Table of Contents
In this interview, a seasoned forex trader sits down with a popular podcast host in London to unpack how a decade-plus on the charts shaped his approach. The conversation traces his early trial-and-error, why he concentrates on a few familiar pairs instead of chasing everything, and how routine outside the market—gym, family, and work—keeps his decisions calm when price gets loud.
You’ll learn a simple, beginner-friendly strategy: build a plan, read the higher timeframes first, wait for alignment on your execution chart, and risk small so you can stick around long enough to get good. We’ll cover how he filters trades, manages risk without second-guessing, and avoids educator noise to protect his psychology—so you can copy the parts that fit your style and skip the rest.
Krishna Sharma Playbook & Strategy: How He Actually Trades
Core Market Focus & Instruments
Here’s the big picture of what Krishna Sharma chooses to trade and why. Getting clear on instruments and conditions keeps you from chasing noise and lets you build repeatable edges.
- Trade 1–3 instruments you know cold (e.g., your “home” FX pair or one index); ignore the rest.
- Define a volatility window for each instrument (e.g., ADR/ATR ranges) and only trade when the day’s reading is within your playbook.
- Pre-tag instruments by behavior (trendy vs. mean-reverting) and apply the matching setup—don’t force a trend play in a choppy market.
- Stand down on major high-impact data unless it’s explicitly part of your playbook; wait for post-news structure to form.
Daily Prep: Bias, Levels, and Scenarios
This section is about building a lightweight plan before the session starts, so you’re reacting to price—not to emotions. You’ll set a directional bias, mark levels, and script two or three “if-then” paths.
- Start from higher timeframes (HTF): mark previous day/week high/low, session highs/lows, and the nearest HTF supply/demand.
- Write one sentence for directional bias (bullish/bearish/neutral) with the condition that invalidates it (e.g., “Bullish above yesterday’s high; invalid below London low”).
- Pre-draw your A+ zones: where liquidity likely rests (equal highs/lows, swing points, imbalance edges, VWAP/AVWAP taps).
- Draft 2–3 scenarios: “If price sweeps PDH and rejects, look for short back into mid; if it reclaims and holds, flip long targeting next HTF level.”
Entry Triggers: From Idea to Execution
Now you’ll translate the plan into precise triggers that remove hesitation. The goal is simple mechanical rules you can execute even on a mediocre day.
- Wait for a sweep or reclaim at your pre-marked level (wick through key level + close back in range, or clean break + retest that holds).
- Require confluence: HTF bias + level reaction + one execution signal (structure break, micro pullback, or rejection candle).
- Use stop placement rules: beyond the sweep extreme or the structure pivot; never inside the noise you’re trading against.
- If the setup needs more than three conditions to say “yes,” pass—complexity kills execution speed.
Risk & Position Sizing
This is where consistency is built. Adopt fixed risk rules so one trade never decides your month, and you always know your worst-case.
- Risk a fixed % per trade (common range: 0.25–0.75%); never scale risk with “confidence.”
- Cap total daily risk (e.g., 1.5%); stop trading at the cap—review instead of revenge.
- Pre-compute position size from stop distance; don’t “eyeball” it.
- For scaling in, only add on new structure breaks with stops advanced so total risk never exceeds the initial plan.
Trade Management: Let Winners Breathe, Kill Losers Fast
Here you’ll learn how to manage winners without turning them into break-even scratches. The idea is to move stops with structure—not with fear.
- Move to break-even only after price makes a clear shift (e.g., closes beyond the first target zone or forms a higher low/lower high in your favor).
- Take partials at pre-planned areas: first trouble area (FTA), session VWAP/AVWAP, or HTF level; trail the rest behind swing structure.
- If price returns to entry without structure holding, exit—don’t negotiate with your stop.
- One active trade at a time per instrument; if you re-enter, it must be a fresh setup, not a “get back what I missed” click.
Time-of-Day & Session Rules
Edge clusters in time. Lock in when you trade and when you don’t to avoid low-quality ranges and fatigue decisions.
- Focus on the session that produces most of your clean moves (e.g., London open + first 2 hours; or NY open + first 90 minutes).
- Stand down during dead zones (midday drifts) unless a higher-timeframe level is being tested.
- If two hours pass without your setup, close the platform—discipline is a position.
- End the day on a green winner or after hitting your daily loss cap; don’t “one more” your way into a drawdown.
News & Volatility Protocol
News can be a catalyst or chaos. Use this protocol to avoid random outcomes while still capitalizing on clean post-event structure.
- Pre-tag high-impact releases on your calendar and avoid opening new positions within 15–30 minutes before the event.
- Post-news, wait for the first impulse and the first clean pullback or reclaim; trade the structure, not the headline.
- If slippage widens or spreads spike beyond your tolerance, go flat and reassess later.
