll keep the same triggers, so stats stay stable and you can optimize without guesswork.
- Confirmation first: require a close beyond your trigger level on the execution timeframe (H4/H1).
- Use one of two entries only:
- Break-retest limit order at the retest zone.
- Momentum continuation on the next candle after confirmation close.
- Maximum slippage tolerance: 0.15R; if exceeded, pass on the trade.
- No “anticipation” entries before your trigger condition; missing a trade is cheaper than inconsistency.
Risk & Position Sizing: Pre-Committed and Mechanical
Sizing is calculated off the stop distance, so your risk stays fixed in percent terms. No rounding up. No “just this once.”
- Risk per trade = fixed % of equity (e.g., 0.75%); compute position via: size = (risk $) / (stop distance).
- Hard stop at the invalidation line—where your idea is objectively wrong, not where it “hurts less.”
- If two trades are correlated (e.g., USD exposure both ways), cap combined risk at 1R total.
- A-setups only get size upgrades (e.g., +25% of normal units) after 50-trade proof they outperform B-setups.
Management & Exits: Protect R, Let Winners Walk
Trade management is standardized, so emotions don’t rewrite your plan mid-flight. Winners scale out on structure; losers get cut without debate.
- Move to break-even at +1R only if structure confirms (e.g., higher low formed after entry); otherwise, leave the stop.
- First scale at +1.5R to 2R; trail the remainder behind the swing structure or channel line on the execution timeframe.
- If price returns to the breakout zone and stalls, exit the remainder at market—no hoping.
- Time stop: if no progress within “n” candles (e.g., 10 on H4), reduce by half or scratch if structure deteriorates.
Playbook Filters: News, Volatility, and Conditions
You’re trading a regime, not just a chart pattern. These filters keep you out of low-quality conditions that wreck otherwise solid edges.
- Skip entries 30 minutes before/after tier-1 events affecting your instrument.
- Use an ATR filter: if ATR expands >1.5× 20-period baseline, widen stops proportionally or skip until volatility normalizes.
- Range rules: if Daily is clearly range-bound, only take range plays; avoid directional continuation until range breaks and retests.
- One setup per instrument per day to avoid overtrading chop.
Portfolio Structure: The “Wealth Pyramid”
Trading is one slice of a bigger plan. He structures capital so speculation never endangers long-term freedom.
- Core (70%–85%): long-term, low-risk holdings and cash buffers you don’t touch for trading.
- Trading (10%–25%): actively traded strategies with fixed risk limits and audited results.
- Venture/Spec (0%–10%): experimental strategies sized tiny; promote to Trading only after 12 months and 200+ trades of edge.
- Withdrawals: skim a fixed % of profits monthly/quarterly to the Core so gains compound outside the trading account.
Daily/Weekly Routine: Prepare Once, Execute Fast
Preparation creates calm execution. The routine is short by design, so you can keep doing it for years.
- Weekend (60–90 min): mark Weekly/Daily bias, key levels, channels, and watchlist for the week.
- Daily (15–25 min): update levels, check economic calendar, confirm bias, and set alerts—no hunting outside the plan.
- Execution windows: 2–3 short blocks aligned with your lifestyle; if you miss a window, you’re done for the day.
- End-of-day: log trades, reasons, and screenshots in under 10 minutes.
Journaling & Metrics: Fix Errors, Keep the Edge
You improve what you measure. Journaling is about catching repeatable mistakes and doubling down on what works.
- Tag every trade by setup (TC, channel break, breakout-retest), market, timeframe, and grade (A/B).
- Track: win rate, average R, expectancy, MAE/MFE, and error rate (“plan deviations per 10 trades”).
- Run a weekly “error audit”: list the top 2 recurring mistakes and one process tweak to remove them next week.
- Promote/demote setups strictly by data—e.g., freeze any setup with expectancy <0.2R after 50 trades until refined.
Psychology & Behavior: Rules That Survive a Bad Day
Resilience is a system, not a mood. These rules keep you in the game when conditions or emotions get rough.
- Max daily risk: 2R. Hit it and stop—review, reset, return tomorrow.
- Cool-down rule: after two consecutive errors, step away for one full session before taking another trade.
- No “revenge optimization”: you may not change rules on a red day; only revise during the weekly review block.
- Lifestyle check: sleep, training, and nutrition noted in the journal; if two are off, trade half-size or stand down.
Scaling Up: Earn the Right to Size
Growth is methodical and boring—that’s the point. You scale when the stats say so, not when the market feels “hot.”
- Increase risk per trade by 0.25% only after 100 trades with positive expectancy and drawdown <6R.
- Add a new instrument only when your watchlist hit-rate drops below capacity (missed valid signals).
- Graduate a strategy to “Core Trading” after a full 12-month track with >0.3R expectancy and <8R worst drawdown.
- If drawdown hits 1.5× your historical max, auto-de-lever to the previous risk tier until equity high recovers.
