Table of Contents
Jason Sen sits down in Bangkok to unpack how a floor-born options trader turned technical analyst really trades today—and why his approach still resonates. Known for running Day Trade Ideas and supplying short-term levels to major institutions, Jason explains his pure-technicals process, his shift to calmer position sizing after hard-won lessons, and why he’s publicly taking on a prop-firm challenge to keep his edge sharp and transparent.
In this piece, you’ll learn Jason Sen’s practical playbook: multi-timeframe confluence using trend lines, moving averages, and Fibonacci; how he structures trades with tighter, defined risk (often ~30 pips) and set-and-forget execution; and the discipline that lets him weather drawdowns and meet strict prop-firm rules. If you’re a retail trader aiming for consistent results—or eyeing a funded account—you’ll see exactly how Jason translates clear levels into repeatable risk-first decisions you can apply the very next session.
Jason Sen Playbook & Strategy: How He Actually Trades
Market Framework: Top-Down First, Precision Later
Here’s where Jason Sen keeps it simple: start wide, then zoom in. The goal is to align trend, structure, and momentum so you’re only taking setups when the bigger picture agrees with the smaller one.
- Begin each session on the daily, then 4H, then 1H, finishing execution on 15m/5m.
- Only trade in the direction of the daily or 4H trend unless price is at a hard level (major support/resistance or weekly pivot).
- If daily and 4H disagree, stand down or trade half size—no “convincing yourself” trades.
- Require at least two factors of confluence on the execution timeframe (e.g., trendline + prior swing level, or 20/50 EMA alignment + Fibonacci zone).
- Skip the first 10–15 minutes after a major data release; let the dust settle before you commit.
Building Levels That Actually Hold
Jason’s edge starts with maps, not predictions. He draws clean, obvious levels—trendlines, swings, and fibs—then lets price tell him when those levels matter.
- Mark the prior day’s high/low, the week’s high/low, and the last significant swing high/low on 4H/1H.
- Draw only the most recent, clean trendline touches (3+ touches = valid). Delete messy lines daily.
- Use Fibonacci retracements 38.2–61.8% only when aligned with a swing level or moving average.
- Pre-label two “do business” zones per instrument for the session; if the price is mid-range, do nothing.
- Update levels at the London open and before New York; commit to no fresh lines mid-trade.
A+ Setup Criteria: From “Nice Idea” to “Put Risk On”
Ideas don’t pay; rules do. Jason upgrades a chart from interesting to tradable when the price reacts at his level and his triggers confirm.
- Bullish continuation: Higher-timeframe uptrend + pullback into level + rejection wick/engulfing on 5m/15m.
- Bearish continuation: Mirror conditions in downtrends; no longs against a falling 20/50 EMA on 15m.
- Breakout: Only trade breakouts that occur from tight consolidation (<25% of recent ATR(14)) into a pre-marked level.
- Mean-reversion scalp: Countertrend allowed only at HTF level, with double-tap or failed break and immediate reclaim.
- Require one of: a strong rejection candle, volume expansion on the break, or RSI/MACD divergence resolving at the level.
Entries & Exits: Mechanical, Not Magical
Jason’s entries are small and repeatable, with exits planned at the same time. No improvisation once the order’s live.
- Place stops just beyond the invalidation structure: behind the swing, outside the range, or past the line that defines the idea.
- Target the next logical level (prior high/low, range edge, measured move) for initial take-profit.
- If 1R is hit, either take 50% and trail to breakeven, or move the stop to -0.25R if the setup is still building.
- Time-stop any trade that hasn’t moved at least 0.5R within one ATR of time on the execution timeframe.
- Never widen stops. If invalidated, flatten and re-assess at the next level.
Risk Per Trade & Sizing: Keep Your Account in the Game
The best levels still lose. Jason sizes so a string of losers is survivable, mentally and mathematically.
- Risk 0.25%–0.75% per trade in normal conditions; cap at 1.0% only with full HTF alignment.
