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Pierce Crosby—General Manager at TradingView—sits down for a candid YouTube interview about where the platform is headed and why it matters to everyday traders. He covers TradingView’s global reach, data coverage from dozens of exchanges, the evolution from hardcore desktop-style tools to a fast, web-first experience, and how the team balances simplicity for newcomers with depth for power users. You’ll also hear how social features, screeners, and broker connectivity fit into the bigger vision for traders who spend hours a day analyzing markets.
In this piece, you’ll learn Crosby’s practical strategy for using TradingView as a full trading workflow—from research and charting to idea sharing and placing trades through integrated brokers. We’ll break down his views on Pine Script (and why automation is approached carefully), what new customization and screener upgrades mean for your edge, and how a global product philosophy impacts strategy design for retail traders. If you want a clear picture of how to build a cleaner, faster, more disciplined process on the charts you already use, this interview delivers the blueprint.
Pierce Crosby Playbook & Strategy: How He Actually Trades
Market Focus & Daily Prep
This is the pre-market routine that keeps decisions clean and repeatable. Pierce Crosby focuses on clarity first—know what’s moving, why it’s moving, and what your job is for the session.
- Define a single “primary market” for the week (e.g., ES, NQ, BTC, EURUSD) and trade 80% of your risk there.
- Set the daily risk cap before you open charts: max −2R or −3R; stop for the day when hit.
- Pre-market checklist (10 minutes): news catalysts, overnight ranges, yesterday’s high/low/close, session VWAP, economic calendar times.
- Write one hypothesis for the open: “If price holds above yesterday’s high by 15 minutes, I’ll look long on a pullback to the breakout level.”
Multi-Timeframe Charting Framework
Big picture → execution window. He anchors bias on higher timeframes and times entries on the lower ones—same template, every day.
- Bias: start weekly/daily; trade only in the direction of the daily trend unless a catalyst flips it.
- Structure: mark weekly swing high/low, daily supply/demand, and 4H trendline or channel.
- Execution: 1H to set levels, 15M to stage, 5M to trigger; never enter from a timeframe you didn’t pre-plan.
- Only three drawings per chart: level, zone, and line. If you need more, you’re forcing the setup.
Indicator Stack & Clean Levels
Indicators support the read—they don’t replace it. He keeps the stack lean so signals don’t conflict.
- Baseline: 20/50 EMA for momentum and pullbacks; 200 EMA as trend filter.
- One volatility tool: ATR(14) on the execution timeframe to size stops and trail exits.
- One confirmation: RSI(14) or MACD on 15M—use divergence only at pre-marked levels, not in the middle of ranges.
- If EMAs and price disagree with daily bias, stand down until alignment returns.
Idea Discovery & Screening
You can’t trade everything. Shortlist instruments that actually meet your criteria and build a focused watchlist.
- Build a weekly watchlist of 8–12 names/pairs/contracts; prune anything with deteriorating liquidity or widening spreads.
- Scan for top relative strength/weakness vs. the index or DXY (for FX); only trade names in the top/bottom quartile.
- Filter by average true range and average volume; skip names that can’t deliver at least 1.5R with your stop width.
- Tag each watchlist item with one of three play types: breakout, pullback, or mean-revert; trade it only with the tagged play.
Entries: Triggers That Don’t Wiggle
He uses rules that fire or don’t—no “kinda-sorta” entries. Alerts do the heavy lifting, so emotions don’t.
- Breakout rule: wait for a 15M close beyond the level + minimum buffer = 0.25×ATR(14); enter on the first pullback to the breakout level.
- Pullback rule: trend intact on 1H; enter at 20 EMA touch only if 5M prints a higher low (long) / lower high (short) and reclaimed level holds 2 candles.
- Mean-reversion rule: only inside a defined range; fade the extremes with half size, add the second half after a 5M reversal candle.
- Single attempt per level. If stopped, do not re-enter until a new structure forms.
Risk & Position Sizing
Survival first. Pierce sizes from the stop outward, not from the P&L he wants.
- Risk is a fixed percentage per trade (common: 0.5R–1R of account). Never vary risk because you “feel” better about a setup.
- Hard stop = technical invalidation + spread/latency buffer (0.15–0.25×ATR).
- Max open risk: never exceed 2R across all live positions; reduce new entries when correlation > 0.7 among positions.
- Daily loss stop: shut down platforms when −2R/−3R is hit; review, don’t revenge.
Trade Management: From Open to Close
Good entries still need disciplined exits. He pre-plans both profit-taking and the “I’m wrong” conditions.
- First target at 1R; take 30% off and move stop to break-even minus fees.
- Trail with ATR: stop = entry ± 1.5×ATR on 5M after target 1 hits; widen to 2×ATR if the 1H trend accelerates.
- Time stop: if price hasn’t reached 0.5R in 45–60 minutes on intraday plays, exit—your read isn’t playing out.
