Table of Contents
In this interview, we sit down with Jean-Francois Boucher—the range-scalping specialist behind Jasper4x—to unpack how he actively manages risk while clipping small, repeatable wins on the EUR pairs. Recorded on YouTube, this conversation revisits his evolution from fund and family-office trading to running his own account and teaching, and why he structures his day to be flat by midday. Boucher matters because he shows beginners a realistic, process-driven path: top-down analysis (daily → hourly → M5 → M1), a focus on ranges over trends, and a professional routine that treats trading like a business, not a hobby.
You’ll learn Boucher’s core mechanics: using ATR as a unit of measure to target 1–2 bars on the one-minute chart, why a 35-pip “long-tail” stop is there to protect the account (not the trade), and how active management—hedging, adding with intent, or taking time-based exits—keeps risk contained. He explains the logic of range selection, the three-bar reversal trigger that front-runs higher-timeframe pin bars, and the discipline of fixed trading windows to preserve energy and P&L. If you’ve struggled with trend pullbacks, news whipsaws, or letting stops do all the work, this piece distills a simple, repeatable framework to stay nimble, book pips, and sleep flat every night.
Jean-Francois Boucher Playbook & Strategy: How He Actually Trades
Top-Down Framework, Micro Execution
Boucher starts wide and narrows fast, so he always knows the “bigger box” he’s trading inside. He maps levels on the daily and hourly, drills to M5 to frame ranges, then executes on M1 for precision and risk control.
- Do daily → H1 → M5 markup before London/NY, then trade only in the direction your markup allows.
- On M1, treat the chart as a series of rectangles (“boxes”) you’ll step through; don’t guess trend—trade the structure you see.
- If your current M1 action conflicts with the higher-timeframe box, stand down until alignment returns.
Why M1: Control The Risk, Not The Narrative
He prefers M1 because it lets him control risk down to the smallest unit and see breaks as they happen. You’re not trying to predict; you’re managing distance, volatility, and space to work.
- Choose M1 when you need surgical entries and exits; if you can’t read the break on M1, you don’t have a trade.
- Use M5 for drawing boxes; use M1 only to trigger and manage inside those boxes.
- If you can’t name the box you’re trading, you’re guessing—skip the click.
Entry Trigger: The Three-Bar Reversal
His go-to trigger is a simple three-bar reversal that overtakes the apex (or nadir). It’s fast, repeatable, and shows you where momentum actually flips inside the box.
- Long setup: bear → neutral → bull that overtakes the apex; short is the mirror with nadir. Execute on the break of bar 3.
- No guesswork—if bar 3 doesn’t take out the apex/nadir, there is no trade.
- Place the click where the structure flips, not where it “feels right.” If the flip fails, flatten and wait for the next box.
Targeting With ATR: One Job, One Unit
ATR is his unit of measure. On M1, that translates into small, consistent grabs—typically 2–3 pips per bar—taken again and again until the range breaks.
- Aim for 1–2 ATRs per click; if the price doesn’t pay quickly, you’re wrong on timing—don’t marry the trade.
- Harvest 2–5 pips repeatedly while the box holds; shift the rectangle up or down as the price steps.
- When the box breaks, don’t chase the first burst—ride 2–3 bars into the next box, then go back to harvesting.
The 35-Pip “Long-Tail” Stop: Protect The Account
His hard stop sits ~35 pips away. It’s not for the trade—it’s for black-swan protection of the account. Day-to-day losses are taken manually, smaller and more often.
- Set a fixed long-tail stop (≈35 pips) on every position to cap tail risk.
- Do not let the market hit it by default; manage out (scratch or small loss) when price action says you’re wrong.
- Treat R: R differently: optimize for frequent reward with active risk management rather than static stop-to-target math.
Active Risk Tools: Hedge, Add, or Cut
Risk is an active job. He’ll hedge or add with intent to work a bad position back to break-even—always within strict limits and with dry powder reserved.
- Keep margin in reserve; never fire all bullets on the first entry.
