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Houston Truong is a full-time trader and founder of the Montreal Traders Meetup, known for his clear, no-nonsense approach to equities and crypto. In this interview, Houston breaks down how he blends intraday and swing trading, why self-regulation beats vague “mindset” talk, and how his process evolved from spreadsheets to quantified scans. If you’ve seen his work on The Trading Edge, you’ll recognize the same practical focus: trade what’s moving, respect the bigger timeframes, and keep risk management as tight as your execution.
In this piece, you’ll learn how Houston uses multi-timeframe alignment to filter noise, adapts equity playbooks to 24/7 crypto, and sets profit-taking and sizing rules to avoid giving gains back when regimes shift. You’ll also see his practical checklist for diagnosing whether problems are with you, your system, or both—and how he uses smaller size, faster feedback, and scanners to reset quickly without blowing up conviction. Expect a clear blueprint you can copy: respect trend, track conditions daily/weekly/monthly, short when the tape says short, and make your tools work for you—not the other way around.
Houston Truong Playbook & Strategy: How He Actually Trades
Market Selection & Daily Prep
Before placing a risk, Houston gets selective about what to trade and when. He filters for clean trends, strong relative strength/weakness, and clear catalysts, so he isn’t forcing trades in chop.
- Run a premarket scan for top percent gainers/losers and highest relative volume; shortlist 10–20 symbols only.
- Keep a “noisy list” and “clean list”; only trade from the clean list (smooth daily trend, tight bases, low overlap).
- If the index futures are flat and breadth is under 40%, reduce size by 50% or skip the first hour.
- Mark the prior day’s high/low, overnight high/low, and premarket range; trade only around these levels for the first two hours.
- If spread > 0.3% of price or average 1-minute volume < 20k shares, pass—execution edge matters.
Multi-Timeframe Alignment
He syncs entries on the smaller chart with structure on higher timeframes. The idea is simple: stack probabilities by trading lower-timeframe signals only in the direction of the higher-timeframe trend.
- Define primary bias on the weekly; confirm momentum on the daily; time entries on the 5–15 minute.
- Longs require: weekly higher high/low, daily above 20/50 EMA, intraday pullback that holds VWAP.
- Shorts require: weekly lower high/low, daily below 20/50 EMA, intraday pop that rejects VWAP.
- If weekly and daily conflict, trade half size or skip—no “opinions” allowed against structure.
- Change of character rule: two failed attempts to continue the trend on the daily = stand down for 24 hours.
Setups That Pay (Breakout & Pullback)
He keeps setups simple—either buy strength emerging from a base or buy a controlled pullback into a known level. Fewer patterns, more reps.
- Breakout: 3–10 day base, tight ranges, rising relative volume; enter on base high + 0.1% with stop under base low.
- Pullback: trend up, 2–4 red bars to rising 20 EMA or prior day high; enter on first higher low with stop one ATR below swing.
- For shorts, invert the rules: breakdown from a shelf or pop into declining 20 EMA with rejection wick.
- Only take trades where entry-to-stop ≤ 0.6–1.2 ATR and first target ≥ 1.5–2.0 ATR.
- If the candle that triggers entry closes back inside the range, cut immediately—bad breakouts don’t get time.
Risk & Position Sizing
His edge compounds through risk control. He sizes up to survive cold streaks and keep the emotional thermostat stable.
- Risk per trade: 0.25%–0.5% of account in normal conditions; 0.1% in chop; 0.75% only in A+ regimes.
- Max open risk across all positions: 1.25% (reduce to 0.75% if VIX is expanding).
- Size = (Account * Risk%) / (Stop in $). Round down to the nearest board lot for fills.
- After two consecutive losers in a session, cut size by 50%; after three, stop trading for the day.
- Weekly max drawdown: 3%. Hitting it triggers a mandatory reset week with sim/half-size only.
Trade Management & Exits
He plans exits before entries. Scaling out systematically locks progress while letting the tape decide if the move can extend.
- Initial target at 1R; sell 30% of position; move stop to breakeven + fees.
- Trail remainder using a structure stop: for longs, last higher low on the 5-minute or 20 EMA close-through.
- If the trade reaches 2R, trail by 1× ATR on the 15-minute; no giving back > 40% of peak open profit.
- Time stop: if price goes nowhere for 30–45 minutes after entry and RVOL fades, exit flat/small.
- News spike rule: if a surprise headline expands spread/volatility beyond plan, flatten and reassess—no heroics.
Shorting Playbook
Houston shorts when the structure is broken and bounces are failing. He avoids crowded late shorts by waiting for clear lower highs.
- Only short names below the daily 20/50 EMA with declining anchored VWAP from a major high.
- Look for gap fill failures, VWAP rejections, and breakdown retests to become lower highs.
