Table of Contents
This episode features Trader Nick (A1 Trading) sitting down with host Riz on the Words of Wisdom podcast, recorded in Miami. Nick’s a long-run, transparency-first swing trader with a four-year public track record and a software-engineering background, which he uses to turn macro data into practical trade decisions. Why he matters: he pushes against hype, argues for realistic returns, and shows receipts while breaking down how the prop-firm boom and broader market cycles shape what works—and what doesn’t—for everyday traders.
Read on to learn the core of Nick’s approach: why finding an edge beats obsessing over “psychology,” how to backtest without fooling yourself, and how he blends fundamentals (CPI, PMIs, jobs data) with simple technicals on the 4H/daily to time entries. You’ll get his take on prop firms (pros, cons, and realism), position sizing through drawdowns, and the power of verified track records—actionable insights that can help you trade slower, steadier, and smarter.
Trader Nick Playbook & Strategy: How He Actually Trades
Core Philosophy: Edge Over Ego
Nick keeps it simple: repeat a small, testable edge and let compounding do the heavy lifting. The aim isn’t to nail tops and bottoms—it’s to consistently capture the middle with tight risk. Here’s how to think like he trades.
- Define your edge in one sentence (e.g., “Trade fundamental catalysts with 4H trend alignment”); if you can’t, you don’t have one.
- Risk a fixed 0.25–0.75% per trade; never scale risk because you “feel sure.”
- Think in R-multiples (risk units). Build the month around +6 to +10R, not “pips” or “dollars.”
- Cap weekly loss at −3R and monthly loss at −8R—stop trading if either is hit.
- Cut correlation: max 2 positions per theme (e.g., USD strength); if 1 hits −1R, skip new trades in that theme for 24 hours.
Market Universe & Timeframes
He focuses on where macro data actually moves price and uses higher timeframes to filter noise. Execution lives on the 4H; context comes from the Daily.
- Prioritize G10 FX, gold, S&P/NAS100, and major rate-sensitive pairs (e.g., USDJPY, GBPUSD, EURUSD).
- Trade during active sessions only (London/NY overlap preferred).
- Trend filter: trade long only if Daily close > 50-SMA and 50-SMA > 200-SMA; shorts invert.
- Execute on 4H; entries must align with the Daily bias and a fresh catalyst (see next section).
- Avoid Fridays after NY morning unless managing exits.
Catalyst + Technical Blend (The Edge)
The “why now?” is always a macro catalyst; the “where?” is a clean technical level. That combo prevents random trades and chasing.
- Only take setups within 48 hours of a meaningful data/central bank event (e.g., CPI, jobs, PMI, FOMC/BOE/ECB).
- Direction rule: trade in favor of the surprise (e.g., hotter CPI → favor longs in USD, shorts in risk-sensitive FX).
- Technical location: enter only at prior 4H swing levels, Daily structure (break/retest), or 4H 20-EMA pullbacks.
- Require confluence: at least two of (structure level, trend alignment, candle rejection, divergence resolve).
- If no fresh catalyst, skip the week rather than force a setup.
Entry Triggers (4H Chart)
Keep triggers mechanical, so you act the same way every time. Let the market come to you.
- Use limit orders at the retest of the broken 4H level or 20-EMA touch in trend.
- Confirmation: wait for a 4H close showing rejection (pin/engulfing) in the direction of bias.
- If price moves >1.0×ATR(14, 4H) without filling, cancel the order—avoid chasing.
- Never enter the final 15 minutes before a tier-1 release; re-evaluate after the print.
- One retry rule: if a level fails once (−1R), you may attempt one more retest only if the catalyst bias is intact.
Stop Loss & Position Sizing
Stops are placed where your idea is invalid, not where it “feels safe.” Size the trade to fit the stop—not the other way around.
- Stop goes beyond structure: 5–15% of ATR(14, 4H) past the swing high/low or the Daily break level.
- Position size = (Account × Risk%) ÷ (Stop distance in pips × pip value).
- If stop distance > 1.8×ATR(14, 4H), pass—setup is too stretched.
- For indices/commodities, base stops on structure with ATR confirmation; keep dollar risk constant.
- Slippage buffer: add 0.1R cushion around news times.
Taking Profits (Scaling & Targets)
Banking partial profits makes the equity curve smoother and protects you during news volatility.
- First scale at +1R (25–40% off); move stop to breakeven only after a full 4H candle closes beyond entry in your favor.
- Main target: next Daily level or 2–3R, whichever comes first.
- If price hits +2R before a major data release, lock +1R on the remainder.
- No scaling in unless trade has achieved +1R and then pulls back to 0.3–0.5R while trend conditions remain intact.
