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In this interview, we sit down with trader and educator Moritz Czubatinski in Hong Kong to unpack how he evolved from a nighttime day trader to an efficient swing trader and algorithm builder. Moritz—known for co-founding the Edgewonk journal and the Tradeciety community—explains why he’s spending far less time babysitting charts while seeing a stronger bottom line. He walks through the real shift: building a daily watchlist like a swing trader, timing entries with intraday precision, and using automation to claw back time without sacrificing performance.
You’ll learn Moritz’s practical blueprint: how to construct swing setups, use alerts to avoid over-monitoring, and let positions run while checking only on higher-timeframe intervals. He shares risk tweaks (graduating from sub-0.5% to ~1% per trade when appropriate), a simple test-and-iterate loop to validate a new approach, and how automation plus clear routines (five focused work hours) can compound results. We also touch on fund-building realities—jurisdictions, scalability, track-record expectations, low-volatility mandates, and the power of networking and delegation—so you can scale like a pro, not just trade like one.
Moritz Czubatinski Playbook & Strategy: How He Actually Trades
Market Framework: Trend First, Noise Last
Before chasing entries, Moritz maps the bigger picture so every trade rides a meaningful move, not a random wiggle. He defines the dominant trend, then aligns lower-timeframe execution to that context to keep the wind at his back.
- Trade only in the direction of the higher-timeframe trend (e.g., if the daily trend is up, look long intraday; if down, look short).
- Stand aside when the higher-timeframe structure is unclear (no fresh swing highs/lows or overlapping candles).
- Use a simple, consistent trio to define bias: swing structure (HH/HL or LH/LL), a 20–50 period moving average slope, and ATR expansion/contraction.
- If two out of three signals conflict, skip the trade—clarity beats activity.
- Refresh trend bias once per session; don’t flip-flop mid-trade unless your invalidation gets hit.
Set up Shortlist: Build a Watchlist That Filters for A+
You don’t need dozens of patterns. You need a few you can spot in seconds. Moritz keeps a tight menu and scans fast, so he spends energy on planning, not hunting.
- Limit your core playbook to 3–5 repeatable setups (e.g., pullback to value, breakout from consolidation, failed breakout reversal).
- Pre-define each setup with pictures and text: context, entry trigger, invalidation, initial target, and common pitfalls.
- Each morning, create a watchlist of 8–20 symbols that actually fit your context rules; remove anything off-bias.
- Tag watchlist items by readiness (A: primed today, B: needs more development, C: park it).
- Set alerts at decision prices so you’re pulled to charts only when the market is near a trigger.
Entry Triggers: Clear, Mechanical, Time-boxed
Moritz times entries on a faster chart but only when the higher-timeframe says “go.” The trigger bar must be obvious and testable, not “vibes.”
- Pullback trade: wait for a return to the moving-average/value zone plus a rejection candle that closes in trend direction.
- Breakout trade: require a close beyond the level, then enter on a retest or momentum continuation—pick one and stick to it.
- Failed breakout reversal: enter only after the market re-enters the prior range and closes there; avoid knife-catching.
- Time-box entries: if the price hasn’t triggered within X bars/hours after the alert, cancel the idea.
- Never widen a planned entry to “make it happen.” Missed is better than forced.
Risk & Position Sizing: Small, Consistent, and Volatility-Aware
Predicting outcome is hard; controlling downside is not. Moritz sizes from the stop, ties risk to volatility, and keeps the number fixed so winners can work.
- Risk is a fixed fraction per trade (e.g., 0.5%–1.0% of account).
- Set stops beyond structure, not arbitrary ticks: below swing low for longs, above swing high for shorts, or beyond pattern invalidation.
- Use ATR to set minimum stop distance (e.g., stop ≥ 1× ATR from entry); if too wide for your risk budget, reduce size or pass.
- Cap total correlated exposure (e.g., maximum 2 positions in highly correlated pairs/indices).
- For add-ons, add only if the initial stop can be moved to reduce net risk (pyramids must not balloon account risk).
Trade Management: Let Winners Work, Fix Losers Fast
The edge is letting the math play out. Moritz automates as much of the management as possible to remove tinkering and second-guessing.
- Pre-program entry, stop, and target before sending the order.
- Move to break-even only after price makes a meaningful move (e.g., 1R achieved or structure shift in your favor).
- Trail behind structure (swing lows/highs or a baseline MA) rather than arbitrary dollar amounts.
- Scale out in thirds or halves at logical levels (prior highs/lows, measured move, or volatility bands) and let the remainder ride the trend.
- No intraday micro-management on higher-timeframe trades; check at scheduled times unless alerts fire.
Automation & Alerts: Fewer Clicks, Fewer Mistakes
Moritz reduces screen time by letting tools do the boring parts. Automation enforces rules and protects you from impulse decisions.