- Enter on the first lower high after a range break; stop one ATR above that pivot.
- Cover 1/3 at prior low (1R), 1/3 at 2R, trail the rest with 15-minute swing highs.
- Do not short when intraday breadth > 70% advancing or when the index is breaking out to new highs.
Tools, Scans & Watchlists
He uses a lightweight toolset to find clean names fast and keep focus where it matters.
- Maintain three lists: “Prime” (A+ trends), “Active” (today’s trades), “Tracking” (developing patterns).
- Daily scan filters: RVOL ≥ 1.5, ADX(14) ≥ 20, ATR as % of price ≥ 2.0%, clean daily structure.
- Intraday alert levels are set at the prior day’s high/low, premarket high/low, and the first 30-minute IB range.
- Use anchored VWAP from earnings gaps or major swing points to define battle lines.
- Journal tags auto-added at entry: setup type, market regime, checklist pass/fail, emotional state (1–5).
Regime Detection & Playbook Switching
He adapts size and expectations to the environment so the same setups behave predictably across regimes.
- Trend regime: index above rising 50-day—allow full targets (2R–3R) and hold runners.
- Mean-revert regime: index inside a wide range—halve size, take 1R–1.5R, avoid breakouts into range edges.
- High volatility: widen stops to 1.2–1.5× normal ATR but cut size to keep $ risk constant.
- Low volatility: requires tighter bases and only trades with RVOL confirmation.
- Regime flips when the daily closes back inside the prior multi-week range or loses the 50-day with breadth deterioration.
Crypto vs. Equities Adjustments
He applies the same core logic to crypto with tweaks for 24/7 markets and weekend liquidity shifts.
- Crypto entries prefer higher-timeframe (4H/12H) signals to reduce noise; equities use 5–15 minute timing.
- Weekend rule: size down 30% from Friday close to Sunday open; spreads and slippage widen.
- Funding/rollover hours are treated like “mini news windows”—avoid fresh entries 15 minutes around them.
- For altcoins, require BTC and ETH to confirm direction on 4H; otherwise, pass.
- Use stable trailing stops (ATR-based) instead of tight structure stops to avoid overnight wicks.
Execution Discipline & Checklists
He runs a tight pre-trade and post-trade checklist to reduce avoidable errors and keep the edge intact.
- Pre-trade: confirm trend alignment (W/D/15m), catalyst notes, RVOL, stop location, and 1R/2R math.
- Must tick all five boxes to take the trade; if one is missing, pass.
- During trade: no averaging down, no adding before 1R achieved, no moving stop wider.
- Post-trade: tag the outcome (win/loss/managed exit), attach screenshots of entry/exit, grade adherence (A/B/C).
- Two C-grades in a day = shut down and journal for 20 minutes.
Drawdown & Recovery Protocol
When P&L dips, he shrinks risk and increases feedback speed to rebuild rhythm without digging a deeper hole.
- At −3% equity drawdown: cut risk to 0.1% per trade, no more than two attempts per setup/day.
- At −5%: switch to sim or micro-size for five sessions; review last 20 trades, isolate top setup, trade only that.
- Green-day staircase: after two consecutive green days, step size up one notch; any red day resets the step.
- Rehearse entries on replay each evening for the next day’s top three symbols.
- No “get-back” trading; the only goal is execution grade > 80% for a full week.
Mindset That Supports Mechanics
He treats mindset as an operational habit, not a motivational speech. The goal is calm, repeatable execution.
- Start the day with a 3-minute breath + plan review; end the day with a 5-minute debrief and a single improvement note.
- Define in writing what a “good loss” looks like; celebrate it when rules were followed.
- If heart rate, mouse clicks, or self-talk spike, step away for two minutes—no exceptions.
- Replace “prediction” language with “if/then” statements on the chart.
- Keep a tiny “wins reel” of well-executed trades and review it before the open for pattern priming.
Size Risk First: Protect Capital Before Chasing Any Trade
Houston Truong starts every decision with downside math, not upside fantasies. He treats risk per trade like rent—pay it predictably, keep it small, and you’ll still be in business when the market finally pays you. That means sizing to a fixed percentage of equity and letting the stop dictate shares, not the other way around. He’ll trade lighter in chop and only step up when structure, volume, and trend are stacked, because protecting the emotional thermostat is as important as protecting the account.
In practice, Houston Truong ties size to the actual distance to the stop—ATR or swing-low based—so the dollar loss is constant even when volatility jumps. If two losses land back-to-back, he cuts size and slows down; hits a weekly drawdown limit, and he stands down to reset rather than digging the hole deeper. He aims to bank 1R early on partials and move to breakeven, which turns hot streaks into compounding and cold streaks into paper cuts. The result is simple but powerful: survival first, consistency second, and only then the pursuit of bigger wins.
