Table of Contents
In this interview, Chris Lee—Singapore-born traveling trader and longtime blogger—breaks down how he actually trades and why his path matters for retail traders. He started around 2005, learned to code to test ideas, and ultimately shifted to learning directly from the market instead of relying on books. Today, he trades intraday price action through a fundamental lens, keeps his process lean, and focuses deeply on one market where his edge is clearest.
You’ll learn Chris Lee’s core strategy principles—why discretionary price action can beat purely mechanical rules, how to use data without becoming a slave to it, and why concentrating on a single high-quality setup (or even a single pair) can compound faster than spreading yourself thin. We’ll also cover his rules for handling drawdowns, the psychological traps of trading outside capital, and his counterintuitive advice to ignore the money and obsess over the process—so you can build something repeatable and durable as a trader.
Chris Lee Playbook & Strategy: How He Actually Trades
Core Focus and Market Selection
Here’s how Chris Lee keeps his edge sharp: he focuses on a small universe and goes deep, not wide. This section shows you how to pick your market, define your “one thing,” and stop chasing every shiny setup.
- Choose 1–2 instruments you understand best and trade them for 90 days without adding more.
- Define your A+ setup in one sentence (e.g., “pullback to prior day’s value edge with trapped-breakout fuel”).
- Only take trades that match your A+ setup; pass on B and C setups by default.
- Trade during the same 2–3 hour session window every day to standardize conditions.
- Keep a weekly “kill list” of distractions (new tickers, new indicators) and avoid them until the weekend review.
Price Action With Context
Chris Lee blends clean price action with basic market context, so signals aren’t taken in a vacuum. The goal is to trade what the market is actually doing, not what you wish it would do.
- Mark daily/weekly swing highs/lows and the prior session’s high, low, and close before the session starts.
- Identify the day type in the first hour: trend, range, or balanced—then only run setups suited to that type.
- Treat the first break of a key level as discovery and the second as decision; fade failed second attempts.
- Use 1–2 context tools max (e.g., session VWAP and a 20-period MA) to avoid analysis bloat.
- If the price is between the value (VWAP) and the prior day’s close with no impulse, trade lighter or wait.
Entry Triggers: From Idea to Execution
An edge isn’t real until you have a repeatable trigger. This is how Chris Lee converts a setup into a precise entry with tight risk and clear invalidation.
- Enter on the retest: let price tag the level, reject (wick/absorption), then enter on the next micro pullback.
- Require a “shift” candle: the first candle that closes back inside the level after a failed breakout.
- Use a 1-minute or 5-minute trigger against a 15–60 minute structure; never trigger off the same timeframe you used for bias.
- If spread or slippage > 25% of the intended stop, skip the trade.
- Time-out rule: if the price doesn’t move in your direction by 0.5R within 15 minutes, reduce risk or scratch.
Risk and Position Sizing
Survival first, compounding second. Chris Lee sizes by volatility, so a “normal” loss isn’t a portfolio event.
- Risk a fixed % per trade (e.g., 0.25–0.5% of equity); never exceed 1% on a single idea.
- Base stop on structure, not a round number; it must sit beyond the level that proves you wrong.
- Convert ATR(14) on your entry timeframe into ticks/pips; size so ATR ≈ 1–1.5R.
- Daily loss cap = 2R. Hit it and you’re done—no exceptions.
- Reduce size by 50% after two consecutive losing days; restore only after a green day with process-grade execution.
Trade Management and Exits
Most traders obsess over entries; Chris Lee obsesses over how to hold winners without giving back the farm. Here’s how to manage in real time.
- First scale at +1R only if structure stalls; else hold for the next higher-timeframe level.
- Move stop to breakeven only after the market establishes value beyond your entry (e.g., two closes past your level).
- Trail behind swing lows/highs in trends; in ranges, target opposite boundary and flatten.
- If a strong impulse occurs against you immediately after entry, scratch instead of hoping.
- End-of-session flatten rule: if your system expects resolution during a session and it doesn’t happen, exit at close.
Integrating News and Fundamentals (Without the Noise)
Context matters on catalyst days. Chris Lee keeps a light fundamental overlay to avoid getting blindsided while still trading the chart.
- Pre-session, note tier-1 events (rates, CPI, jobs) and company/sector catalysts for your instrument.
- If a release is due within 15 minutes, stand aside unless your plan explicitly covers that scenario.
- On catalyst spikes, wait for the second move: let the first impulse and pullback print, then trade the continuation or failure.
- Reduce size by 30–50% on high-volatility event days; widen stops proportionally or skip mean-reversion plays.
- If news contradicts your bias and price confirms the contradiction, flip the bias only after a structured retest.