- On event days, cut the size by half unless your data proves that your edge improves on elevated volatility.
System Health: Journaling, Metrics, and Iteration
If you can’t measure it, you can’t scale it. Keep the feedback loop tight so the strategy evolves without drift.
- Journal every trade with a screenshot, bias, entry trigger, stop/target, and reason for exit.
- Track three metrics weekly: win rate, average R, and expectancy (Avg R × win rate – loss rate).
- Tag trades by setup (sweep-reclaim, break-retest, VWAP bounce). Cull the tag with the lowest expectancy each month or refine its rules.
- Run a monthly “broken rules” audit—count rule violations, not P&L. Reduce violations before you try to increase size.
Psychology & Process Habits
Great execution comes from a calm baseline. These habits keep the mental edge sharp so your rules get followed when it counts.
- Pre-market routine: 5–10 minutes of plan review, one sentence of intent (“I only take A+ sweeps/reclaims today”).
- During trade: follow a checklist before clicking (bias aligned? level tagged? trigger seen? stop defined? size confirmed?).
- Post-trade: log emotion state (calm, rushed, tilted) and add one corrective note for next session.
- Protect sleep, diet, and off-screen time; a tired trader will always find a way to break rules.
Capital Growth & Scaling
Once your process is stable, scale with structure so a larger size doesn’t break your psychology.
- Increase size only after 20–30 consecutive trades show positive expectancy and rule adherence >90%.
- Use a step-ladder: +25% size after each profitable 4-week block; revert if a 2× average drawdown occurs.
- Keep a “comfort size” fallback for the first week at the new scale to re-anchor execution quality.
- Diversify by time (add a second session) or by setup (secondary A setup) only after your primary edge is rock solid.
Playbook: The A+ Setup (Checklist)
Here’s the quick-fire version you can print and keep next to your screen. It ties together bias, levels, trigger, and management in one flow.
- HTF bias set and invalidation noted.
- Key liquidity level marked (PDH/PDL, weekly levels, VWAP/AVWAP edges, imbalance).
- Price sweeps or reclaims the level and closes back in line with bias.
- Entry on the first clean micro structure confirmation; stop beyond the extreme.
- First target = FTA; partial there; trail remainder behind structure.
- Break-even only after structure confirms; daily loss cap respected; one instrument, one active trade.
Yousef Karmostaji Playbook & Strategy: How He Actually Trades
Market Focus & Edge Definition
Yousef keeps his sandbox small so the rules stay sharp. This section shows how to pick your instruments and define a simple edge you can actually execute daily.
- Commit to 1–3 instruments you understand deeply; archive everything else for 90 days.
- Label each instrument by behavior (trend-friendly vs. mean-reverting) and match setups accordingly.
- Trade only when today’s ATR/ADR sits within your “playable” band; stand down on outlier days.
- Predefine your core edge in one sentence: “I trade sweep→reclaim at HTF levels during my session.”
Daily Prep: Bias, Levels, Scenarios
Yousef front-loads thinking before the bell, so he can click without doubt. You’ll set a bias, mark levels that matter, and script a few clean paths.
- Start HTF → LTF: mark weekly/daily highs/lows, prior session extremes, and nearest supply/demand.
- Write a one-line bias with invalidation (e.g., “Bullish while above Monday’s high; invalid on H1 close below it”).
- Box your A+ zones: liquidity pools (equal highs/lows), imbalance edges, VWAP/AVWAP bands.
- Draft 2–3 if-then plans so you’re never improvising at the hard right edge.
Execution: Entry Triggers That Remove Hesitation
Ideas don’t pay—entries do. Here you’ll turn prep into triggers that are precise, repeatable, and fast to read.
- Wait for a stop-hunt or clean break at the pre-marked level, then a reclaim/hold in line with bias.
- Require one confirmation: micro structure shift (BOS), rejection wick with close in-range, or first pullback after reclaim.
- Place the stop beyond the extreme that proves you wrong; never inside the noise you’re fading.
- If you don’t see the full picture (level + trigger + space to target), skip—partial confluence is a leak.
Risk & Money Management
Longevity beats lucky streaks. Yousef fixes risk so one bad day can’t erase a week of good decisions.
- Use fixed fractional risk per trade (0.25–0.75% typical); never scale risk on “confidence.”
- Cap daily drawdown (e.g., 1.5%) and stop trading when you hit it—review, don’t “win it back.”
- Size the position from the stop distance; no eyeballing. Round down to the next lot to avoid slippage stress.
- Only scale in on fresh structure breaks with stops advanced so total risk never exceeds the initial plan.
Managing the Trade: Targets, Trailing, and Exits
Yousef lets the market do the lifting while he protects open risk. These rules keep winners alive and losers contained.
