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This interview features trader and coach Alwin Ng—recorded on the Desire To Trade podcast—digging into how he built a repeatable swing-trading approach after relocating to Asia. Alwin matters because he blends real-world trading with coaching, showing newer traders why mindset, consistency, and lifestyle fit can make or break results. He trades a tight universe of FX majors and gold, focuses on trend and first pullback, and keeps rules simple enough to fit on one page—without trying to outsmart the market.
In this piece, you’ll learn Alwin’s psychology-first playbook: why the technicals are the easy part, how to clean up limiting beliefs, and how to align a trading plan to your personality so you can actually follow it. We’ll cover his top-down workflow (weekly/daily for context, 4H/1H for entries), first-pullback triggers, risk sizing that scales (start small, earn the size right), journaling with screenshots, and his “no trading after 7 pm” lifestyle guardrail. You’ll also see how his 30-day transformation framework pulls mindset, rules, and routine into a simple system you can run tomorrow.
Alwin Ng Playbook & Strategy: How He Actually Trades
Market Focus & When He Trades
Alwin keeps his universe small so decisions stay clean and repeatable. He aligns trading hours to his lifestyle and energy—protecting focus instead of chasing every move.
- Track ~6 major FX pairs plus a small handful of liquid markets you know best.
- Define a personal trading window (e.g., morning block) and stick to it daily.
- Hard rule: no trading after 7 pm; protect sleep, family time, and decision quality.
- If you break a rule, pause trading the next day—reset before risking again.
- Build a “do nothing” muscle: if your market isn’t on your list, skip it.
Top-Down Timeframe Framework
He makes directional decisions on higher timeframes and hunts entries on lower ones. This keeps him aligned to the bigger picture while still getting practical entry prices.
- Weekly for trend bias; Daily for structure (key levels, swings, zones).
- Execute on 4H/1H; only drop to 15m if it helps refine risk without adding noise.
- Mark major S/R on Daily; respect them on lower timeframes.
- Trade with the higher-timeframe trend unless a clear reversal base forms.
- If Weekly and Daily disagree, reduce the size or stand aside until alignment returns.
Core Setup: Trend + First Pullback
His bread-and-butter is catching the first clean pullback after a fresh trend leg. It’s simple to spot, easy to explain, and repeatable enough to journal.
- Identify a fresh impulse breaking the prior swing structure.
- Wait for the first meaningful pullback into a value area (prior S/R, MA zone, or fair-value pocket).
- Demand a pause (mini-range or two-to-four candles of slowdown) before entry.
- Entry only after confirmation: break of the micro-pullback high/low or a strong close back with trend.
- Invalidate the setup if the price closes beyond the prior impulse origin.
Entry Mechanics & Confirmation
Entries are rules-driven: no gut feel, no FOMO. If the pattern isn’t there, he passes and preserves mental capital.
- Trigger: market/stop order through confirmation level; no limit orders “hoping” for fills.
- Place stops beyond the structure that proves you wrong (swing high/low beyond the pullback).
- If the spread widens during illiquid times, skip rather than force a worse stop.
- Standard slippage allowance baked into position size; don’t “shrink” stops to fit size.
- If price runs without you, do nothing—next setup will come.
Risk Sizing That Scales With Consistency
Sizing grows only when behavior and outcomes prove you’ve earned it. The goal is a stable equity curve, not hero trades.
- Start with 0.5%–1.0% risk per trade until you log 20–30 fully rule-compliant trades.
- After a profitable, rule-clean sample, you may step to 1.0%–1.5%—not before.
- Max open risk cap: 2%–3% across all positions; if hit, stop adding.
- Cut size in half after a 3-trade drawdown; restore only after two wins following the rules.
- Never widen stops post-entry; exit, reframe, and wait for the next pullback.
Trade Management & Exits
He manages trades with predefined milestones. The rules protect winners, cut losers, and make results repeatable.
- Move stop to break-even only after +1R close; not before.
- Scale out 30%–50% near a logical target (prior swing, Daily level) and trail the rest behind higher lows/lower highs.
- If momentum stalls at a Daily level, take partials; let structure—not hope—decide.
- Time stop: if price chops for two full sessions without progress, reduce exposure or exit.
- Record “would’ve/should’ve” notes, but don’t act on them mid-trade.
Checklist Before You Click
A quick, honest checklist keeps emotions out. If any box fails, the trade waits.
- Higher-timeframe trend aligned? Yes/No.
- First clean pullback into value? Yes/No.
- Clear invalidation level and risk ≤ max per-trade cap? Yes/No.
- Session/liquidity acceptable (spreads normal)? Yes/No.
- Journal fields prefilled (setup, trigger, stop, target, plan)? Yes/No.
Routine, Energy, and Lifestyle Guardrails
Alwin treats energy like risk capital. Protecting energy leads to better decisions and fewer impulsive trades.
- Fixed start/stop times for chart work; no screens after 7 pm.
- Pre-trade priming: 5 minutes of breathing + 2 minutes reviewing rules.
- Two-strike rule: two subpar setups spotted? Walk away for the day.
- No alcohol the night before planned trading; prioritize sleep.
- Keep a visible “Do Less, Win More” reminder near your screen.
Journaling That Actually Improves P&LL
His journal is fast, visual, and brutally honest. The aim is to tighten execution and sizing, not write essays.
- Log every trade with screenshots: HTF context, entry candle, and exit.
- Tag each with setup name, R risked, R realized, and any rule break.
