Table of Contents
India’s own Umar Punjabi sits down for a straight-talk interview on how he actually trades—why he’s doubled down on credibility, how prop-firm constraints shape his risk, and why gold (plus the US indices) fits his temperament. If you’ve seen his livestreams, you know he cares about accountability; here he spells out the mindset differences between personal capital and prop accounts, and why treating one account like one trade helps him execute with conviction.
You’ll learn Umar’s actionable playbook: a prop-friendly, high-win-rate approach with modest RR; London-session gold setups built around Asia range size, pre-London sweeps, and 5-minute break-of-structure timing; and smart scaling that keeps risk static while boosting reward. He also shows how he shifts gears post-funding—fewer trades, steadier payouts—plus the journaling, backtesting, and rules that keep him disciplined when markets and prop rules get noisy.
Umar Punjabi Playbook & Strategy: How He Actually Trades
Market, session, and instruments he actually focuses on
Here’s the simple frame he sticks to so he’s not chasing everything that moves. The idea is to specialize, keep screen time tight, and let a repeatable window do the heavy lifting.
- Trade focus: XAUUSD (gold) first; add US indices (NAS100/US30) only if gold is dead.
- Primary window: London Open to London Lunch (approx. first 2.5–3 hours), with optional NY add-on only if clean continuation.
- Avoid “middle of nowhere” hours: no impulsive trades between sessions; Asia is mainly for range-mapping.
- One bias per session: bullish or bearish—not both. Flip only if a clear invalidation prints.
The Asia-range → London-break blueprint
This is the backbone: box Asia, wait for London to run one side, then trade back through the range with structure confirmation. It keeps you from guessing and times entries when liquidity appears.
- Mark Asia high/low (roughly 00:00–06:00 London time) on 15m/5m.
- Look for London to sweep one side of Asia’s range by at least 0.5× ATR(14, 5m) or a clear wick close back inside the box.
- After the sweep, require a 5m break of structure (BOS) in the opposite direction of the sweep.
- Entry: 1m–3m retest of the BOS origin or last supply/demand flip; no market entries after a straight-line candle burst.
- First target: Asia midline; second target: opposite edge; stretch target: pre-London swing.
- Invalidation: if price reclaims the sweep side with a full 5m body close, stand down.
Risk and account safety under prop rules
Prop accounts punish sloppiness. These rules protect the daily drawdown and keep you eligible for payouts. Treat risk like a utility bill—fixed and boring.
- Fixed risk per trade: 0.25%–0.5% during challenges; 0.2% after being funded.
- Daily loss cap: 1% hard stop; hit it and stop trading for the day.
- Weekly loss cap: 3%—if reached, take the rest of the week off and review.
- Max trades/day: 2 planned A-setups; 1 add-on allowed only after partial profits are banked.
- No averaging down. Adds only on structure continuation after reducing net risk to ≤ original risk.
Entry, stop, and scaling plan
Execution is Lego-block simple: one precise trigger, one protective stop, and pre-planned scaling that never balloons risk. You know what you’re doing before the candle prints.
- Trigger: 1m rejection at the 5m retest, plus RSI/Momentum divergence on the sweep leg, optional—not required.
- Stop: beyond the sweep wick (or beyond 5m structure low/high) with a minimum hard stop of 7–12 pips on gold equivalents.
- Risk-to-reward: aim 1.2R–1.8R base with a high win-rate focus; stretch to 2.5R only if volatility and structure are aligned.
- First partial at +1R; move stop to breakeven after first partial or after opposing 1m structure breaks.
- Add-on rule: only after +1R secured and price retests the new 1m–3m structure; total exposure must not exceed initial per-trade risk.
Volatility and news filter (gold-specific)
Gold rips on news and liquidity pockets. Use a simple yes/no filter to avoid being the liquidity. If you can’t explain the spike, you don’t need to be in it.
- Avoid initiating positions 10 minutes before and after tier-1 events (CPI, NFP, FOMC, Fed/BoE rate decisions, PMI flashes).
- If already in a trade pre-news with +1R locked, keep the runner only if the stop is at breakeven and partials are taken.
- Skip London setups if the Asia range exceeds its 20-day average by 1.5×—it often means the move already happened.
- Prefer continuation in NY only if DXY and yields align with your direction on 15m trend.
Bias building: the three-step checklist
This keeps you from marrying a narrative. You build bias from structure, location, and catalyst—then you trade the trigger, not the story.
- Structure: 15m HH/HL or LL/LH sequence aligned with 5m BOS in your favor.