Risk First, Percent-Based Sizing That Keeps You In Control
Jason Graystone puts risk first, always sizing by a fixed percent of equity. Instead of chasing dollars, he risks, say, 0.5%–1.0% per trade and lets R-multiples tell the story. Position size comes from the stop distance: size equals risk dollars divided by the distance to invalidation. That keeps every idea equal at entry, so one loser can’t derail your month.
Graystone also caps daily risk—hit 2R down and you’re done until tomorrow. Correlated positions share a risk budget; if two trades move on the same driver, their combined risk can’t exceed 1R. He only scales risk after a large, clean sample of positive expectancy and controlled drawdown. By keeping the focus on percentages and process, Jason Graystone stays consistent across volatility regimes and market moods.
Use Higher Timeframes For Bias, Lower Timeframes For Execution
Jason Graystone forms his directional view on the weekly and daily charts, then drills down only to time entries and manages risk. If the higher timeframes don’t agree, he stands down—no forcing trades off a noisy H1 when the daily is unclear. Once the daily trend and key structure are mapped, he lets the price come to those areas instead of hunting. This keeps his decisions slower, cleaner, and far less emotional.
Execution happens on H4 or H1 after confirmation, not before. Jason Graystone waits for a decisive close or a clean retest at his mapped level, then acts within the rules he set on the higher frame. If momentum fizzles or structure breaks, he cancels the idea immediately and reverts to the higher-timeframe view. The result is a simple rhythm: top-down bias for clarity, lower-timeframe trigger for precision.
Define Setup Rules Clearly, Trade Only When the Checklist Says Yes
Jason Graystone treats every setup like a preflight check—no checklist, no trade. He defines structure, trigger, stop, target, and management steps in plain language before the market opens. If a single criterion is missing—like a confirmed break and retest or alignment with the daily bias—the setup is automatically disqualified. This keeps him from improvising entries based on hope or a flashy candle.
Once a trade idea passes the checklist, Jason Graystone executes the exact plan that was written down. He won’t widen stops, chase price, or add early just to “be in.” If the market invalidates the premise, he cancels the order without debate and logs the reason. Over time, the pass/fail data on the checklist shows which rules carry the edge, so he can refine the list and ditch anything that doesn’t earn its spot.
Diversify By Strategy And Duration, Not Just Instruments Or Ideas
Jason Graystone spreads risk across how he trades, not just what he trades. Instead of stacking three similar trend plays on correlated markets, he mixes a trend-continuation method with a breakout-retest and a range-reversion plan. He also staggers holding periods—some swing positions aimed at multi-day moves, some quicker H4/H1 plays—so returns don’t hinge on one rhythm of the market. That way, when the trend pauses, shorter-duration or mean-reverting strategies can still carry the week.
Graystone keeps exposure caps per strategy and per timeframe to avoid silent concentration. If trend setups are firing, he’ll still limit how many can be open at once and reserve room for a different playbook. He audits results by bucket—strategy, duration, and instrument—so he can scale the buckets that actually produce and cut the ones that drag. Over time, Jason Graystone builds a smoother equity curve by diversifying the engine of returns, not just the tickers on the screen.
Adapt Position Size To Volatility; ATR Filters Prevent Bad Fills
Jason Graystone adapts his position size to the market’s current pace so a normal pullback doesn’t look like a panic. He uses an ATR baseline to calibrate stops and size—if volatility expands, the stop widens and the position shrinks to keep risk constant in percent terms. He’ll also impose a volatility gate: when ATR spikes beyond a threshold, orders are delayed until spreads and slippage normalize. This way, he avoids paying up in chaotic moments that turn good ideas into bad fills.
When ATR contracts, Jason Graystone tightens stops to relevant structure and allows normal size, but he never increases risk beyond his fixed percent cap. If the breakout zone is thin and the expected slippage exceeds a small fraction of R, he passes and waits for a cleaner retest. He reviews trades by “volatility regime” to see which setups hold an edge when markets run hot versus quiet. By letting volatility dictate size and timing—not emotion—he keeps expectancy stable across different market conditions.
In the end, Jason Graystone’s playbook boils down to percent-first thinking, simple technicals, and a lifestyle-driven routine that you can sustain for years. He judges success by steady percentage returns rather than dollar targets because hitting consistent percentage goals builds confidence and unlocks compounding without the pressure that wrecks decision-making. His COVID stretch proved the durability of that approach—he called out April 3, 2020, as his best trading day, powered by straightforward technical setups that he would have taken in any market.
Graystone’s risk and routine are built to keep life “always free”: higher-timeframe bias, fewer screens, and execution windows that fit your schedule, not the other way around. He recommends designing trading around your available time and temperament, then showing up consistently—daily or a few times a day—on the timeframes your life can actually support. That same freedom theme runs through his broader work and philosophy: build wealth systems that let you choose how you spend your day, so trading fuels your purpose instead of fighting it.
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