- End-of-week review: export top 5 winners/losers, list the one fix that improves both.
- Maintain a rule-break counter; if it ticks up, reduce the size next week.
- Track “missed winners” and “avoided losers” to reinforce patience.
30-Day Transformation Sprint
He uses 30 days to align beliefs, behavior, and results. It’s a structured reset that builds credibility with yourself.
- Define one measurable outcome (e.g., 30 trades, 95% rule compliance) and two behaviors (daily prep, nightly review).
- Trade only your A-setup (trend + first pullback); pass everything else.
- Daily: 10-minute post-market debrief—what was planned, what was done, what changes tomorrow.
- Weekly: share a one-page scorecard with yourself (or a partner) and adjust the size based on rule compliance.
- After 30 days, raise risk slightly only if compliance ≥ 90% and the drawdown behavior stayed within plan.
Size risk by consistency; earn the right to scale gradually
Alwin Ng keeps sizing tied to behavior, not hopes or hunches. He starts small, proves he can follow rules across a clean sample of trades, then steps up only when the data backs it. If discipline slips or the market turns choppy, size goes back down automatically. This makes each decision mechanical, so performance isn’t hostage to mood or one lucky winner.
He treats drawdowns like a flashing dashboard light: respond early by cutting risk, not after the car stalls. Scaling is earned with consistent execution, stable equity swings, and clear post-trade reviews—not because a setup “feels big.” Alwin Ng wants traders to separate process from prediction, letting risk reflect reality. When the plan is tight and compliance is high, size increases feel calm instead of gutsy.
Trade trend plus first pullback; rules-first entries, never FOMO
Alwin Ng builds his edge around the simplest repeatable pattern: a fresh impulse, then the first clean pullback into value. He wants a pause that proves sellers or buyers are tiring, then a clear trigger—break of the micro-pullback high/low or a strong close with trend. This keeps him out of chop and late chases, where most traders donate. If the confirmation never prints, Alwin does nothing and saves his ammo.
He defines invalidation before entry and places the stop beyond the structure, not a random number. No limit orders fishing for perfection; he lets price prove it first. When a move takes off without him, Alwin Ng shrugs and waits for the next A-setup. The result is fewer trades, higher quality, and a calmer head—rules first, FOMO never.
Use top-down timeframes; weekly bias, daily levels, 4H entries.
Start with the Weekly to set directional bias, then let the Daily map the key structure you’ll actually trade. Mark swings, trendlines, and major support/resistance, then drops to 4H for clean entries that respect the higher-timeframe story. This keeps you aligned with momentum while still getting practical risk placement. Alwin Ng favors this stack because it cuts noise and stops you from fighting the tide.
If Weekly and Daily disagree, stand aside or cut size until they sync. Only trade from levels you’ve pre-marked on the Daily, letting 4H candles confirm with a decisive break or rejection. Avoid ultra-low timeframes unless they reduce risk without adding noise, and trade during the sessions where spreads stay normal. The result, as Alwin Ng puts it, is fewer forced guesses and more consistent, structure-led executions.
Allocate by volatility; cut size in chop, press strength.
Alwin Ng sizes positions to the market’s mood, not his own. When ranges compress and ATR drops, he trims risk and waits for cleaner structure, because small stops in noisy markets get pinged. If spreads widen or sessions are thin, he passes rather than forcing a fill that skews risk. In higher volatility, he widens stops to real structure and reduces unit size so each trade risks the same percentage.
He presses only when the trend proves itself—clean impulses, shallow pullbacks, and strong closes in his favor. Add-ons are earned after +1R progress and only if volatility and structure still agree. Portfolio risk stays capped, so even “pressing” won’t blow through his total exposure guardrails. For Alwin Ng, volatility isn’t a threat; it’s a throttle—ease off in chop, open up when the road is clear.
Journal with screenshots; measure process discipline and eliminate prediction
Alwin Ng treats his journal like a performance lab, not a diary. Every trade gets before-and-after screenshots, notes on the higher-timeframe context, the exact trigger, the invalidation, and what he actually did. He tags each entry with a setup name and R multiple, so patterns jump off the page. By re-reading only the pictures and key numbers, Alwin can spot where he followed rules versus where he drifted into prediction.
He also runs weekly mini-audits: top five winners and losers, the common behaviors behind both, and one specific fix to test next week. If rule breaks increase, his size auto-dials down until execution quality returns. Missed winners get logged too, reinforcing patience and trust in the plan. Over time, this visual, brutally honest loop makes Alwin Ng’s decisions simpler, cleaner, and less emotional.
Alwin Ng’s key lesson is simple: psychology first, mechanics second. He shows that most traders don’t fail for lack of setups—they stumble on beliefs, habits, and energy management. Clean up the belief stack, then layer a straightforward plan: a tight watchlist of FX majors plus gold, swing-traded with Weekly/Daily context and 4H/1H execution. Journal with screenshots so reality—not memory—drives improvement, and enforce lifestyle guardrails like “no trading after 7 pm” to protect decision quality. Master the market, master yourself, then run your system—in that order.
What makes this approach durable is how everything compounds: belief work lowers noise, a small universe sharpens pattern recognition, and top-down structure keeps you aligned with the tide. Rules-based entries on the first clean pullback remove FOMO; risk scales only after consistent execution; and a 30-day transformation cycle ties it all together so behavior, sizing, and results move in step. It’s not flashy—but it’s repeatable, and that’s what pays.
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