- If the first click goes rogue, either hedge to buy time or add modest size (e.g., up to ~2.0 lots cap in his example) to re-center—never unlimited.
- If the repair fails quickly, flatten; the long-tail stop is a last resort, not a plan.
Box Mechanics: Step The Rectangle
He literally moves a rectangle along price to mark the working range and “recycles” trades inside it. It feels counterintuitive, but it keeps you paid while others wait for perfect trends.
- Draw the box on M5; only take M1 triggers that occur at the box edges.
- After each take-profit, slide the box to the next step and re-arm the same trigger.
- If a box edge fails decisively, don’t fade—wait two to three bars into the new move, then frame the next box.
Session & Time On Task
He treats trading like a shift: a defined window, fixed routine, and a set number of clicks. Overstaying shrinks volatility and hands control to the market environment.
- Pre-decide your window (e.g., a 2-hour block) and stop when it ends, even if you “feel good.”
- Set a click budget (e.g., 20–50 trades); if you hit it early, you’re done for the day.
- Track your P&L per hour; if your curve sags after the first hour, cut your window in half.
Flat Daily: Sleep on No Positions
He aims to end his own book flat every day. Swing exposure happens only when required by others; otherwise, flat keeps the mind and account clean.
- Close personal trades before the session ends; don’t carry intraday ideas overnight.
- If you must hold (e.g., for someone else’s mandate), treat it as a separate swing book with different rules.
- Judge success by daily execution quality, not by catching the “big move.”
News & Environment Awareness
Because he manages positions actively, he stays aware of upcoming releases and conditions that can distort the box. Awareness prevents you from “repairing” into a freight train.
- Check the calendar before the shift; if a high-impact event is imminent, shrink size and widen patience.
- If news shocks tear the box, flatten first—then rebuild after volatility normalizes.
- Keep the long-tail stop in place at all times; it’s your circuit breaker.
Execution Micro-Rules
He wants to be the one selling the ask or buying the bid—positioning where retail is uncomfortable. Small edges, clicked consistently, compound.
- Enter at the edge that forces you to be the maker, not the chaser (sell into strength at the box top; buy into weakness at the box bottom).
- After a quick pay, don’t reload immediately—re-mark the box and wait for the next clean edge.
- If a click feels “heroic,” it’s too big—cut the size until it feels boring.
Money & Margin Management
His sizing is small by default and only scales modestly during repairs—with clear hard caps. Dry powder is part of the edge.
- Set a normal lot size (e.g., 1.0–1.2 units); during repair, step to 1.2–1.8–2.0 max, then stop.
- Never average without a plan to reach break-even via structure (hedge or add only at pre-marked levels).
- Keep margin utilization low so you can act when needed; “no bullets left” is how small losses become disasters.
Daily Checklist
He runs the same playbook every day, so the market has fewer ways to surprise him. Consistency is the point; the boxes just give it shape.
- Pre-market: refresh top-down levels and draw the current M5 box; verify news times.
- During session: take only 3-bar M1 triggers at box edges; target 1–2 ATR; scratch fast when timing is off.
- Post-session: close out, log clicks, and stay flat; update boxes for tomorrow.
Map the Box: Top-Down Levels, M1 Execution, No Guesswork
Jean-Francois Boucher starts every session by mapping the bigger structure first, so he never argues with the market. He marks key swing highs and lows on the daily and H1, then frames the active range on M5—literally drawing the “box” he plans to trade. Only after that does he drop to M1 to execute, so each click lives inside a clearly defined context. This top-down flow keeps him from forcing trades when the higher timeframes aren’t aligned.
On the entry chart, Boucher treats price like a sequence of steps from box to box, not a crystal ball to be read. If M1 action doesn’t respect the M5 boundaries—or conflicts with the higher-timeframe map—he stands down and waits. Each decision is binary: at the edge, either the level holds and he fades back into the range, or it breaks and he rides the first clean extension. No guessing, no narratives—just executing what the box allows today.
