Table of Contents
Paul Langham sits down for a straight-talking forex interview that cuts through the fluff. A former bank trader now based in Europe, Paul explains how institutions actually view price and why most retail charts are cluttered with distractions. He matters because he trades what moves the market—order flow and clean price action—and he frames it in a way beginners can copy without getting lost in indicators.
In this piece, you’ll learn Paul Langham’s core playbook: using monthly “bank levels” to anchor bias, spotting true reversal moments from candle size and shape (not names), and timing entries only when momentum flips. You’ll also pick up practical rules around spread awareness, choosing timeframes that survive costs, cutting losers fast, and letting winners run. By the end, you’ll know exactly how Paul structures price-only decisions, why reversal trading works when done correctly, and how to build a simple, repeatable strategy you can actually execute.
Paul Langham Playbook & Strategy: How He Actually Trades
Core Philosophy: trade what moves price, not what decorates charts
Paul Langham keeps it simple: price leads, everything else lags. He focuses on how institutions navigate price rather than stacking indicators. The goal is to read pressure and location so you can act where large players act.
- Trade price action anchored to objective levels; indicators are optional, not required.
- Think like a bank: map where size is likely to transact and trade from level to level.
- Keep charts clean; if it doesn’t change your decision, remove it
- Decide upfront if you trade reversals or breakouts; do not mix styles intraday
- Measure what actually improves expectancy (win rate × reward/risk), not what looks pretty
Market & Timeframe: beat the spread and reduce noise
He’s blunt about why many retail traders struggle: costs and noise on low timeframes. Favor timeframes and markets where spread and slippage matter less, so your edge isn’t eaten alive.
- Prefer higher-liquidity majors; avoid exotic, high-spread pairs
- For intraday, only trade instruments/spreads that allow at least 2R potential after costs
- If costs remain heavy, step up to 4H/Daily; swing holds shrink the relative impact of the spread
- Avoid low-liquidity hours; do business when the market is actually moving
- Limit trade frequency; fewer high-quality bets > constant nibbling
“Bank Levels”: monthly/weekly reference zones that actually matter
Institutions plan around obvious, sticky prices. Paul groups monthly and weekly levels, then trades the journey from one cluster to the next. This gives bias, targets, and a cleaner read on trend.
- Pre-mark monthly and weekly swing highs/lows and round-number clusters (00/50s)
- Treat grouped monthly levels as “stations”; expect price to shuttle between them.
- Align intraday decisions to higher-timeframe location; trade in the direction of the next “station”
- If the price is mid-range (between stations), reduce the size or wait for a new level test.
- Target-to-target management: partial at first station reached; leave a runner for the next
Reversal Framework: simple momentum flips at key locations
His reversal logic is pragmatic, not mystical. At a pre-marked level, he looks for a momentum flip using basic bar math and candle behavior—then he executes with tight risk.
- Require location first (at a higher-timeframe level) before any reversal idea.
- Bar-count bias: if two of the last three bars are down, the next has a positive tilt; three of the last four increases it—use as a context filter, not a trigger
- Trigger from a strong rejection candle that closes back inside the range/level
- Enter on a stop order beyond the trigger candle; no anticipation entries
- Stop goes beyond the extreme that proved the level; first target is the opposing intraday swing, second target is the next higher-timeframe “station”
Breakout Framework: join strength when the path is clear
When the price is leaving a “station” with pace, ride it. But a breakout must earn your risk by showing expansion and follow-through, not just a tiny poke through a line.
- Only take breakouts aligned with a higher-timeframe direction toward the next “station”
- Demand range compression first, then a wide-range expansion bar closing outside
- Enter on stop continuation above/below the expansion bar; no limit fades on breakouts.
- If the bar that follows fails to make progress, cut to scratch or reduce risk quickly.
- Use measured move or next monthly/weekly level for targets; trail behind swing structure.
Entry & Execution: rules that remove hesitation
Clarity beats speed. Paul’s process reduces decisions to a few repeatable steps so execution becomes automatic and emotion-light.