- Script alerts at key prices (breakout levels, pullback zones, invalidation lines).
- Use bracket orders (OCO) so the stop and target are live from the second one.
- Template your setups in your platform: one-click loads the correct stop/target logic and size model.
- Log trades automatically with tags (setup, trend state, ATR, result) to feed review later.
- Disable discretionary order placement outside your playbook (e.g., hotkeys only load templates).
Routine: A Tight Daily and Weekly Loop
Consistency comes from cadence. Moritz runs a short, focused routine, so energy goes to decisions that matter.
- Pre-market (20–30 min): update trend bias, refresh watchlist, place alerts, rehearse A-scenarios.
- Session (timed check-ins): review only alerted charts; if no triggers, do nothing.
- Post-market (10–15 min): journal entries, tag outcomes, screenshot charts to the setup library.
- Weekly (30–60 min): performance review, equity curve check, distribution of R multiples, and “three fixes” for the next week.
- Monthly: prune the playbook—keep the top-sharpe setups, bench or rewrite the rest.
Capital Allocation & Portfolio Construction: Spread Risk Intelligently
One great setup in five correlated markets is still one bet. Moritz spreads exposure by instrument, strategy, and timeframe to keep equity curves smooth.
- Hard cap total open risk (e.g., ≤ 2.0% across all positions).
- Limit per-theme correlation (e.g., only one position per FX theme, such as “USD strength,” one per index side, one per commodity cluster).
- Mix strategies (trend continuation vs. mean-reversion) and timeframes (swing vs. position) to diversify return drivers.
- If a new A+ setup appears and risk is maxed, replace the weakest open position—don’t exceed caps.
- Keep cash for high-quality bursts (news-driven breakouts), not for boredom trades.
Playbook Definitions: Make “A, B, C” Mean Something
Grades aren’t vibes; they’re checklists. Moritz codifies what makes an A-trad, so the label predicts performance.
- A-setup: all context rules met, clean level, room to first target ≥ 1.5× stop, no major news risk, and liquidity is good.
- B-setup: one context element missing or reduced RR; size down 50% or pass.
- C-setup: unclear context or messy structure; no trade.
- Track win rate and expectancy by grade; if an A-setup underperforms three months straight, re-specify it.
- Only allow A-setups in challenge periods (e.g., when rebuilding confidence or after a drawdown).
News & Volatility Handling: Respect the Calendar
Volatility is opportunity and danger. Moritz treats scheduled events as part of the plan, not a surprise.
- Maintain an economic/calendar checklist; tag watchlist items with event risk (e.g., rate decisions, CPI, earnings).
- If trading through news, halve position size and double stop distance, or switch to a post-news retest entry.
- Cancel pending breakout orders 10–15 minutes before major scheduled releases; re-assess after the first impulse and retest.
- If spread/slippage historically spikes on your instrument, sidestep the event entirely.
- Re-measure ATR after big news and update stop/target logic accordingly.
Psychology & Error Controls: Systems Beat Feelings
Discipline is a system design problem. Moritz removes willpower from the loop by making the wrong actions impossible.
- Pre-commit to a max trades/day (e.g., 3) and lock the platform after the limit.
- Ban “revenge entries” with a cool-off timer: after a stop-out, wait X minutes or one full bar on your execution timeframe.
- Use checklists before order send: trend bias confirmed, setup grade, stop distance, risk %, event risk.
- Keep a “kill switch” rule: two consecutive execution errors (e.g., early entry, moved stop) end the session.
- Review error rate weekly; if >5% of trades have process errors, cut size in half until it’s <2%.
Review & Iteration: Close the Loop Every Week
Edges improve only when you measure. Moritz’s review is short, numeric, and tied to changes.
- Track expectancy (avg R), win rate, and payoff ratio by setup, day of week, and timeframe.
- Identify one micro-change per week (e.g., raise minimum RR from 1.5R to 1.7R for breakouts).
- Promote/demote setups based on 50–100 trade samples, not small streaks.
- Maintain a living playbook PDF or board with annotated examples of both textbook winners and textbook passes.
- Archive each change with date and reason so you can revert if metrics slip.
Size Risk First: Fixed R, ATR Stops, Never Widen Losers
Moritz Czubatinski starts every trade by locking the downside, not dreaming about the upside. He picks a fixed R per trade—think a steady percentage of equity—so one loss never dents the account beyond plan. From there, he places the stop where the setup is actually wrong, then checks that distance against ATR to keep it realistic for current volatility. If that stop makes the position too big for his risk cap, he simply shrinks the size or skips the trade.