Playbook Setup: Rejection at Prior Day Extremes
This is a bread-and-butter pattern Chris Lee leans on because it repeats and manages risk well. Learn it, practice it in replay, and make it yours.
- Bias: neutral-to-fade when price opens inside prior value and tests the prior day’s high/low.
- Trigger: look for a failed breakout (wick + close back inside) and enter on the micro pullback.
- Stop: 1–1.5× wick length beyond the extreme; invalidation is a strong close beyond the level.
- Target 1: return to VWAP; Target 2: mid of prior day’s range; Target 3 (optional): opposite extreme if trend day fails.
- Invalidation rule: two consecutive closes beyond the extreme = abandon the fade idea.
Playbook Setup: Trend Continuation From Value
When the market trends, don’t fight it—join at value. Chris Lee keeps it simple with a pullback-to-value continuation.
- Bias: trend day confirmed by one-way auction and higher highs/lows (or lower highs/lows).
- Trigger: pullback to VWAP or 20MA, followed by a shift candle in trend direction; enter on break of shift high/low.
- Stop: below/above the pullback swing; never inside the “noise” zone.
- Target 1: prior impulse high/low; Target 2: measured move (equal leg) from the morning impulse.
- No-add rule: only add if the pullback structure repeats and total risk stays ≤ 1.5× initial trade risk.
The Daily Routine
Consistency is a habit, not a mood. Chris Lee’s routine keeps decisions clean and energy focused.
- Pre-market (20–30 min): mark levels, define day type hypotheses, set alerts; no social feeds.
- Live (2–3 hr): execute only written setups; log reason for each click in a simple note.
- Post-market (15 min): screenshot entries/exits with notes on adherence and what to fix tomorrow.
- Weekly review: tag trades by setup and day type; drop or refine any setup with <55% win rate over 30 samples.
- Energy rule: if sleep < 6 hours or you’re sick, cut size in half or don’t trade.
Psychology and Drawdown Control
Trading is a mental endurance game. Chris Lee treats psychology like a checklist, not a mystery.
- Maximum consecutive losses allowed: 4. Hit it and stop trading for the day; do a 30-minute walk and review.
- During drawdowns > 5R, switch to half-size and A+ setups only until you regain 3R.
- Pre-commit to “three breaths” before entry and after stop-out to break tilt loops.
- Ban performance tracking mid-session; only check P&L after you flatten.
- End each week with one written lesson and one rule tweak; keep the tweak list capped at three active items.
Tools, Charts, and Execution Hygiene
Keep the toolkit minimal and reliable. Chris Lee favors simple charts, fast execution, and clean data over gadget overload.
- Chart pack: 60m/15m for structure, 5m/1m for triggers; display only price, VWAP, and a 20MA by default.
- Use limit orders for entries at levels; use market orders to exit losers faster when invalidated.
- Maintain a “go flat now” hotkey and practice it in sim weekly.
- Log slippage on each trade; if average slippage rises for a week, reduce size or avoid that time window.
- Back up your platform settings and journal to the cloud; if tech fails, your rules shouldn’t.
Building and Maintaining the Edge
Edges decay if you don’t maintain them. Chris Lee rebuilds his edge continuously with structured reviews and small experiments.
- Run one controlled experiment per month (e.g., alternate exit logic) with a tiny size and isolated tracking.
- Cull any setup that loses money three months in a row, even if it’s your favorite.
- Refresh your screenshots library with 20 new examples per setup each quarter.
- Keep a “do more” list (habits that helped win) and a “do less” list (behaviors present in losses); review daily.
- When volatility regime changes (ATR up/down 50% vs. baseline), revisit stops, targets, and session timing within 48 hours.
Focus on One Market, One A+ Setup, Repeat Relentlessly
Chris Lee keeps his edge by narrowing his attention to a single market and a single, clearly defined A+ setup. By stripping away distractions, he cuts decision fatigue and stops the constant hunt for “better” trades. One play, rehearsed daily, turns into muscle memory and faster, cleaner execution. When you know exactly what your best trade looks like, passing on everything else becomes easy instead of painful.
He picks a session window, marks the same key levels, and waits for his setup to appear without forcing it. If conditions don’t align, Chris Lee simply doesn’t trade—protecting capital and mindset as part of the strategy. This repetition compounds skill because feedback is immediate and comparable from day to day. Over time, the tight focus yields sharper reads, smaller mistakes, and a playbook that actually pays the bills.
Size by Volatility, Cap Daily Loss, Protect the Compounding Engine
Chris Lee treats position size as a function of current volatility, not gut feel. When ranges expand, he scales down; when markets are quiet, he allows normal size, so a “standard” stop still equals a “standard” risk. That keeps the dollar loss predictable even when the chart gets noisy. He also sets a hard daily loss cap so one bad morning can’t ruin the week or rattle his decision-making.