- First target is the First Trouble Area (prior swing/VWAP/imbalance fill); take partials there.
- Move to break-even only after price makes a new structure point in your favor, not just because it ticked green.
- Trail behind swing structure or session VWAP; never tighten the stop mid-range out of fear.
- If the reclaim fails (close back through level against bias), accept the exit—no hope holds.
Session Discipline & Time Rules
Edge clusters in time. Yousef shows up when his instruments move cleanly and logs off when the tape turns messy.
- Focus on your main session’s first 90–120 minutes; review tape afterward instead of forcing midday chops.
- Avoid the last 30 minutes of your session unless the price is reacting at a key HTF level.
- Two hours without an A+ look? Close the platform—discipline is a position.
- One live position per instrument; if you miss it, wait for the next plan, not a chase.
News & Volatility Protocol
Catalyst without control is coin-flip trading. Use this protocol to sidestep random spikes yet capitalize on post-news structure.
- No fresh entries 15–30 minutes before high-impact events on your instrument.
- Post-news, let the first impulse print, then trade the first clean pullback/reclaim—structure over headlines.
- If spreads blow out or slippage exceeds your tolerance, flatten and re-evaluate later.
- Half size on event days unless your tracking proves your edge improves with higher volatility.
Psychology & Routine (Travel-Tested)
Yousef emphasizes emotional control that travels with you—hotel desk or home office, same checklist, same rules. Consistent habits protect your edge when environments change.
- Pre-market: 5–10 minutes to read the plan aloud, then a one-line intent (“Only trade sweep→reclaim at marked levels”).
- During trade: run a 6-step checklist (bias, level, trigger, stop, size, targets) before clicking.
- Post-trade: tag emotion (calm/rushed/tilted) and write one corrective note for the next session.
- Keep a non-market routine (sleep, movement, brief journaling) to stabilize decision quality.
Metrics & Iteration
If it’s not measured, it’s guessing. You’ll track just enough to learn, not so much that you drown in spreadsheets.
- Journal each trade with annotated screenshots and reasons for entry/exit.
- Review weekly: win rate, average R, and expectancy. Kill or rework any tag with negative expectancy.
- Track “rule breaks per week” as a primary KPI; size stays frozen while breaks exceed 1 per week.
- Run a monthly “setup census”: which level types and session windows generated the cleanest follow-through.
Capital Growth & Scaling
More size magnifies flaws. Scale only when your process can carry the weight without bending your psychology.
- Require 25–30 consecutive trades with positive expectancy and >90% rule adherence before any size increase.
- Use a staircase: +25% size after a profitable 4-week block; revert if drawdown exceeds 2× your rolling average.
- Keep a comfort-size mode for the first week at the new scale to maintain execution quality.
- Add diversification by time (a second session) or by one secondary A setup—never both at once.
Yousef’s A+ Setup (Pocket Checklist)
Here’s the distilled flow you can keep on your desk. It ties bias, levels, confidence checks, and management into one simple sequence.
- HTF bias set; invalidation written.
- Liquidity level identified (PDH/PDL, weekly levels, imbalance edge, VWAP/AVWAP).
- Sweep or break→reclaim prints in line with bias; space to FTA confirmed.
- Entry on first clean micro confirmation; stop beyond the extreme; size precomputed.
- Partial at FTA; trail behind structure; break-even only after structure shift.
- Daily loss cap respected; one active trade per instrument; no chase after a miss.
Size Risk First: Fixed Percentage Rules That Survive Losing Streaks
Yousef Karmostaji keeps it simple: every trade risks a fixed fraction of equity, no exceptions. That one rule makes drawdowns mathematically tolerable and keeps emotions out of the sizing decision. He’ll accept smaller position sizes when stops are wider, because the point is surviving the next ten trades, not hero-sizing this one. When the market chops, his constant risk means the account bleeds slowly—buying time for the edge to reassert.
Krishna Sharma echoes the same discipline with a daily loss cap layered on top of per-trade risk. If two or three trades hit the stop, he shuts it down, ensuring no single session derails the month. Both traders stress pre-computing size from stop distance before entering, so there’s zero improvisation at the hard right edge. In their world, fixed risk turns a losing streak into an inconvenience rather than an identity crisis.
Trade When It Moves: Volatility Filters and Session Windows That Pay
Yousef Karmostaji only hunts when his market has room to run, using simple volatility checks like ATR or ADR to confirm the day isn’t a dud. If the range is compressed, he parks the keyboard instead of forcing a trade, saving mental capital for the next clean move. He narrows the clock too—first 90–120 minutes of London or New York—because that’s when liquidity and direction usually show up together. When those pieces align, he expects smoother follow-through and less second-guessing.