- Daily loss cap: 2R or 1.5% of equity (whichever comes first). Hit it? You’re done for the day.
- Weekly loss cap: 5R. If reached by Wednesday, reduce risk by 50% for the rest of the week.
- For prop-style accounts, set a hard “max trailing drawdown” alert 30% inside the platform’s limit.
- Use ATR(14) on the execution timeframe to normalize position size so stops are wide enough to avoid noise.
Trade Management: Let Winners Breathe, Cut the Rest
Jason’s management is simple: protect capital fast, but give valid trends the room they need.
- After price reaches 1R, trail behind higher lows/lower highs on 5m/15m only if structure stays clean.
- On strong breakouts, switch to a chande/kijun or 20 EMA trail and hold for the next HTF level.
- If price returns to your entry after failing to reach 0.5R, scratch the trade—don’t hope.
- Partial out into obvious liquidity pools (yesterday’s high/low), not random round numbers.
- If a news spike tags your first target fast, bank more (60–70%) and trail the remainder aggressively.
Playbook #1: Continuation Pullback at a Marked Level
When trend is your friend, this is Jason’s bread-and-butter. You’re buying strength at a discount with clear invalidation.
- HTF uptrend confirmed (daily/4H higher highs & higher lows) + 20/50 EMA rising on 15m.
- Price pulls into pre-marked demand zone confluence (trendline + prior swing + fib 50%).
- Entry on bullish rejection/engulfing close; stop below the zone by a buffer of 0.25× ATR(14).
- TP1 at prior swing high, TP2 at measured leg (A→B = B→C); trail remainder with 20 EMA.
- Invalidate if the 15m closes below the zone and the 20 EMA flattens/rolls over.
Playbook #2: Range Break and Retest
Breakouts fail without structure. Trade the ones that build pressure.
- Identify a clear range with at least three taps on both sides; range height ≥ 1× ATR(14) of 15m.
- Wait for a breakout close above/below the range with volume expansion or a wide-range candle.
- Enter on the first clean retest of the range edge; stop back inside the range by 0.3× ATR(14).
- TP1 at 0.5× range height, TP2 at full range height; trail the remainder with structure.
- Invalidate if price closes back inside the range on 15m.
Playbook #3: Countertrend Reversal at Weekly Level (Advanced)
Use sparingly. Only touch this when the higher-timeframe level is undeniable.
- Weekly support/resistance tagged with sharp rejection (wick > body) and momentum slowdown.
- Require double-tap/failed break or divergence on your trigger timeframe.
- Enter on a reclaim (for longs) or loss (for shorts) of the 15m 20 EMA after the rejection.
- Tight stop beyond the extreme; TP1 at the first 1H supply/demand, TP2 at 4H mean (50/200 MA area).
- Stand down if the HTF trend immediately resumes (fresh HH/LL against you).
Session Play: London & New York
Jason shapes his day around when liquidity flows. That means fewer, better shots at times that actually move the price.
- Pre-plan two primary zones per instrument before London; no new zones once the session starts.
- Focus entries during the first 90 minutes of London and the first 90 minutes of New York.
- Reduce size by 50% if trading the overlap unless HTF confluence is perfect.
- Avoid the first candle of major releases; trade the level retest after the print, not the spike.
- If two consecutive sessions are choppy (ADR < 70% two days in a row), cut risk in half on day three.
Instruments & Charts: Keep the Universe Small
Breadth kills focus. Jason keeps a tight list and knows every quirk of each market on that list.
- Trade at most 3–5 instruments per day (e.g., 1–2 FX majors, 1 index future, 1 commodity or crypto).
- Only keep instruments whose ADR/ATR is adequate for your minimum R target with reasonable stops.
- If an instrument prints three messy days in a row, bench it for the week.
- Maintain a “B-list” you scan weekly; promote/demote based on clarity and volatility.
- Use uniform templates (same EMAs, ATR, session markers) so every chart looks familiar.
Pre-Market Routine: Win the Day Before It Starts
Jason’s routine is boring on purpose. Consistency beats creativity when money’s on the line.