- Location: at or just beyond Asia’s edge, HTF VWAP/AVWAP anchor, or prior day’s high/low.
- Catalyst: liquidity sweep (equal highs/lows, session open impulse) or a post-news fade into structure.
- If 2 of 3 align, plan the trade; if all 3 align, execute the A-setup.
Challenge vs funded: how the play changes
Passing is about consistency and defense; funding is about keeping the account alive. The mechanics below prevent you from turning wins into violations.
- Challenge mode:
- Target: 0.5R–1.0R average per day, 3–4 green days/week.
- No compounding size intra-week; increase only after a positive week.
- Stop trading once the weekly target is met (e.g., +3R).
- Funded mode:
- Cut frequency by ~30% and size by 20% vs challenge.
- Payout defense: withdraw at set equity milestones (e.g., every +5%).
- No trading the day after a payout to avoid a give-back.
Trade management flow (from trigger to exit)
Think in if-then logic so emotions don’t drive decisions. The flow protects winners and kills losers quickly.
- If price tags first partial at +1R → move stop to BE and leave 25%–40% to run to target 2.
- If price stalls for 20–30 minutes inside the Asia box midline without progress → close the remainder at market.
- If a full opposite 5m BOS prints before +1R → close the trade; do not re-enter until a fresh sweep occurs.
- If NY open creates a sharp spike against your direction and you’re not at BE → close, re-assess after 15m candle closes.
Pre-session prep and post-session review
Consistency is built outside of the trade. Do the same light prep daily and review the same way, and you’ll spot the pattern faster than everyone else.
- Pre-session (15–20 min):
- Mark Asia high/low and midline; note prior day’s high/low.
- Snapshot 15m/5m structure and 1m execution zone; write one sentence for bias.
- Set alerts at sweep levels; no chart-staring.
- Post-session (10–15 min):
- Save 3 screenshots: pre, entry, exit with notes.
- Tag the trade (e.g., “Asia sweep → BOS → retest”) and record R, MFE, and reason to exit.
- Note one improvement you’ll apply tomorrow.
Backtesting and metrics that actually matter
You don’t need a PhD—just enough data to remove doubt. Prove the edge on the exact session, pair, and trigger you plan to trade.
- Build a 100-trade sample on XAUUSD, London window only, using the Asia-range sweep + 5m BOS trigger.
- Track win rate, avg R per winner/loser, and max consecutive losses; require ≥55% win rate with ≥1.4R average winner.
- If max consecutive losses exceed 5 in your sample, cut risk to 0.2% until you recover 2R.
- Re-run the sample each quarter; if performance degrades, remove the weakest sub-pattern (e.g., mid-week Wednesdays).
Simple rules for sizing and compounding
Your edge is fragile if sizing is random. These rules grow the account without blowing the fuse.
- Increase risk by 10% only after two consecutive green weeks and less than 2% drawdown in that span.
- Decrease risk by 50% after any −2R day or −3R rolling drawdown; restore only after a +2R recovery.
- No compounding within a single week; size remains constant Monday–Friday.
- Cap total weekly net exposure (sum of all initial risks) at 2.5% in challenge, 2.0% funded.
Personal guardrails to avoid tilt
Nothing fancy—just stopgaps that keep you in the game. When emotions spike, these boundaries save the account.
- Two-strike rule: after two plan violations in a session, stop trading and write a one-page debrief.
- Time-out rule: if you catch a stop-out within the first 10 minutes of London open, wait for the next 15m candle close before any re-entry.
- Environment rule: no phone, no notifications, and no social media tabs during the first hour.
- Health rule: no trading on <6 hours of sleep or if you’ve consumed alcohol in the last 12 hours.
Size Risk First: Fixed Fraction, Daily Loss Cap, No Exceptions
Umar Punjabi starts with risk before he even thinks about entries. He uses a fixed fraction per trade, so size never drifts with emotion, then hard-stops the day if the loss cap is hit. That simple rule keeps him eligible for the next setup and, crucially, for prop payouts. By deciding the max pain first, Umar makes every later choice—timing, adds, and exits—clean and mechanical.
He also separates “challenge mode” from “funded mode” so his sizing reflects the objective, not the mood. Daily and weekly loss limits act like circuit breakers: once tripped, he’s done, and review begins. No averaging down; any add must keep net risk at or below the original. The result is boring risk, steady equity, and a mind that’s free to execute.
