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This interview features Paladin, the New York–based forex trader known for turning a basement grind and Uber Eats shifts into seven-figure prop funding and six-figure withdrawals. Filmed on the Words of Rizdom podcast with host Omar Agar, it’s a raw first-podcast look at how he went from repeated prop-challenge losses to a breakout 2022, and why his story matters if you’re trying to build consistency and capital without a big personal account.
In this piece, you’ll learn the exact strategy pillars behind Paladin’s turnaround: discipline forged training for an Ironman, prop-firm tactics that favor patient 1:2 risk-to-reward over lottery-ticket R: R, and psychology grounded in Mark Douglas principles. We’ll break down how he structured challenges, avoided over-trading, handled time-pressure rules, and why he’s backing “unlimited trading days” as a fairer path to consistency—actionable takeaways you can apply on your next trade session.
Paladin Playbook & Strategy: How He Actually Trades
Market Focus & Timeframes
Paladin keeps his universe tight so he can act decisively when the edge appears. He builds bias on higher timeframes, hunts confirmation on mid timeframes, and executes with precision on the low timeframes.
- Trade 1–3 instruments you know cold (e.g., GBPUSD, NAS100, ES).
- Structure on 4h/daily, refine on 1h, trigger on 15m → 5m → 1m.
- Trade London and New York only; stand down during Asia unless carrying a planned swing.
- No trade when 4h and daily bias disagree.
- Skip days when projected ADR is < 70% of the 6-week average.
Bias First: “Map Before You Drive”
Before entries, Paladin decides where the price is likely to go next. He limits targets so he’s not juggling ideas mid-trade.
- HTF bias must agree: price relative to 20/50 EMA on 4h and daily.
- Pre-mark two magnets: prior day high/low and session high/low.
- Box the first 60 minutes of London/NY; prefer trades away from that box in the HTF direction.
- Cancel longs if the dollar index rips against your pair; cancel shorts if it dumps.
- If HTF flips (clean break & close beyond structure), scrap all prior plans.
A+ Setup Checklist
This is Paladin’s filter that separates “nice idea” from “paycheck.” If a setup misses a single criterion, he lets it go.
- Confluence required: HTF bias + session range expansion + key level (PDH/PDL, weekly open, VWAP/AVWAP).
- Trigger: 15m impulse → 5m pullback into level → 1m confirmation (wick rejection or micro HH/HL or LL/LH).
- ATR guardrail: stop must be 0.25×–0.6× ATR(15m).
- Liquidity sweep rule: prefer entries after a fast run through PDH/PDL that instantly reclaims the level.
- One attempt per level per session—no second bites.
Risk & Position Sizing
He treats risk like inventory: small, controlled, and replenishable. These rules keep him eligible to trade tomorrow.
- Risk 0.25%–0.5% per intraday trade; 0.75% max for planned swings.
- Daily loss cap 1R or 1%—hit it and you’re done.
- Hard stop at structure; no mental stops.
- If stop > 0.6× ATR(15m) skip; if < 0.2× ATR(15m) add buffer or pass.
- Never add to losers; scale only when fresh confirmation keeps average stop size intact.
Entries, Exits, and R-Targets
Paladin uses mechanical targets, so emotions can’t rewrite the plan mid-trade. He wants clean Rs, not drama.
- Scale 25%–33% at +1R; move stop to breakeven only after a 5m close beyond the entry zone.
- Let a runner seek +2R to +3R at the next HTF level or session extreme.
- Time stop: if price hasn’t reached ≥0.5R within 45–60 minutes, reduce by half or exit.
- Trail only after a fresh 5m structure break in your favor.
- On news pops that instantly tag +1R, take partials, and manage by plan.
News & Catalyst Guardrails
He respects major releases but doesn’t fear them. The edge is often in the post-news trend, not the initial spike.
- Flat 10 minutes before Tier-1 releases (CPI, NFP, FOMC, rate decisions).
- Trade the second move: wait for the spike range, then take the break/retest in the HTF direction.
- If spread > 1.5× normal, cancel pending orders.
- On index/sector catalysts, halve risk or stand down.
- After a “calendar cluster,” plan for trend continuation next session.
VWAP/AVWAP Tactics
Paladin anchors to fair value, so risk placement is obvious. These anchors double as magnet levels and invalidation lines.
- Session VWAP starts as mean-reversion early, then turns into dynamic S/R.
- Drop AVWAPs from major swing highs/lows and session opens; trade reclaims/rejections.