- End-of-day rule: if still in, scale down to half size into the close to reduce gap risk.
Exits: Objective, Not Heroic
Exits are where P&L is made. Pierce codifies them to avoid hope.
- Invalidation exit: break and 15M close beyond your last swing structure = out, no debate.
- Momentum exit: consecutive 5M closes against your position + RSI cross through 50 in the wrong direction = flatten remainder.
- News exit: 2 minutes before scheduled high-impact releases on your instrument, flatten or reduce to token size unless it was planned as a catalyst trade.
- Parabolic rule: if a candle’s range > 2× recent 10-bar average in your favor, scale another 25%—parabolas snap.
Playbooks by Market Condition
He runs a different play depending on whether the market is trending, ranging, or breaking out on a catalyst.
- Trending: trade pullbacks to 20 EMA in direction of the daily bias; no counter-trend until daily prints a lower high/higher low against trend.
- Ranging: fade the edges only after a second touch and 15M rejection; target mid-range first, edge-to-edge second.
- Breakout/catalyst: trade only with a confirmed 15M close and volume expansion; no fading day-one moves.
- Regime switch rule: two failed trades in the same condition = stand down; reassess the regime before next attempt.
Automation & Pine-Style Rules
Automation helps with consistency. He uses code for alerts, sizing, and repeatable checks—not to “predict” the future.
- Convert each entry rule to an alert with exact conditions (close beyond level + ATR buffer, MA alignment, volume threshold).
- Auto-size script: shares/contracts = (account_risk)/(stop_distance + buffer); round down to nearest lot size.
- Back-check any change to rules on at least one year of data; if the change doesn’t improve drawdown or win×RR, revert.
- Never automate discretionary overrides; if the rule needs feel, refine the rule until it doesn’t.
Social, Journaling & Review
Public accountability and a written record sharpen execution. He keeps feedback loops tight.
- After entry, log: hypothesis, level, risk, catalyst, screenshot. After exit, log: reason, R result, what you missed.
- Post a simplified idea snapshot (chart + two sentences) to keep yourself honest; avoid calling tops/bottoms in prose.
- Weekly review: win rate, average R, expectancy, max drawdown, heat map by play type; cut the bottom-quartile play for the next week.
- Tag every trade with market condition and play type; aim for 70% of trades in your best two plays.
Platform Layout & Workflow Hygiene
Fewer clicks, faster decisions. A consistent layout reduces mistakes and over-trading.
- One workspace per market: left = higher timeframes (D/4H/1H), center = 15M, right = 5M + depth/DOM if relevant.
- Save templates: “Trend Pullback,” “Range Fade,” “Breakout”—each with pre-loaded indicators and alerts.
- Keyboard-first: hotkeys for entry ticket, horizontal line, risk calc, and screenshot to journal.
- Close all non-trade windows during active risk (email, chat, news feeds); reopen only after flat.
Broker Routing, Spreads & Slippage
Execution details matter as much as setups. He optimizes fills and keeps costs predictable.
- Test two brokers or routes for your primary market; log average spread and slippage at different times of day.
- No market orders outside liquid hours; use limit-at-touch for pullbacks and stop-limit with small offsets for breakouts.
- If the spread widens beyond your buffer threshold (e.g., >1.5× normal), cancel pending orders until it normalizes.
- Roll futures/FX positions before known rollover spikes; for equities, avoid opening-print fills unless part of a planned opening drive play.
Psychology & Session Rules
Rules protect you from you. Pierce treats mindset like risk: defined, measurable, enforced.
- Two-strike rule: two consecutive mistakes (not just losses) → step away for 30 minutes; reset with checklist before returning.
- Max trades: 5 intraday attempts or 3 swing entries per instrument per day; beyond that, you’re churning.
- Distraction audit: during live trades, no social feeds; music only if it improves focus—measure PnL and error rate both ways.
- Green/Red protocol: after +3R day, cut size in half next session; after −3R day, trade plan review only—no live risk.
Size Every Trade by Volatility, Not Your Hopes or Hunches
Pierce Crosby pushes traders to let the tape, not their feelings, determine size. The core idea is simple: your stop distance should be defined by recent volatility, then your position size is mechanically derived from that distance, so every trade risks the same R. When ATR expands, you automatically take a smaller size; when markets quiet down, size can increase while risk stays constant. This keeps you from “feeling confident” and overloading right before a spike takes you out.
Put it into practice by fixing a percent of equity to risk per trade, then using ATR or the structure-based stop to compute shares or contracts so risk equals that fixed amount. If your stop is twice as wide as yesterday because volatility spiked, you simply cut size in half—no debate. Pierce Crosby also stresses throttling size around catalysts and widening spreads so your risk math still reflects real fills. Over a week, this approach smooths P&L swings, preserves capital during wild sessions, and compounds cleanly when conditions are calm.