Once in, he refuses to widen losers—no “just a little more room” excuses. The plan is preloaded with OCO logic so the stop fires without debate. He tracks results in R-multiples to compare setups apples-to-apples and prevent emotional sizing creep. Over time, this tight loop—fixed R, volatility-aware stops, zero mercy for losers—keeps the equity curve steady enough to let winners shine.
Trade With Trend: Higher Timeframe Bias, Lower Timeframe Precision Entries
Moritz Czubatinski starts by deciding the dominant direction on the daily chart, then refuses to trade against it. He wants a clean swing structure, a rising or falling baseline, and expanding ATR to confirm there’s fuel. Only after that bias is set does he drop to a faster chart to stalk entries that align with the bigger move.
Precision comes from waiting for the price to return to value, print a decisive rejection, and close in trend direction. If a breakout is the play, Moritz demands either a clean close through the level with continuation, or a retest that holds—he picks one trigger style and applies it consistently. He time-boxes each idea; if the trigger doesn’t fire within a set window, the setup expires. No mid-trade bias flips: the higher timeframe rules unless the invalidation level is hit. This keeps him riding tales of real trends instead of fighting chop for nickels.
Diversify Smartly: Spread Exposure By Instrument, Strategy, And Duration
Moritz Czubatinski treats diversification as risk engineering, not variety for its own sake. He caps total open risk, then splits it across uncorrelated themes so one macro swing can’t swamp the account. If two instruments move on the same story—say multiple USD pairs—he counts them as a single cluster and limits position count accordingly. He also mixes continuation and mean-reversion plays, so returns aren’t tied to one regime.
Duration matters just as much: Moritz staggers holding periods so a swing trade doesn’t compete with a shorter momentum tag on the same idea. He sizes by volatility within each cluster, ensuring choppy symbols get smaller bets and smoother ones earn more size. When a new A+ setup appears and the risk budget is maxed, he rotates by cutting the weakest correlated position rather than exceeding caps. This keeps the equity curve steadier while still letting him press genuine opportunities.
Mechanics Over Predictions: Alerts, Templates, OCO Orders, Automated Journaling
Moritz Czubatinski wins by engineering the workflow, not by guessing the future. He hardwires alerts at decision prices so he’s pulled to the chart only when action is required, not when boredom strikes. One-click templates load his setup’s default stop, target, and size so every order matches the plan. OCO brackets go live instantly, removing the temptation to “just give it a little more room.”
To keep the feedback loop tight, Moritz journals automatically with tags for setup, trend state, ATR, and outcome. Checklists guard the order sent: bias confirmed, grade assigned, event risk cleared, risk percent verified. If process errors appear—like moving a stop or jumping a trigger—he uses a platform lockout or a personal “kill switch” rule to halt trading. The result is simple: robust mechanics crowd out impulse, and the edge shows up in consistency rather than predictions.
Manage Winners Calmly: Trail Structure, Scale Out, Respect News Volatility
Moritz Czubatinski treats management as a rules game, not a feelings game. Once price hits around 1R, he makes a measured adjustment—either partial take-profit or a protective stop move behind fresh structure—but never a knee-jerk scramble. His trailing logic follows swing highs/lows or a baseline moving average, so the stop creeps up only when the market actually proves it. If there’s a logical shelf ahead—prior high/low, measured move, or volatility band—he scales a piece, then lets the remainder breathe.
News is handled deliberately. Moritz reduces the size or widens stops pre-event, or he skips the spike entirely and looks for the post-news retest before advancing the trail. He refuses to watch every tick; scheduled check-ins and alerts do the heavy lifting, so he doesn’t sabotage good trades with micromanagement. P&L talk is kept in R-multiples to detach from dollars and avoid cutting winners too early. The result is calm execution: protect enough to stay in the game, but give the trend room to do the heavy lifting.
In the end, Moritz Czubatinski’s edge is a lifestyle-level redesign: swing-trader planning with day-trader execution, alarms doing the babysitting, and automation picking up the slack. He shifted from grinding nights to building a morning watchlist, setting alerts, and letting trades develop without constant screen time—resulting in bigger average trade size and a lower commission drag relative to profits.
A tight routine keeps him sharp: five focused hours after waking, then he’s done—and the rest is handled by systems. Part of his bankroll even runs on fully automated strategies that email him snapshots when positions open, turning daily oversight into a five-minute check. The theme is consistent: design rules, codify triggers, and let technology replace willpower.
Beyond entries and exits, Moritz thinks like a business owner. If you plan to manage outside capital, choose jurisdictions intentionally, expect investors to demand low volatility and a steady equity curve, and build a credible multi-year track record—with your own capital at risk. He also stresses delegation and the right team: automate what you can, hire people who understand the business, pay them to stay, and keep a trusted peer—like his collaborator Ralph—and a rock-solid accountant in your corner.