- Longs only above rising VWAP/AVWAP; shorts only below falling—except on a defined sweep reversal.
- If price is trapped between daily VWAP and an AVWAP within 0.3× ATR, skip—no edge.
- Triple-confluence (AVWAP + prior day level + EMA cluster) upgrades probability, but still requires a trigger.
Prop-Style Discipline (Great for Retail Too)
Account rules shape behavior. Paladin keeps constraints that prevent tilt and smooths his equity curve.
- Max two trades per session; a third only if already +1R on the day.
- No revenge re-entries; reset with an HTF scan first.
- If weekly drawdown hits −3R, cut size by 50% until back to breakeven.
- Hold through session close only when price trends above/below VWAP with expanding volume.
- Weekend holds only for planned swings with HTF structure and, if possible, a hedge.
Psychology That Actually Holds Under Fire
His mindset is built on pre-commitment. He uses routines to make good decisions automatic and bad ones harder.
- 10-minute pre-market checklist: bias, levels, scenarios A/B, invalidation, calendar, max risk.
- If you feel “win it back,” step away for 20 minutes; if it lingers, end the session.
- One-page playcard: setup name, criteria, images of ideal vs non-ideal.
- Say the four questions out loud before clicking: Bias? Level? Trigger? Risk/Target?
- End the day with two notes: one process win and one fix for tomorrow.
Journal & Metrics You Must Track
Paladin measures what matters and prunes the rest. The point isn’t pretty spreadsheets—it’s faster feedback loops.
- Log: date, session, instrument, setup name, R risked, R result, stop size, time in trade, HTF match (Y/N).
- Tag mistakes (chase, counter-bias, no level, too wide stop, news violation).
- Weekly: cut bottom 20% setups by expectancy, double down on top 20%.
- KPIs: “R per hour” and “win-rate when HTF matches.”
- Keep a rolling gallery of your last 50 A-setups; review pre-market.
Playbook Examples You Can Use Tomorrow
London Break & Go
When London sets the tone, Paladin trades away from the opening box in the HTF direction. It’s a momentum continuation with clear invalidation.
- Mark the first 60-minute London box.
- Require HTF bias alignment and VWAP slope agreement.
- Enter on 5m retest of the box edge with 1m confirmation.
- Stop: beyond the opposite side of the box or last swing (≥0.25× ATR15).
- Targets: +1R scale, +2R exit or trail after a 5m structure break.
New York Reclaim After Sweep
NY loves stop-hunts. Paladin waits for the sweep through PDH/PDL, then trades the snap-back reclaim.
- Let the sweep print beyond PDH/PDL.
- Demand an immediate close back inside on 1m and follow-through on 5m.
- Enter the first pullback to the reclaimed level with VWAP alignment.
- Stop: just beyond the sweep wick.
- Targets: VWAP for partial, opposite range edge for the runner.
HTF Pullback Swing
When the trend is strong on daily/4h, he ignores intraday noise and rides the larger wave. Fewer trades, bigger R.
- EMAs stacked on daily/4h; price pulls into 20/50 EMA cluster or AVWAP from swing anchor.
- Enter on a 15m engulfing candle with HTF alignment.
- Stop: below/above HTF swing with ~0.5× ATR(4h) cushion.
- Target: prior HTF extreme or 2–3R.
- No new entries within 30 minutes of Tier-1 news.
Size Risk First: position by volatility, not conviction or hopes
Paladin hammers one point before anything else: your edge dies if your size is wrong. He sizes positions off volatility so each trade risks the same R, whether the market is quiet or wild. That means defining the stop first, measuring the stop distance with ATR or structure, and then solving for size—not the other way around. He treats conviction as irrelevant to size; only volatility and invalidation matter.
To copy Paladin’s approach, pick a fixed risk per trade (e.g., 0.25%–0.5%) and calculate position size as risk ÷ stop distance. If ATR expands, size shrinks; if ATR contracts, size grows—simple, automatic regime adaptation. He caps daily loss at 1R to prevent spiral behavior, and cuts size by 50% after a −3R week until he’s back to even. Paladin never adds to losers, scales only into strength that maintains the original average stop, and stands down when spreads or news make stops meaningless.
Diversify by instrument, strategy, and timeframe to smooth equity curves.