- Time stop: if flat between −0.3R and +0.7R for 48 hours, close at market.
News Handling & Event Map
Events drive his trade selection. Having a map prevents emotional decisions and overtrading.
- Pre-plan the week: mark Tier-1 events (inflation, jobs, PMI, central banks). Trade only themes with fresh catalysts.
- 30-minute embargo rule: No new orders 30 minutes before or after Tier-1 releases (unless already in and protected).
- For central banks, wait for the press conference tone to confirm the initial spike before adding or adjusting.
- If the catalyst contradicts your open trade, exit immediately—do not negotiate with new information.
- One-theme focus: pick the strongest theme of the week (e.g., “USD strength after CPI”) and ignore side quests.
Trade Management (While In the Position)
You’ll avoid most mistakes by letting predefined rules manage you. Decisions are made ahead of time, not during the heat.
- Trail only after +2R using a structure-based stop under/over the last 4H swing.
- If price fails to make a higher high/lower low after +1R and prints a 4H reversal at your level, cut to half size.
- Hard limit on screen time: check charts at candle closes; no tinkering mid-bar.
- If two correlated positions are open and one hits −1R, reduce the other to half risk.
- News spike in your favor >1.5×ATR? Take an extra 10–20% off and re-anchor stops under the new structure.
Weekly Routine (Preparation)
Consistency comes from a repeatable rhythm. A simple prep loop saves hours and cuts noise.
- Sunday: mark Daily trend, levels, and themes; shortlist 3 instruments max.
- Before London: write one-line thesis per instrument (“Long USDJPY on dips if yields rise post-CPI”).
- After NY close: journal results, update R-tally, and tag trades by theme (USD strength, risk-off, etc.).
- Midweek: if at +5R or worse than 3R, reduce new trade risk by 50% for the remainder of the week.
- End of week: archive screenshots (entry, management, exit) into a single page per trade.
Backtesting & Validation
You don’t need fancy tools; you need consistent rules and 50–100 examples to see what’s real.
- Pick one setup (e.g., “post-CPI trend pullback at 4H level”) and test the last 12–24 months.
- Record only four items: context, entry rule, stop rule, exit rule; include R outcome and MAE/MFE.
- Require base stats: win rate 35–55%, average win ≥ 1.8R, profit factor ≥ 1.3 over 50+ trades.
- Kill any variation that drops the profit factor below 1.2 or adds complexity without improving expectancy.
- Lock final rules; no tweaks for 30 live trades unless a hard risk breach occurs.
Psychology & Risk Limits
Mindset is risk control in disguise. Guardrails keep you from turning a bad day into a bad month.
- Daily max drawdown: −2R; stop immediately if hit.
- Two-strike rule: after two consecutive mistakes (rule breaks), pause for 24 hours and re-write the checklist by hand.
- No revenge trades; any trade placed within 15 minutes of a stop-out is invalid by definition—cancel it.
- If you check P&L more than once per 4H candle, walk away; switch to alerts-only until the next close.
- Keep a non-negotiable sleep window; no new trades in the last 90 minutes before bed.
Tools & Checklists
Simple tools, used the same way every day, beat complex setups you use inconsistently.
- Charts: Daily for bias, 4H for execution; 20-EMA for pullbacks, 50/200-SMA for trend filter.
- Volatility: ATR(14, 4H) sets stop width and no-chase limits.
- Alerts: set at key levels and ATR targets; let alerts pull you to the chart.
- Journal: track R, MAE/MFE, theme, catalyst, and whether rules were followed (Y/N).
- Pre-trade checklist: catalyst fresh? Daily trend aligned? Clean 4H level? Valid stop within 1.8×ATR? Risk-sized? If any “No,” skip.
Size Risk First: Fixed-R Percent Positioning Beats Gut Confidence
Nick Syiek makes the case that every trade starts with a number, not a chart—your fixed R. He caps risk to a small, repeatable slice of equity (typically 0.25–0.75%) and sizes the position to fit the stop, never the other way around. By anchoring to R before entry, Syiek strips emotion from “can’t-miss” setups and keeps single-trade damage strictly bounded. If the valid stop makes the position tiny, he still takes it; if the stop is too wide for his max R, he simply passes.
His math stays simple and enforceable: Position Size = (Account × R%) ÷ (Stop distance × value per unit). Stops sit beyond structure, so invalidation is objective, and outcomes are tracked in R-multiples—scale some at +1R, aim for 2–3R, and accept 1R without drama. Over a month, this rule turns randomness into a steady expectancy engine—no hero trades, no account-killers, just consistent risk doing quiet compounding work.