- Pre-define the exact price that proves your idea (stop) and the price that confirms it (entry)
- Use stop orders to get pulled into winners; skip market-click chasing
- If price drifts near your level without trigger confirmation, do nothing
- One trade per thesis per level; no immediate re-entries after a full stop
- Maintain a standardized checklist: location → bias → trigger → order type → risk
Risk Sizing: small, consistent risk that survives variance
He treats risk like oxygen. Keep it steady so a cluster of losses doesn’t knock you out before the edge plays out.
- Risk a fixed fraction per trade (e.g., 0.25%–0.5% account risk); cut size further if intrada.y
- Position size from stop distance after spread—never before
- Minimum reward-to-risk 2R on entries after costs; if it’s <2R to first realistic target, pass
- Hard stop is non-negotiable; move to breakeven only after meaningful structure forms
- Cap total daily risk; if hit (e.g., −1% for the day), stop trading
Trade Management: partials, trails, and letting the tail pay
Winners must be allowed to work. Banks don’t scalp for a few pips at key turns; they aim for the next real station. You should, too.
- Scale out: take 50% at the first objective (opposing swing/nearby level)
- Trail the remainder behind swing lows/highs or last structure break, not a fixed pip count
- If momentum stalls at mid-range, reduce exposure; reload only at the next clean setup
- Never add to losers; consider add-ons only after r fresh structure makes the new risk clear
- Into news spikes, either flatten partials or widen trail rules beforehand—decide pre-trade
Session & Routine: prepare like a pro, trade like it’s simple
Your routine determines your results. A light, repeatable prep with clear levels and scenarios makes live trading nearly mechanical.
- Daily prep: mark higher-timeframe “stations,” note session ranges, and define A/B scenarios
- Track spread by session; skip periods where spread/tick quality ruins your RR
- Limit watchlist to a few pairs that trend cleanly; know their behavior by day of the week
- Journal entries with screenshot + reason + math; review weekly to refine rules
- If emotions run hot, reduce leverage and step up the timeframe until your decisions are calm.
Intraday Filter: cost-aware rules that keep you out of trouble
Most intraday pain is self-inflicted. Paul’s filter is simply to avoid trades where cost and noise dominate your math.
- No trade if spread > 20% of initial stop distance
- No trade in the first minutes of an illiquid session opens; wait for the spread to normalize.
- Skip chop: if the last 15–30 minutes are overlapping bars at mid-range, stand down.
- Time-box your activity; if no setup by your cut-off time, you’re done
- Protect green days: after a 2R net gain, reduce size or stop entirely
Simplicity & Automation: let systems do the boring parts
Keep your discretion for reading location and momentum; let tools handle alerts and entries so you aren’t glued to the screen.
- Use alerts at pre-marked levels; only come to the screen when the price is where you want it.
- Pre-stage stop orders with predefined size and stop; avoid clicky impulse trades.
- Standardize templates (reversal/breakout) so order tickets are identical every time.e
- Backtest bar-count and level rules on your pairs/timeframes; keep what improves expectancy
- Remove rules that add complexity without improving win rate or average R per trade
Size risk first, trade only where 2R is realistic.tic
Paul Langham starts every decision with risk, not prediction. He defines the invalidation point first, measures the stop distance including spread, and only then sizes the position so a fixed fraction of equity is at risk. If the nearby structure doesn’t allow at least 2R to a sensible target after costs, he simply passes. This keeps him out of pretty-but-pointless setups where slippage and noise eat the edge.
He also caps total daily draw, so a few losers don’t spiral the week. Trade location must make the math work: clean levels, room to the next “station,” and sessions with enough liquidity to move. Entry is pulled by a stop order, never chased, with risk pre-wired and no average-downs. When price stalls before 1R, he’s quick to scratch; when it expands, he lets the trade reach 2R and beyond while managing size, not hope.