Paladin doesn’t chase more trades; he spreads edge across different buckets so no single idea can nuke the week. He mixes a core FX pair like GBPUSD with a stock index future or CFD to reduce correlation during slow currency sessions. Strategy-wise, he pairs a momentum continuation play with a mean-reversion reclaim so one can win when the other stalls. Timeframe diversification seals it: intraday for steady R, plus an occasional HTF swing to catch the bigger moves. The goal is a smoother equity line, not a spikier P&L.
To apply Paladin’s approach, structure your book like a balanced team, not a solo act. Keep risk per trade constant, but distribute attempts across uncorrelated instruments and setups, and let only the best signal in each bucket fire. If two instruments move off the same macro driver, treat them as one exposure to avoid fake diversification. Review weekly expectancy by instrument, strategy, and timeframe, and prune whatever drags. Paladin keeps the mix simple enough to execute, but diversified enough that a cold patch in one lane doesn’t derail the whole account.
Trade Mechanics Over Predictions: rules, triggers, and invalidations drive entries
Paladin doesn’t try to outguess macro or call tops; he lets mechanics do the heavy lifting. He starts with a clear setup name, a specific trigger (e.g., 5m retest with 1m confirmation), and a pre-defined invalidation level where the idea is objectively wrong. If the trigger doesn’t print, he doesn’t trade—no “anticipation” entries, no FOMO. His playbook turns “maybe” into binary: either the rules align and he clicks, or they don’t and he waits.
To trade like Paladin, script the sequence: bias → level → trigger → stop → target, then enforce it in real time. Use a single candle pattern or micro-structure change as the green light, and place the stop beyond the structure so the market has to prove you wrong. If price stalls after entry, apply a time stop; if price violates your invalidation, exit without debate. The prediction is irrelevant once the plan exists—mechanics decide the trade, and Paladin follows them like a checklist.
Prefer Defined Risk Setups; avoid undefined tail risk during news.
Paladin builds trades around fixed, visible invalidation, so the worst-case is known before he clicks. He uses structure-anchored stops or ATR-based buffers and sizes positions to the stop, not to a hunch. If a setup can’t be cleanly defined—messy levels, widening spreads, or a catalyst about to hit—he passes because “no trade” is also a decision. He never leaves risk open to slippage roulette during Tier-1 releases; if he’s in, he reduces size or flattens ahead of the print and re-engages only after the first spike range is set.
To copy Paladin, require every idea to answer two questions: “Where am I wrong?” and “What’s my maximum loss in currency terms?” If you can’t answer both, there is no trade. Avoid practices that create unbounded downside—averaging into losers, removing stops, or holding through high-impact news when spreads can explode. Keep position size small enough that a gap or slip doesn’t threaten the account, and re-enter only on fresh confirmation after volatility normalizes. Paladin treats defined risk as a prerequisite for opportunity, not a constraint—and that’s how he keeps playing when others blow up.
Process Discipline: one plan, two attempts, then stop for the day
Paladin runs his day like a checklist, so randomness can’t creep in. He writes the plan before the open—bias, key levels, trigger, stop, targets—and then simply follows it. If the plan doesn’t trigger, he doesn’t improvise; no plan, no trade. When it does trigger and fails, he allows exactly one clean re-entry if the setup resets; otherwise, he moves on.
After two attempts, Paladin is done with that idea and often the session, protecting his mental capital as much as his account. He caps daily loss at a fixed R, journals the outcome, and reviews whether he broke any rules. The goal isn’t to trade more; it’s to trade the plan better. By enforcing “one plan, two attempts,” Paladin keeps tilt away from the keyboard and lets expectancy do the heavy lifting.
In the end, Paladin’s edge isn’t a magic indicator—it’s the way he structures every decision. He sizes by volatility so each trade risks a steady R, maps bias from the higher timeframes, and refuses to click without a named setup, a precise trigger, and a hard invalidation. He prefers defined risk around clear structure or AVWAP/VWAP anchors, scales at +1R, lets a runner press to +2R or +3R, and kills slow trades with a time stop. When news looms or spreads widen, he stands down or trades only the second move after the spike range forms.
He diversifies sanely—by instrument, strategy type, and timeframe—so a single regime can’t hijack his P&L. Process discipline keeps him steady: two attempts per idea, daily loss cap, no revenge entries, and weekly reviews that cut the lowest-expectancy setups while doubling down on the winners. The takeaway is simple and repeatable: codify your mechanics, protect downside first, and let the market pay you only when your full checklist is met. Follow that playbook and you’ll trade more like Paladin—fewer guesses, cleaner Rs, and a curve that survives real markets.