Let Volatility Lead: ATR-Based Entries, Stops, and Scaling Rules
Nick Syiek treats volatility as the steering wheel, not background noise. He uses ATR to decide where entries make sense, how wide a stop should be, and when to scale, so each trade adapts to current conditions. If ATR is elevated, he looks for cleaner pullbacks to structure and accepts wider stops with smaller size; if ATR is muted, he tightens levels and expects slower follow-through. The point is to let the market’s pace dictate your precision, instead of forcing the same stop on every chart.
He keeps it formulaic: stops live a fraction beyond structure—typically 1.0–1.5× ATR(14) on the execution timeframe—and position size shrinks or expands to maintain constant R. First scale often comes at +1R when price has moved at least 0.8–1.0× ATR from entry, with the rest trailed under fresh swings that form as ATR compresses. If price runs more than 1.5× ATR without him, he doesn’t chase; the edge comes from planned locations, not FOMO candles. Syiek’s mantra is simple: when volatility leads, your rules stay consistent—and consistent rules keep you in the game.
Diversify Smartly: Mix Underlyings, Strategies, and Holding Durations
Nick Syiek frames diversification as anti-fragility, not box-ticking. He spreads risk across a few uncorrelated themes—currencies, indices, and metals—so one narrative doesn’t dominate his P&L. Within each theme, he mixes setups (trend pullbacks, break-and-retests, mean-reversion fades after catalysts) and staggers holding periods from intraday swings to multi-day carries.
Syiek’s filter is simple: if two trades would likely win or lose together, he only takes one. He caps exposure to any single macro idea and avoids tripling up on near-clones like EURUSD, GBPUSD, and AUDUSD when the driver is just “strong USD.” He also offsets a slow, trend-following position with a quicker, rules-based fade elsewhere, so realized R doesn’t hinge on one style. The result is a portfolio that hums through chop, trends, and event weeks, with smaller drawdowns and steadier month-to-month expectancy.
Trade Mechanics, Not Predictions: If-Then Rules Over Market Opinions
Nick Syiek builds trades from checklists, not crystal balls. He starts with a clear trigger—like “post-CPI, Daily uptrend, 4H pullback to prior high”—and only acts if every box is ticked. If the setup isn’t there, he does nothing; there’s no “it feels like it should go up” override. By reducing decisions to if–then logic, Syiek keeps execution consistent and immune to hot takes.
Once in a trade, the same mechanics carry him through: if price closes a 4H candle past the structure, he holds; if it violates the invalidation level, he’s out—no debates. If a fresh, conflicting catalyst hits, he closes and reassesses rather than bargaining with the market. He journals each rule followed or broken in R-terms to keep himself accountable. The payoff is a process that works across weeks and regimes—opinions fade, but rules compound.
Prefer Defined Risk: Preplanned Exits, Theme Limits, and Drawdown Guardrails
Nick Syiek treats risk like a contract he signs before entry. He decides the exit price, the invalidation logic, and the maximum theme exposure while he’s calm—not after the market starts moving. That means hard stops beyond structure, no averaging down, and a strict cap on correlated trades tied to the same macro driver. If two positions would likely sink together, Syiek only carries one and sizes it to a fixed R.
His drawdown guardrails are just as explicit: a -2R daily stop, a -3R weekly soft cap that halves new risk, and a -8R monthly hard stop that ends new trading until a full review. When a stop is hit, he doesn’t negotiate—he logs the R outcome, tags the theme, and steps back. Any rule break triggers a 24-hour pause and a handwritten checklist refresh to prevent spiral behavior. Syiek’s bottom line is simple: protect capital first, and profits arrive on the schedule of discipline, not hope.
In the end, Nick Syiek’s playbook boils down to repeatable edge over loud opinions. He starts with fixed-R risk, sizes to the stop, and lets volatility set the spacing—wide when markets are hot, tighter when they’re calm. Catalysts provide the “why now” (think CPI, jobs, PMIs), higher timeframes provide the bias, and a clean 4H structure provides the entry. If any piece is missing, he passes. That restraint—combined with preplanned exits and theme caps—keeps single trades from hijacking his month.
Just as important, he diversifies by idea and tempo instead of spraying charts: one or two best themes, uncorrelated instruments, and a mix of slower trend follows with quicker mean-reversion plays. Once in, everything is mechanical: partials at logical R targets, structure-based trailing, and instant exits when invalidation prints or new data flips the story. No averaging down, no chasing candles, and a hard stop on daily/weekly drawdown keep him objective. The takeaway for traders is simple: write the rules, size them small, and let a transparent, catalyst-aware process do the compounding.
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