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This interview features Telly Diallo, a France-based trader who went from blowing early accounts to securing sizable prop-firm funding and building a process he trusts. He talks candidly about the psychology shift that got him out of the “rush for money” trap, why keeping a job early reduced pressure, and how consistent rules let him scale from small challenges to larger capital without spiraling when drawdowns hit.
You’ll learn the core of Telly Diallo’s breakout strategy—how he times entries when price clears structure with momentum, how he uses RSI confirmation across multiple timeframes, and when he’ll pivot to trend or pullback plays if breakouts aren’t on the table. Just as important, he lays out the risk rules that keep him funded: typically 1% per trade (up to 2% on higher timeframes), limited concurrent positions, weekly macro prep, and stepping away after a string of losses to protect decision quality. It’s a practical, beginner-friendly roadmap that shows how psychology, risk, and a simple playbook can compound into real progress for retail traders.
Telly Diallo Playbook & Strategy: How He Actually Trades
Core Setup: Momentum Breakout from Clear Structure
Breakouts are simple, repeatable, and easy to track. This section shows exactly how Telly frames structure, waits for momentum confirmation, and avoids the fake-outs that punish impatient entries.
- Identify the active session (London/New York) and mark the prior session high/low on the 15m and 1h.
- Draw a clean box around the most recent consolidation (at least 6–12 candles on the 5m/15m).
- Only take trades in the direction of the higher-timeframe bias (4h/1h swing structure making HH/HL for longs, LL/LH for shorts).
- Require a full-body candle close outside the box; wicks alone are not valid breakouts.
- Enter on the first small pullback after the close (limit near the breakout line, or buy/sell stop 0.1–0.2R beyond the breakout candle).
- Skip breakouts that occur directly into higher-timeframe supply/demand or previous day’s high/low within 0.5R distance.
Confirmation: Multi-Timeframe RSI and Impulse Check
Momentum filters take the guesswork out of “Is this move real?” Here’s how the RSI check and a simple impulse screen keep you out of weak breaks.
- 15m and 1h RSI must both be on the same side of 50 as your trade direction.
- No immediate bearish/bullish RSI divergence on the entry timeframe (5m/15m) versus the most recent swing.
- At least one “impulse candle” (body ≥ 1.5× the average of the last 10 bodies) must be part of the breakout sequence.
- If 1h RSI is neutral (45–55), pass on the trade or size half.
- If the impulse candle travels more than 1.2R beyond the box, do not chase; wait for a deeper retest or skip.
Risk: Prop-Firm Discipline and Max-Loss Guardrails
Capital lives or dies on risk limits. These rules hard-cap damage and make funded accounts sustainable.
- Standard risk = 0.5–1.0% per trade; maximum daily risk = 1.5–2.0%.
- If down −1R on the day, reduce size by 50%; if down −2R, stop trading for the session.
- Hard stop goes beyond the opposite side of the consolidation box (or beyond last swing) with a minimum technical buffer of 0.2× ATR(14) of the entry timeframe.
- Max concurrent exposure: two correlated positions total; no doubling up in the same direction on the same pair/index.
- News guardrail: 5 minutes before and 10 minutes after high-impact releases, no new entries; trail or flatten if already at ≥ +1R.
Instruments & Timeframes: Where This Works Best
You don’t need 30 markets. Trade a few that move cleanly and match the breakout behavior you’re hunting.
- Focus list: 2–4 liquid FX pairs or 1–2 indices (e.g., majors + one index) with tight spreads and strong session volatility.
- Primary structure/bias on 4h/1h, execution on 15m/5m; avoid dropping below 5m except for management.
- If the average session range is compressed (e.g., < 0.6× 20-day median), stand down or cut size in half.
- Only trade instruments where a 1–1.5R move is typical within 1–3 hours of the session opening.
Entry Tactics: Trigger, Limits, and “Second Chance” Retests
Entries should be boring-consistent. These triggers define when to click and when to keep your powder dry.
- Breakout close entry: market or stop order 0.1–0.2R beyond the breakout candle’s close.
- Retest entry: limit order at the breakout line with a stop 0.2× ATR below/above it; cancel if not filled within 3 candles.
- If spread widens > 1.5× normal at trigger time, pass.
- No entry on the 3rd breakout attempt of the same level within a single session.
Trade Management: From +1R to Paid Risk
Getting paid early removes pressure. These rules bank partials while leaving room for a runner.
- First target at +1R; take 50% off and move stop to break-even minus fees/spread.