Stack Timeframes: Trade Only When Higher Structure Backs You
Houston Truong treats the weekly and daily charts like the bosses and the intraday like the assistant. If the bosses say trend up, he’s only hunting longs; if they say trend down, he’s only hunting shorts. He wants the big picture doing the heavy lifting, so the smaller chart just times the entry, not fights the tide. That’s how he avoids random chops and “nice-looking” signals that die against higher-timeframe pressure.
Practically, Houston Truong looks for weekly structure (higher highs/lows or lower highs/lows), daily alignment with key moving averages, and then a 5–15 minute trigger. Longs often require a price above the daily 20/50 and a pullback that respects VWAP; shorts flip that logic with rejection into declining averages. If weekly and daily disagree, he goes half size or stands down until they sync, because mixed signals equal mixed results. Two failed attempts to continue the trend on the daily are his change-of-character cue to pause and wait for clarity.
Prefer Defined Risk Trades; Limit Undefined Risk To A-Plus Setups
Houston Truong builds his playbook around defined risks, so every trade has a known worst-case before the entry. He uses hard stops, structure-based invalidation, and preplanned partials so risk never balloons just because price wiggles. If he can cap the downside with tight technicals or a small ATR stop, he takes it; if not, he sizes smaller or skips. No moving stops wider, no “I’ll give it a little more room,” and no averaging down into uncertainty.
When a setup is inherently undefined—fast-moving names, news tape, thin books—Houston Truong treats it like a special op. He demands A-plus alignment across timeframes, elevated RVOL, and clean levels, then cuts size and enforces strict session max loss. He’ll use time stops and volatility tripwires to flatten if the character shifts, and he never lets one trade threaten the week. The rule is simple: if risk can’t be clearly defined, conviction and conditions must be exceptional, or the trade doesn’t happen.
Adjust Position And Targets Using Volatility-Based Allocation Rules
Houston Truong adjusts position size to volatility so the dollar risk stays constant. He measures recent ATR and uses it to set stop distance and share count. When ATR expands, he shrinks the position; when ATR contracts and the structure is clean, he allows a slightly larger size. Targets also float with volatility, so reward multiples reflect current range, not yesterday’s.
In practice, Houston Truong requires RVOL confirmation before taking full size, otherwise he halvesthe risk. If intraday ATR exceeds the 20-day ATR by a set threshold, he takes quicker first profits and trails wider to avoid shakeouts. If volatility compresses after entry, he tightens the trail and converts to a base-break style exit instead of hunting a home run. The principle is consistent: let volatility dictate size, stops, and targets so execution stays stable while the market mood swings.
Diversify By Underlying, Strategy, And Duration To Smooth Equity
Houston Truong spreads risk so no single market mood wrecks the week. He mixes equities with crypto when conditions allow, rotates between trend and mean-revert plays, and balances quick intraday trades with swing holds. The goal isn’t to trade more—it’s to hold a small basket of uncorrelated bets where any one loss is a paper cut, not a crater.
In practice, Houston Truong caps exposure by symbol, sector, and theme, and won’t stack three trades that all depend on the same index move. He varies holding periods—scalps for feedback and discipline, swings for compounding—and sizes each according to its true volatility, not its ticker price. He runs a simple correlation gut-check: if two ideas make or lose money for the same reason, he treats them as one and drills down to the highest-quality version. When spreads widen or liquidity thins, he pares back to the cleanest trend setup and ditches the rest, keeping the equity curve steady instead of exciting.
Houston Truong’s core message is simple and repeatable: align with higher timeframes, then time entries where price action and structure confirm. He keeps the bosses (monthly/weekly/daily) in charge and lets intraday simply execute—because when the big picture points one way, the small picture works like a tailwind rather than a fight. The moments that matter tend to cluster at critical calendar turns and level breaks, so he pays close attention to month/week opens and how price behaves around those anchors; turning a month “red” or reclaiming a weekly level signals character shifts worth acting on. This focus on time, structure, and price compresses uncertainty and turns “mystery moves” into expected follow-through or planned stand-downs.
He trades what’s moving and stays nimble across equities and crypto, adapting holding periods and size to volatility so the dollar risk remains stable while regimes change. That flexibility is practical, not flashy: intraday and swing in equities, intraday and swing in crypto—each chosen for liquidity, volatility, and the ability to get clean reads on structure without forcing trades in chop. The throughline is discipline: fewer, better trades; no averaging down; hard invalidation; partials to bank 1R; and a willingness to step aside when alignment frays. Do the homework on time-frame confluence, let structure define risk, and keep your process tight—because survival and clarity come first, and the compounding follows.
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