ATR as Your Ruler: Target Quick, Repeatable One-Unit Gains
Jean-Francois Boucher treats ATR like a measuring tape, not a prediction engine. On M1, he translates that unit into a small, defined objective—typically one to two ATRs, then flat. The point isn’t to milk every run; it’s to take the clean, high-odds bite and reset. If the market doesn’t pay fast, he assumes his timing is off and steps aside.
ATR also keeps its sizing and expectations honest as volatility changes. When ATR expands, he reduces the size and keeps the same one-unit target; when ATR contracts, he may click more often but for the same measured payoff. This keeps outcomes consistent session to session and prevents emotional “just one more bar” trades. Boucher’s mantra here is simple: measure, take your unit, and get out before the noise takes it back.
Protect the Account: Long-Tail Stop, Active Repairs, Strict Caps
Jean-Francois Boucher anchors every trade with a “long-tail” hard stop designed to protect the account, not to babysit a single entry. He’ll manage most losers manually well before that tail is touched, but the fixed distance exists as a circuit breaker for shocks. When a position goes offside, he may repair it—either by hedging to pause the damage or by adding modest size at predefined structure—yet the goal is always to work back to flat, not to “win back” a narrative. Repairs are rules-based and capped; if the structure doesn’t cooperate quickly, he flattens and resets.
Strict caps keep the math sane. Boucher predefines a maximum size and never averages without dry powder reserved and a structural reason to do it. He refuses to let the margin get tight; running light means he can act decisively if a repair is required. Most importantly, he won’t let the market decide the loss—if the idea breaks, he exits early, preserving capital for the next clean box.
Trade the Range: Three-Bar Triggers, Edges Only, Flat Daily
Jean-Francois Boucher builds his day around the range, not the dream of a runaway trend. He works the edges where decisions are forced: either the level holds and mean reversion pays, or it fails and momentum hands you a quick extension into the next box. His entry is deliberately simple—a three-bar reversal at the edge that takes out the prior bar’s apex or nadir—so there’s no wiggle room to “interpret” price. Miss the break or see hesitation after the trigger? He steps aside and waits for the next clean setup rather than chasing.
At the trade level, Boucher targets the fast bite and refuses to linger. He’ll take the unit, slide the box if price steps, and rearm the same trigger again only when the edge is clean. If the break turns messy, he cuts early; if it runs cleanly, he still pays himself and resets. And when the session ends, he’s flat—because sleeping flat is part of the edge, keeping both the account and the mind ready for tomorrow’s range.
Process Over Prediction: Session Windows, Click Budgets, News Awareness
Jean-Francois Boucher organizes his edge around routines, not hot takes. He pre-sets a session window and treats it like a shift: start on time, execute the checklist, stop when the bell rings. Within that window, he uses a click budget—only so many trades allowed—so he can’t “wing it” into overtrading. The structure forces quality: if a setup doesn’t meet his rules, it’s not worth spending one of the day’s clicks.
He also plans around the calendar so surprises don’t own his P&L. High-impact releases mean smaller size, wider patience, or simply standing down until the dust settles. After a quick wi, he resists the urge to mash the button again; instead, he re-marks the box, waits for the next clean edge, and keeps the process steady. By the end of the window, he closes out and logs the day, flat and clear—because for Boucher, consistency beats any single prediction.
In the end, Jean-Francois Boucher leaves you with a playbook that’s simple on paper and powerful in practice: map the higher-timeframe structure, trade inside clearly drawn boxes, and execute on M1 where risk is smallest and control is highest. He measures everything with ATR so targets are consistent, and he uses a three-bar reversal at the range edge to keep entries objective. When the box steps, he steps with it—take the quick unit, slide the rectangle, and repeat. No crystal balls, no hero trades, just clean mechanics applied again and again.
Risk is treated like a job, not a checkbox. The long-tail stop exists to protect the account, while day-to-day losses are managed early with strict size caps, hedges, or small adds only when structure allows. He runs defined session windows, obeys a click budget, stays aware of news, and ends the day flat so both the book and the brain are clear. If you take one thing from Boucher, it’s this: process beats prediction. Build your boxes, measure with ATR, manage risk actively, and show up tomorrow ready to do it the same way.