- Trail remainder behind last confirmed 5m swing (or a 5m ATR(14) multiple of 0.8–1.0) as long as price is making higher highs/lows (or lower lows/highs).
- If price stalls for 8–10 candles without progress after entry, reduce position by 25% and keep original stop.
- Into prior day high/low or HTF supply/demand, tighten trail to last 3 candles’ low/high.
Session Playbook: London vs. New York
Different sessions, different pace. These tweaks keep expectations realistic.
- London: prioritize first breakouts of the day; be aggressive with the initial scale at +1R because follow-through can be sharp but retraces fast.
- New York: fade the first fake-out if HTF bias is intact, but only after a full rejection candle back inside the structure.
- No new trades in the last 45 minutes of your active session unless already risk-free.
Weekly Routine: Prep, Bias, and A-Setups Only
Preparation is where the edge compounds. Here’s the short weekly cadence that translates into calm execution.
- Sunday/Monday: mark 4h/1h swing structure, last week’s high/low, and two nearest supply/demand zones.
- Pre-session: check calendar, volatility regime (ATR vs. 6-month median), and build a single-page plan: bias, levels, A-setup triggers.
- Only take “A-setups”: clean box, aligned RSI, clear space to target; skip “B/C” patterns even if they look tempting.
Data & Review: Score the Setup, Track the Edge
If you can’t measure it, you can’t scale it. This keeps the system honest and adaptable.
- Journal each trade with a 1–5 setup quality score (structure clarity, momentum alignment, space to target, session context, news proximity).
- Log R-multiple outcome, max adverse excursion (MAE), and time-to-target for every position.
- Monthly: drop the journal into a pivot table and filter for the top 20% scores; increase size +25% only on those A-setups next month.
- Kill any sub-pattern that underperforms for three consecutive months or has an expectancy < 0.2R.
Scaling & Withdrawal Rules: Protect the Stack
Growth comes from consistency, not hero trades. These rules hardwire that mindset.
- After two consecutive green weeks with ≥ +4R total, allow a 10–15% size bump for A-setups only.
- Withdraw a fixed % of gains monthly (e.g., 30–40%) to de-risk and stabilize psychology.
- Cap account-level drawdown at 6–8%: if hit, pause trading for 5 full sessions and review.
Psychology: Pressure Valves and Cool-Off Triggers
Emotions are part of the game; the system needs built-in brakes. These are simple switches that prevent tilt.
- Two losers in a row: mandatory 20-minute break away from screens.
- Three losers in a row or a −2R day: stop trading; do a quick written post-mortem before the next session.
- If you feel the urge to “make it back,” cut size to 0.25% or go flat for the day.
Challenge & Funded-Account Adjustments
Rules change when someone else sets the drawdown. These tweaks help pass and keep funded accounts.
- Trade half-size during the first 30% of the profit target; increase to full size after you’re beyond half the target.
- Use time-based trails during challenge end-days (e.g., trail every 10 minutes) to avoid giving back milestones.
- Never risk more than 25–30% of the remaining daily loss limit on any single idea.
Contingencies: Ranges, News Spikes, and Choppy Days
Not every day is a breakout day. Here’s how to avoid death by a thousand cuts.
- If 1h ATR < 10-day average and price is pinned between prior day’s high/low, switch to “observe only” or take micro-size.
- One failed breakout is information; two failed breakouts in the same direction = stop for the session.
- If a breakout candle is entirely news-driven (release within the candle) and slippage > 0.3R, skip entries for the next 15 minutes.
Exact Numbers: Defaults You Can Use Today
Defaults make execution easy. Start here, then tune with your journal data.
- Risk per trade: 0.75% (default), 1.0% (A-setup), 0.25–0.5% (CPI/FOMC week).
- First scale: +1R; second scale: prior day high/low or +2R, whichever comes first.
- Technical buffers: 0.2× ATR(14) beyond structure for stops; 0.1× ATR for retest limits.
- Max trades per session: two A-setups; one B-setup max if A-setups did not appear.
Size Small, Survive Longer: Telly’s 1% Risk Rule.
Telly Diallo keeps his account alive by capping risk at roughly 1% per trade, and it’s not negotiable. He treats each position like a business expense—planned, sized, and easy to absorb if it goes wrong. When volatility jumps, he doesn’t “feel” braver; he actually tightens risk or waits for a cleaner structure. That simple restraint lets him stay in the game long enough for his edge to show up.
Diallo also pairs the 1% cap with clear daily guardrails so one bad session can’t snowball. If he’s down early, he cuts size, and if the day hits a preset draw limit, he stops and reviews. He aims for setups that can return at least 1–2R, so winners pay for multiple small losses. The result is calm execution: a strategy built on math and discipline, not adrenaline.