- 20–30 minutes to update levels, note trend, mark two zones, and write a one-line plan per instrument.
- Define “A-setup” in advance; if no A-setups exist, your job is not to trade.
- Set alerts at zones and step away; no chart-hovering that leads to FOMO entries.
- Confirm your daily and weekly loss caps are enabled in your platform.
- Do a 60-second mental check: if stressed, cut size to 0.25% or skip the session.
Post-Trade Review: Turn Reps into Edge
Edge compounds when you actually study your own data. Jason reviews fast and often.
- Record each trade with a screenshot, reason for entry, and whether the thesis played out (Y/N).
- Tag trades by setup type (pullback, breakout, reversal) and market condition (trend/range/chop).
- Weekly, export stats: win rate, avg R by setup, time-of-day performance, and average hold time.
- If a setup’s 20-trade sample is <0.5R expectancy, retire or modify it before the next week.
- Keep a “mistake counter”; three process violations in a week trigger a 50% risk cut for the next week.
Prop-Style Risk Constraints (Optional but Powerful)
Whether you trade your own cash or a funded account, strict limits keep you alive long enough to realize your edge.
- Set a hard daily drawdown stop at 50–70% of the allowed limit; platform-enforce it.
- Use a “cool-off rule”: any -2R single trade triggers a 30-minute break and plan rewrite.
- Cap total open risk to 1.5R across all instruments; no stacking correlated positions.
- After a +4R day, trade half size the next session to avoid ga ive-back.
- End each week flat; no weekend holds unless it’s a planned swing with reduced size and hedged risk.
Psychology & Discipline: Simple Rules, Zero Drama
Jason’s process leaves little room for emotion. You don’t need willpower if your rules remove the decision points.
- Never add to losers. Ever.
- If you break a rule, stop trading for the session and write a brief debrief explaining why.
- Use alarms for levels and scheduled data so you aren’t trading boredom.
- Keep your chart clean: price, EMAs (20/50/200), ATR, and session markers—nothing else on execution.
- One “fun trade” per week allowed at micro size; everything else must be in the playbook.
Map Higher Timeframes, Trade Levels: Mechanics Over Predictions Every Session
Jason Sen starts by mapping the daily and 4H to define trend, key swings, and obvious supply-demand zones before even thinking about an entry. He wants the big picture to do the heavy lifting so the intraday decision is mechanical, not a guess. Once the “where” is set, he drops to 1H and 15m to stalk reactions at pre-marked levels. If the smaller chart doesn’t confirm the larger map, he simply waits—no forcing trades.
He treats price behavior at those levels like a checklist instead of a forecast: rejection wick, structure reclaim, or a clean retest that holds. When the conditions line up, he executes and manages by predefined rules; when they don’t, he passes and preserves emotional capital. The point, Jason explains, is to let levels and structure define the trade, not opinions about news or narratives. Mechanics ‘ prediction keeps his process repeatable from session to session.
Size Small, Cap Daily Loss, Survive Strings Of Losing Trades
Jason Sen stresses that longevity beats bravado, so he sizes trades small enough that five losers in a row barely dent confidence. He thinks in R, not dollars, and fixes risk per trade before looking for reward, eliminating the temptation to widen stops. A hard daily loss cap closes the platform if hit, forcing a reset instead of revenge trading. This way, a cold streak becomes data to study, not a hole to climb out of.
He also uses time-based and session-based brakes to keep risk contained when volatility spikes. If the first two trades are losers, Jason reduces size or stands down until a clean A-setup reappears. By protecting mental bandwidth, he trades better the next day instead of trying to “win it back.” The result is a smoother equity curve where discipline—not luck—produces durability.
Use ATR To Set Stops And Normalize Position Risk
Jason Sen uses ATR to translate volatility into position size and stop distance, so every trade risks the same R regardless of how wild the market is. Instead of fixed-pip stops, he anchors the stop beyond invalidation with an ATR-based buffer—far enough to dodge noise, close enough to cut the thesis fast. That keeps his losers consistent and his winners comparable, turning randomness into a controlled experiment. If ATR expands, size contracts; if ATR compresses, size can scale—risk stays constant.