Build a Three-Bucket Portfolio: Trend, Mean-Revert, Catalyst Breakouts
Pierce Crosby frames the day around three distinct “jobs” so you’re never forcing one setup to do everything. The trend bucket hunts continuation in the direction of the daily bias, the mean-reversion bucket fades well-defined ranges, and the catalyst bucket rides breakouts only when news or volume cracks a level. By assigning each market on your watchlist to one bucket before the open, you decide ahead of time which rules to follow and which to ignore. That simple separation prevents mixing signals, overtrading, and chasing the wrong pattern at the wrong time.
Execution stays strict. For trend, Pierce Crosby waits for a pullback to the short-term moving average or prior breakout level and then looks for confirmation from structure, not feelings. For mean-reversion, he only engages at tested range edges and aims first for the midline, never the moonshot. For a catalyst, he requires a confirmed close beyond the level plus volume expansion before joining, and he won’t fade day-one momentum. With a three-bucket approach, you diversify by strategy and market condition, smooth your equity curve, and keep your head clear because each trade has a single purpose.
Write If-Then Rules, Execute Mechanically, Skip Prediction During Entries
Pierce Crosby wants your entries to read like code: if X happens, then do Y—no astrology, no “it feels right.” He builds the plan before the bell and treats the live session like a playback of a script. Example: “If price closes above yesterday’s high on a 15-minute candle and pulls back to retest within two bars, then go long with a stop at the prior swing low.” That clarity kills hesitation and prevents the all-too-common “I think it’s going to rip” impulse trade. When the rule doesn’t trigger, he simply doesn’t trade it—missed setups are a win for discipline, not a loss of opportunity.
During the execution, Pierce Crosby strips out prediction altogether and lets alerts do the heavy lifting. The checklist covers level, confirmation, risk, and invalidation; once all boxes are ticked, the order goes in without second-guessing. If one box fails—say, volume doesn’t expand or the candle closes back inside the level—the trade is skipped, end of story. Stops and targets are pre-defined, so management decisions are mechanical too, not negotiated mid-trade. Over time, this if-then structure lowers error rates, stabilizes R-multiples, and makes your results repeatable even when the market mood swings.
Cap Daily Drawdown, Stop Trading, Review Process Before Returning
Pierce Crosby treats a daily stop like a firebreak—hit it and you stop the damage spreading. He sets a fixed drawdown limit in R and shuts the platform when it’s reached, no matter how “close” the next setup looks. That rule protects psychology as much as capital; after −2R or −3R, your read gets foggy and you start negotiating with risk. Pierce Crosby’s point is simple: the market will be here tomorrow, but your discipline won’t be if you torch it today.
The reset isn’t passive. He runs a quick post-mortem before the next session: Were entries rule-based? Did slippage or spreads break the math? Was the regime misread? Only after documenting the mistakes and confirming that the plan still has an edge does he come back with a normal size. If the review flags process errors, he trades reduced size for a session to rebuild confidence. This tight loop turns a red day into an upgrade, not a spiral.
Use Defined Risk First; Reserve Undefined Risk For Controlled Events
Pierce Crosby puts defined risk at the top of the stack because your survival shouldn’t depend on mercy from volatility. He wants every trade to have a clear invalidation and a hard stop that reflects structure, plus a volatility buffer. If you’re using options, he leans toward debit structures or spreads that cap downside and make risk calculus simple. The goal is identical across products: know the exact worst-case before you click, then size from that number—not from conviction.
Undefined risk isn’t banned, but Pierce Crosby treats it like hazardous material: allowed only when the probabilities, liquidity, and event windows are crystal clear. Use it around scheduled catalysts where you can price gaps and manage exposure with a smaller size or hedges. If the position can go theoretically unbounded (short options, leveraged fades, martingale adds), he sets strict cut rules—max heat in R, time stops, and auto-hedge triggers. Defined first, undefined rarely, and only when you control the context—those boundaries keep your edge intact and your account alive.
In the end, Pierce Crosby’s message is refreshingly practical: build a rules-first workflow that runs the same way every day, and let volatility, structure, and time do the heavy lifting. He champions if-then entries, fixed daily risk caps, and a lean indicator stack so you’re never negotiating with the market mid-trade. Defined risk comes first; undefined risk is a rare, controlled tool. He also pushes traders to think in “buckets”—trend, mean-revert, and catalyst—so you match setups to conditions instead of forcing one strategy to do everything.
Pierce Crosby’s execution lens stretches beyond charts into workflow: clean multi-timeframe planning, alerts that mirror your rule triggers, and journaling that turns each trade into a feedback loop. He treats broker connectivity, spreads, and slippage as part of edge, not afterthoughts, and he sees automation (via scripting and alerts) as a way to enforce discipline—not to predict the future. Layer in smarter screening, social accountability, and a global market view, and the takeaway is simple: codify your process, size by volatility, trade the right play for the current regime, and let a consistent, tech-assisted routine make your edge repeatable.