Trade Momentum, Not Hope: Breakouts With Multi-Timeframe Confirmation
Telly Diallo only takes breakouts when momentum and structure say “go,” not when emotions do. He wants a full-body close outside a clean consolidation and alignment from a higher timeframe, so he’s trading with the swing, not against it. If the 1-hour trend is pointing up and the 15-minute confirms with strength, he’s interested; if they disagree, he waits.
Diallo adds a simple momentum filter to separate real moves from noise. He looks for an impulse candle that’s bigger than recent averages, then prefers the first small pullback to the breakout line rather than chasing. If RSI on the 15-minute and 1-hour sits above 50 for longs (or below 50 for shorts) and there’s space to target, he takes it; if divergence appears or the move runs straight into a major level, he passes. This way, his entries ride active participation, not hope, and his losers are usually small, while the winners have room to breathe.
Volatility Sets the Bet: ATR Buffers and Session-Based Sizing
Telly Diallo sizes positions based on what the market is actually doing, not what he wishes it would do. He uses ATR to define stop distance and then back-solves position size so each trade risks about the same percentage of equity. When ATR expands, his position size shrinks; when ATR compresses, size can increase modestly—risk stays constant. He also adds a small ATR-based buffer beyond the structure, so normal noise doesn’t tag his stop.
Diallo adapts to sessions the same way. London’s faster volatility earns a smaller size and wider stops; New York’s steadier rhythm can justify a normal size with the same risk cap. If ATR on the 1-hour drops below its 10-day average, he either cuts size in half or skips marginal setups altogether. The headline rule is simple: let volatility dictate distance and size, while your risk percentage stays fixed.
One Playbook, Many Markets: Diversify by Pair, Setup, and Duration
Telly Diallo runs one repeatable breakout playbook, then spreads it across a small basket so no single market owns his P&L. He keeps two to four liquid FX pairs or one index plus a major pair, avoiding tight correlation like EUR/USD and GBP/USD at the same time. If EUR/USD presents the A-setup, USD/JPY must independently qualify—no copy-paste trades just because the dollar’s moving. He also varies duration: quick 5–15 minute execution for the initial push, but he’ll let a winner trail on the 1-hour if the structure stays clean.
Diallo’s rules prevent “fake diversification.” Only one risk unit per idea cluster; a EUR breakout and a DXY breakdown are the same theme, so he treats them as one exposure. When expanding to a new market, he pilots at half size for ten trades and only promotes it if the expectancy and MAE/ME metrics hold. This way, the edge is consistent, the markets are diverse, and the account isn’t hostage to any single instrument.
Process First, Prediction Last: Journal, Score, and Scale A-Setups
Telly Diallo treats trading like a sport with game tape—every play gets logged, scored, and reviewed. He assigns a simple 1–5 quality score to each setup based on structure clarity, momentum alignment, space to target, and news proximity. If a trade doesn’t rate at least a 4, he either sizes down or skips; the journal enforces patience better than willpower ever could.
Diallo then lets the data decide where to scale. He bumps size only on patterns that show consistent positive expectancy over a meaningful sample, and he shelves any sub-setup that underperforms for three months. By promoting A-setups and starving the rest, his process compounds small edges while prediction takes a back seat. The result is fewer trades, cleaner execution, and steady confidence that comes from proof, not gut feel.
Telly Diallo’s core lesson is that psychology and process come before entries. He blew early prop allocations because he rushed, switched systems after drawdowns, and tried to “trade his way” out instead of following a fixed plan. The turnaround came when he slowed down, accepted losses as tuition, and focused on one simple edge he could execute the same way every day. He emphasizes that consistency—not excitement—gets you funded and keeps you there.
On the technical side, Diallo is a breakout-first trader with clear momentum rules. He maps the market’s phases, waits for a strong candle to close through the range, and looks for RSI confirmation—often wanting it firmly elevated—before pressing the trigger. If no clean breakout appears, he rotates to trend or, last, range tactics, but he never forces trades against context. Multi-timeframe alignment keeps him out of weak moves, and the patience to wait for confirmation is what converts “ideas” into repeatable wins.
The career lesson is persistence with guardrails. Diallo failed multiple challenges, then passed by sticking to one playbook and managing risk tightly instead of chasing. He scaled capital step by step, staying confident through losses because his system and sizing were predefined. Whether you’re pursuing funding or growing a private account, his message is the same: pick a robust strategy, define risk in advance, and let time and discipline do the heavy lifting.