He’ll often work with fractions like 0.25–0.5× ATR beyond the structure that defines the idea, then compute size so that distance equals his predefined R. This removes the urge to “nudge” stops after entry, because the math is done before the click. Jason also rechecks ATR by session; London and New York can require different buffers to reflect the changing pace. The payoff is simple: cleaner process, steadier psychology, and a P&L driven by execution quality, not by whether today happened to be choppy or calm.
Focus On Two A-Setups, Skip Noise, Let Winners Run
Jason Sen keeps the playbook tight: two A-setups per session, nothing else. He pre-marks the zones, sets alerts, and ignores every mid-range wiggle that isn’t in the plan. If an idea isn’t a textbook continuation pullback or a clean range break-and-retest, he passes without debate. That narrow focus cuts decision fatigue and funnels all attention into only the highest-quality moments.
When an A-setup triggers, Jason executes, takes partials at the first logical target, and then lets the rest breathe. He trails behind structure or a fast-moving average, so the occasional trend day pays for a bunch of scratches. The discipline is simple: no third setup, no improvisation, no chasing. By limiting shots and extending holds on winners, Jason turns a few precise decisions into a meaningful edge.
Diversify By Instrument And Playbook, Not Random Trades Or Time
Jason Sen spreads risk across a small basket of instruments and a couple of proven setups instead of spraying trades everywhere. He picks markets that move differently—an FX major, an index future, maybe a commodity—so one theme doesn’t sink the whole day. Each instrument is traded with the same handful of rules, not a new “idea” every hour. That way, diversification comes from uncorrelated markets and repeatable mechanics, not from taking more shots.
He also diversifies by playbook: continuation pullback and range break/retest do the heavy lifting while everything else gets ignored. If EURUSD and NASDAQ are both trending, he won’t double-load the same direction—total open risk stays capped and positions are staggered. When conditions change, Jason rotates the watchlist and benches instruments that have turned choppy for three sessions. The result is focused variety: enough breadth to smooth the P&L, but tight enough that execution stays sharp. It’s diversification that protects capital without diluting edge, and Jason Sen treats that balance as a core part of his strategy.
Conclusion: What Jason Sen Really Teaches Traders
Jason Sen’s core lesson is simple but hard to live: trade smaller, give the setup real room, and let the map—not ego—drive decisions. He admits that tightening stops just to boost size only invites a string of unnecessary losses; the fix was downsizing, using wider, level-based stops, and accepting smaller per-trade gains in exchange for more winners and less stress. He often anchors those decisions around clean structural levels and, in practice, many of his intraday stops cluster around roughly thirty pips once the level is defined. The spirit is consistent: protect mental capital first, then let price prove itself at the spot you marked hours earlier.
Equally important is how Jason thinks about edge: pure technicals, multi-timeframe confluence, and obvious zones where risk is naturally smaller. He pushes the idea that fibs, trend lines, and moving averages matter most where they converge—and that’s where he builds trades with tight invalidation and clear targets. Fundamentals and narratives stay in the background; the chart tells him where a low-risk trade actually exists today, not what should happen this quarter.
Discipline is non-negotiable, and he likes how prop-style rules enforce it in the real world. Hard daily and overall drawdown limits, minimum trading days, and fixed objectives force consistency and risk control—exactly the habits that keep a trader alive beyond any one streak. Jason frames these constraints as a feature, not a bug: you can’t break rules and expect to stay in the game, so build a process that passes both the challenge and the test of time.
Finally, Jason’s craft is transferable: price is price across FX, indices, commodities, or crypto; the repetitions you log on clean levels and moving averages compound into intuition and speed. The more you draw, test, and replay those same structures, the more automatic good decisions become—like driving after years on the road. Edge isn’t one magical indicator; it’s the accumulation of reps applied to simple, durable mechanics.