By capping the downside, Chris Lee safeguards the compounding engine that actually grows the account. He places stops beyond the level that objectively proves the idea wrong, then sizes the trade to that distance instead of moving the stop after entry. If he hits the daily limit, he shuts it down and reviews rather than trying to “win it back.” The result is fewer emotional spirals, steadier equity curves, and a process that survives every volatility regime.
Trade the Day Type: Trend, Range, or Balanced Playbook
Chris Lee starts each session by labeling the environment before placing a single trade. If it’s a trend day, he waits for clean pullbacks to value and rides continuation; if it’s a range, he works the edges and avoids chasing; if it’s balanced and indecisive, he sits tight or takes smaller shots. That simple classification keeps his playbook honest—he doesn’t try to force a breakout strategy in a sleepy chop or fade strength on a one-way auction. The point is to trade what the market is offering, not what you’re hoping for.
Once the day type is set, Chris Lee narrows down to the setups that belong in that environment and ignores everything else. He measures follow-through against the label: failing follow-through on a “trend” tag means he downgrades aggression; persistent rejection at range edges upgrades conviction on fades. By letting the day type guide entry, stop placement, and targets, he removes a ton of guesswork and keeps risk consistent. Over time, that discipline turns mixed conditions from a source of losses into a source of clarity.
Let Price Confirm First: Retest, Shift Candle, Then Execute
Chris Lee doesn’t “anticipate” breakouts—he makes the market prove it. He lets price poke a level, fail, and then retest so he can see who’s trapped and who’s in control. The confirmation is a shift candle that closes back inside or with momentum through the level, converting the idea into a signal. Only then does he execute, placing the stop beyond the structure that would invalidate the read. This keeps him from paying for every head fake and saves his best bullets for the moments with real imbalance.
After entry, Chris Lee expects quick feedback; if the price doesn’t move at least a fraction of risk in his favor within a set time window, he scales down or scratches. He refuses to chase a fill if slippage eats too much of the planned stop—bad fills equal bad trades, even when the idea is good. When a level breaks cleanly without a retest, he waits for the first pullback rather than jumping late. The result is fewer impulsive clicks, tighter risk, and a workflow where patience sets the trap—and confirmation springs it.
Process Over Prediction: Routine, Reviews, and Ruthless Rule Enforcement
Chris Lee builds consistency by treating trading like a craft, not a guessing game. He follows the same pre-market routine every day—mark levels, define possible day types, set alerts—so execution feels familiar even when volatility changes. After the bell, he judges himself on rule adherence, not P&L, because process quality is what makes profits repeatable. If he breaks a rule, Chris Lee logs it, tags it, and adds a fix for tomorrow; if he keeps breaking the same rule, he removes the situation from his playbook until he can execute it clean.
Weekly, Chris Lee audits screenshots of entries and exits to see whether the market matched his setup or he forced the trade. He grades each action as A, B, or C and prunes anything that bleeds consistency. He keeps only a few active improvements at once, so change doesn’t become chaos. When fatigue or emotions show up, he cuts size or stops trading rather than “powering through.” Over time, this strict loop—routine, execution, review, refine—turns discipline into an edge that prediction alone can’t touch.
Chris Lee’s bottom line is disarmingly simple: obsess over the craft, not the cash. He hammers home that staring at profits mid-fight is like watching the trophy during a boxing match—you’ll miss the jab that actually wins the round. The work is reading the tape, executing the plan, and letting time do its compounding; the moment you demand a specific result on a deadline, you tilt yourself out of edge and into mistakes. Focus on the process and “let go of wanting it,” and the outcomes show up as a byproduct.
That process, for Chris Lee, is radical focus plus deep reps. He trades one market—EUR/USD—and waits for his A+ setup, sized according to the structure and his lived volatility, because he’s “done this trade thousands of times” and knows exactly where he’s wrong. The edge isn’t that it never loses; it’s that the risk is always sane, the stop is objective, and the context is familiar enough to spot when the pattern is truly there versus when it’s pretending. This is how he gets repeatability and sustainability rather than a random hot streak that dies when conditions shift.
He’s also blunt about the journey: markets will throw wrenches for months or even years, and your career will be defined by how you handle those stretches. Expect drawdowns, expect to hit the wall, and build routines that keep you clear-headed and consistent—right down to non-market habits like gym time that reset focus. And if you “need to make money,” don’t put that pressure on trading yet; keep it as a craft you scale only once it actually works. That combination of patience, structure, and self-management is the real secret sauce in Chris Lee’s playbook.