Anchor bias to monthly bank levels, trade station-to-station
Paul Langham frames every day with monthly and weekly “bank levels” so he knows where real decisions get made. He treats these levels like stations on a line, expecting the price to shuttle between them rather than drift aimlessly. If price is departing one station with momentum, his bias follows the path to the next; if price is stalling at a station, he waits for a clean rejection or acceptance. This keeps him aligned with where size likely trades, not where retail hopes it will.
He refines the bias intraday, but never against the higher-timeframe map. Mid-range gets less aggression; stations get more attention and clearer risk placement. Targets are predefined at the next station, making the reward math objective before entry. Paul Langham’s rule is simple: location first, bias second, execution third—always in that order.
Use simple reversal triggers at levels, enter with stop orders.
Paul Langham waits for the location first, then lets the tape prove a turn with a clear, simple signal. He looks for a strong rejection candle or swift momentum flip right at a pre-marked level, not in the middle of nowhere. The confirmation is a price closing back inside the level’s range and taking out the trigger bar’s extreme. Instead of guessing bottoms or tops, he places a stop order beyond the trigger, so strength pulls him in.
Stops go a tick beyond the “that was wrong” extreme, keeping the risk tight and objective. If the first bar after entry fails to extend, Paul Langham is quick to scratch or reduce size—no hoping. First targets are nearby structure or the opposing intraday swing; runners aim for the next higher-timeframe station. No limit fades, no averaging down, and no second entry at the same level after a full stop—keep it clean and let the market earn the trade.
Choose liquid pairs and timeframes that beat the spread and slippage.
Paul Langham is ruthless about cost control because costs quietly kill edges. He focuses on major FX pairs and active sessions where spreads are tight and depth is real. If the spread eats more than a meaningful chunk of the planned stop, he simply doesn’t take the trade. Timeframe choice follows the math: when costs loom large, he steps up to 4H/Daily so the signal-to-noise and R multiples survive.
He also time-boxes his participation to when the market actually pays. London and New York overlaps get the attention; thin, sleepy hours do not. If a pair is choppy or gappy that day, Paul Langham downshifts the size or removes it from the roster entirely. The rule is simple: pick instruments and windows where a clean 2R after costs is plausible, or stand aside and keep powder dry.
Separate mechanics from prediction; clean charts, patient sessions, fewer trades
Paul Langham treats trading as the execution of a plan, not a guessing game about tomorrow’s headline. He sets mechanics—levels, triggers, stops, and targets—before the session starts, then follows them without second-guessing. Prediction is kept to a minimum; location and momentum either meet his criteria or they don’t. Clean charts help him see that binary truth fast, so he can act or stand down.
He also caps his daily decision count to protect focus and expectancy. If quality isn’t there, Paul Langham waits rather than forcing mediocre setups that drain emotional capital. Fewer, better trades let winners breathe and keep losses small and forgettable. By separating process from opinions, he makes consistency a habit instead of a hope.
Paul Langham’s blueprint boils down to clean decisions made at meaningful locations with costs front and center. He starts with risk, not predictions—define the invalidation, size the position from the stop including spread, and demand at least 2R to the first realistic target. The higher-timeframe “bank levels” provide the map: treat them like stations and trade the journey from one destination to the next, not the noise in between. Reversals are earned by a clear momentum flip at those levels; entries are pulled by stop orders, never chased, with the stop tucked just beyond the “that was wrong” extreme. If the first bar doesn’t follow through, he scratches fast and moves on.
Everything else supports that core: choose liquid pairs and active sessions where spreads won’t tax your edge, step up the timeframe when costs loom, and cap total daily risk so variance can’t knock you out. Keep charts clean so mechanics beat opinions—location → bias → trigger → order type → risk—then manage winners with partials at the first objective and trails behind structure toward the next station. No averaging down, no second bite at the same level after a full stop, and no trading mid-range just to be busy. It’s simple on purpose: fewer, better trades executed the same way every time, so the math—not hope—does the heavy lifting.