Krishna Sharma layers the same idea with a pre-session checklist: mark yesterday’s high/low, note the news, confirm spreads, then ask “Is today actually moving?” If not, he reduces size or sits out entirely, refusing to let boredom leak P&L. On high-energy days, he’ll still wait for post-open structure, letting the initial burst settle before committing. Both traders prove that timing plus volatility is an edge by itself—trade less, but only when the tape is alive.
Diversify Smartly: Mix Underlyings, Strategies, and Holding Durations For Resilience
Yousef Karmostaji spreads his risk across a small basket he knows well—think one primary FX pair plus a secondary index or commodity—so one market’s mood swings don’t dictate his entire week. He pairs a core intraday playbook with a slower, swing-style framework on the same instruments, letting time diversify the edge even when symbols overlap. That mix means if the London morning is a grind, the 4H swing can still carry the load. He avoids adding five similar pairs that all correlate; he’d rather add one truly different instrument than four clones that rise and fall together.
Krishna Sharma approaches it like a portfolio: one momentum setup, one mean-reversion setup, and one breakout continuation—each with its own session and rules. He staggers holding periods on purpose, so he isn’t forced to choose between a quick scalp and a multi-day move when both are valid. Position sizes flex per setup quality, but total exposure stays capped, keeping any single theme from dominating. Together, Yousef and Krishna show that smart diversification isn’t “trade everything,” it’s “mix a few complementary edges across markets and time so something is almost always working.”
Trust Mechanics Over Prediction: Level, Trigger, Stop, Target—Repeat Relentlessly
Yousef Karmostaji doesn’t try to forecast the day; he waits for the price to tag a pre-marked level, then hunts a specific trigger before committing. His checklist is brutally simple: HTF bias confirms context, LTF prints the trigger, stop goes beyond the invalidation, and targets are mapped to the first trouble area and the next HTF level. If any piece is missing, no trade. He’ll ignore “strong feelings” about direction, because the only opinion that matters is the candle that just closed where it should.
Krishna Sharma follows the same assembly line: level first, trigger second, stop third, target last. He treats each entry like a mechanical build—the moment structure breaks or a sweep-reclaim holds, he acts; if it doesn’t, he stands down. Trade management is equally rules-based: partial at FTA, trailing behind structure, and only moves to break-even after a clear shift, not a green flicker. Both Yousef and Krishna prove that execution beats prediction—the market provides the ingredients, and their mechanics turn it into consistent R.
Choose Risk Type Wisely: Defined Versus Undefined, With Clear Management Playbook
Yousef Karmostaji separates trades by risk profile before he even thinks about entry: defined-risk structures where the max loss is baked in, and undefined-risk structures where slippage or fast moves can widen damage. For defined risk, he sizes aggressively but still inside his fixed percentage, because the ceiling is known; for undefined risk, he cuts size and tightens the decision loop, demanding cleaner structure and faster invalidation. He documents the different playbooks so there’s zero confusion mid-trade—how he places stops, when he moves to break-even, and how he takes partials are all prewritten. If market conditions shift from orderly to chaotic, he automatically downgrades to the safer playbook or stands down.
Krishna Sharma applies a similar lens during news and thin-liquidity windows, treating those periods as effectively “undefined risk” even on normally tame setups. He reduces exposure, widens stops to realistic levels, and halves size so a single gap or spike can’t wreck the week. Both traders insist the label dictates the behavior: defined risk invites measured boldness with crisp targets, while undefined risk demands humility, smaller size, and rapid exit rules. The result is a consistent equity curve where surprises are managed by design, not handled on the fly.
In the end, Yousef Karmostaji and Krishna Sharma both land on the same simple truth: the trader who survives longest wins most. Across the conversation, they keep circling back to fixed fractional risk, tight daily loss caps, and the discipline to shut it down when conditions aren’t right. They size from the stop, not from a hunch; they wait for movement confirmed by basic volatility checks; and they keep their universe small—Yousef’s long history with GJ is a perfect example of how deep familiarity beats broad curiosity. Both traders treat session timing like a filter, showing up for the first clean hours and refusing to donate during dead zones or into high-impact news spikes. The result is fewer trades, but cleaner ones, with structure doing the heavy lifting instead of prediction.
They also frame edge as a portfolio of mechanics rather than a single magic indicator. Yousef and Krishna mix timeframes and setup types so that something is usually working without letting any one theme dominate. Each trade follows the same assembly line—level, trigger, stop, target—and the management rules never change mid-flight: partial at the first trouble area, trail behind structure, move to break-even only after a real shift. Outside the charts, they anchor performance with routine—sleep, gym, a quick plan read-through—because process leaks start in life before they show up in P&L. If you take one thing from these two, make it this: codify your behavior before the bell, let volatility and time windows pick your spots, and let your rules—not your mood—decide what happens next.