Let Volatility Lead: Adjust Position, Targets, And Hold Time
Umar Punjabi treats volatility like the boss of every decision. When the range expands, he trims position size, widens the stop to the structure that matters, and expects faster moves to target. When range contracts, he sizes a touch larger, keeps stops tighter behind obvious levels, and plans to hold longer. Umar’s point is simple: the same setup behaves differently on a quiet Tuesday vs a hot CPI morning, so the playbook flexes with the tape.
He scales profit-taking to the tempo too—partial at +1R in choppy tape, let more ride when momentum is clean and persistent. If impulse candles are ripping, Umar moves to breakeven sooner and hunts continuation rather than forcing full targets. If the tape is sluggish, he banks earlier and avoids death-by-time-decay on the session. Volatility dictates where he enters, how he sizes, and how long he sticks around—so Umar measures the day’s “speed” first, and only then presses the button.
Diversify Smart: Underlying, Strategy, And Duration—Never One-Note Exposure
Umar Punjabi hates being a one-trick pony because one market regime can wipe out a single-style trader. He splits exposure across underlyings (gold first, indices second), strategy types (trend continuation vs. sweep-and-reversal), and holding durations (scalps in London, occasional runners into NY). By rotating among these lanes, Umar lets the market decide which “engine” pulls equity this week instead of forcing the same idea every day. The result is smoother equity and fewer weeks where everything goes cold at once.
He keeps the rules simple: one active bias per session, but multiple ways to express it. If gold’s structure is messy, Umar shifts to index continuation; if ranges are tiny, he favors quicker scalps; if momentum is clean and aligned, he lets partials run. Diversification for him isn’t owning everything—it’s having two or three proven plays that thrive in different conditions. That mix helps Umar stay consistent without guessing the macro storyline.
Trade Mechanics Over Predictions: Liquidity Sweep, Structure Break, Retest Entry
Umar Punjabi doesn’t try to out-guess the market—he lets the tape reveal the trade. First, he waits for a liquidity sweep that runs obvious highs or lows, then watches for a clean break of structure in the opposite direction. Only after that shift does he stalk the retest of the origin zone for entry, keeping the stop beyond the sweep wick. By forcing this three-step sequence, Umar converts noise into a checklist that either triggers or it doesn’t—no “maybe” trades.
He manages expectations the same way: partial at the first logical target, then protect, then see if the trend hands him a runner. If a new opposite break of structure appears before +1R, he’s out—mechanics over hope. When momentum is fast, he tightens management on the retest; when it’s slow, he gives the setup more room but cuts quicker if progress stalls. The point, as Umar Punjabi puts it, is that execution should be repeatable and boring; the money shows up because the mechanics are precise.
Choose Defined Risk Setups; Avoid Unlimited Tail Risk And Revenge
Umar Punjabi builds his day around trades where the worst-case is known up front. He picks levels with clean invalidation, so a single stop ends the idea and the damage. If a setup requires a “wide just-in-case” stop with no structural logic, he passes and waits for the next clean one. Umar knows undefined risk breeds panic sizing and revenge clicks, so he avoids it like a violation.
He also hard-limits how many attempts he gets on a single idea to prevent spiral behavior. After a loss, he steps back until a fresh liquidity event resets the landscape; no immediate re-entry on the same candle. If emotions spike, Umar Punjabi reduces the size by half or shuts the platform for the session—rules first, pride later. Defined risk keeps the account safe; avoiding revenge keeps the trader safe.
In the end, Umar Punjabi’s edge is built on boring consistency, not flashy predictions. He narrows his universe to gold first and selectively taps indices when structure is cleaner, then frames the day around Asia’s range, the London sweep, and a simple break-of-structure → retest trigger. Volatility sets the tempo, prop rules set the guardrails, and defined risk makes every decision easier: fixed fraction per trade, hard daily/weekly loss caps, no averaging down, and a strict stop beyond the sweep wick. He treats challenge and funded phases differently, trims frequency after payouts, and only adds to winners once partials are banked.
Just as important, Umar Punjabi’s process is ruthlessly repeatable: one bias per session, clear news filters around CPI/NFP/FOMC, and mechanical management—partial at the first logical target, stop to breakeven, then let the tape decide. When the day’s speed is high, he protects sooner and hunts continuation; when it’s slow, he banks earlier and avoids time decay. He diversifies by underlying, strategy, and duration to smooth his equity curve, and he locks the gains with disciplined review: screenshots, tags, and one concrete improvement for tomorrow. If you copy anything, copy the simplicity—specialize, wait for the sweep, trade the retest, and keep risk small enough to show up again tomorrow.
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