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This piece features trader and coach Etienne Crête from the Desire To Trade podcast, digging into how he frames trend trading so newer traders can stop guessing and start following a clear process. He’s been teaching practical, rules-based methods for years, and here he lays out a no-nonsense way to spot trends, time entries, and avoid common traps—perfect if you’ve been stuck chasing moves without a plan.
You’ll learn exactly how Etienne defines an uptrend or downtrend, gauges trend strength, and picks the zones where continuation is most likely—using structure, moving averages, or Fibonacci. He explains when to enter on a straightforward pullback versus waiting for price action confirmation, how tools like ADX and RSI can frame expectations, why multi-timeframe alignment matters, and how to use 20/50/200 moving averages without getting whipsawed. He also covers real-world trade management—staying news-aware, taking partial profits, and writing down a repeatable process you can test—so you leave with a trader strategy you can actually apply today.
Etienne Crete Playbook & Strategy: How He Actually Trades
Core Market Framework
This is the big-picture view Etienne uses before any trade: define the trend, pick the right tools, and decide if the market is worth touching. The goal is to avoid randomness and only act when the backdrop genuinely favors continuation.
- Define the primary trend on the higher timeframe first (D1/H4). Only trade long in uptrends and short in downtrends.
- Use a moving average structure for bias: uptrend if price is above the 200 MA, with the 50 above the 200 and the 20 above the 50; downtrend if the inverse is true.
- If the higher timeframe is flat and choppy, stand down or switch to a mean-reversion plan—don’t force a trend strategy in a range.
Qualifying Trend Strength
Before risking a dollar, Etienne confirms the trend has actual “oomph.” Weak trends mean weak follow-through, so he filters them out.
- Treat ADX ≥ 25 as “tradable trend,” ADX 20–25 as “cautious,” and ADX < 20 as “skip or reduce size.”
- In an uptrend, expect RSI pullbacks to hold roughly the 40–50 zone; in a downtrend, expect rallies to stall around 50–60.
- If the price is repeatedly failing to make higher highs (uptrend) or lower lows (downtrend), downgrade the setup and wait for structure to reset.
Entry Setups: Pullback With Confirmation
Entries are simple by design: trade pullbacks into value, then demand a clean price-action cue. No guessing tops or bottoms—ever.
- Buy pullbacks into the 20 or 50 MA in an uptrend; sell pullbacks into the 20 or 50 MA in a downtrend.
- Require a trigger: engulfing candle, strong rejection wick at the MA/structure, or a break-and-close back above/below the level.
- If using Fibonacci on the impulse leg, prefer entries near 38.2%–61.8% that align with an MA or prior structure.
Entry Setups: Structure Bounce & Zones
When price tags are prior to structure, Etienne wants proof that buyers/sellers are still defending that area. The zone matters more than the exact line.
- Map recent swing highs/lows and consolidation bases; trade bounces off these zones in the direction of the trend.
- Do not chase if the price is far from the zone; wait for the next clean retest or skip it.
- If the first touch fails, let the second setup prove itself with stronger confirmation before re-engaging.
Stops That Survive Noise
Stop losses are placed where the setup is logically wrong, not where they “feel safe.” The aim is to avoid getting clipped by normal volatility.
- Put stops beyond the most recent swing and the confirming MA/zone (whichever is farther).
- As a volatility backstop, ensure stop distance ≥ 1× ATR(14) of the entry timeframe.
- If a news spike is imminent and would sit inside your stop range, either widen the stop per rules and reduce size, or stand down.
Risk Per Trade & Position Sizing
Risk is fixed, math-driven, and boring on purpose. Etienne prefers small, consistent risk so the plan survives losing streaks.
- Risk 0.25%–0.75% per trade for new accounts; cap at 1% only after proven consistency.
- Size = (Account × Risk%) ÷ Stop Distance. Recalculate on every trade—never “eyeball” size.
- Hard daily loss cap (e.g., 2R or 2%) and weekly loss cap (e.g., 5R or 5%). Hit a cap, stop tradin, and review.
Multi-Timeframe Alignment
He lines up higher timeframe bias with lower timeframe entries. This keeps trades flowing with the tide while still getting precise timing.
- Bias from D1/H4; execution on H1/M15. Only take signals that agree with the higher timeframe direction.
- If a lower timeframe prints a signal against a higher timeframe, ignore it or treat it as a paper trade for learning.
- When timeframes disagree, wait for alignment or a fresh higher timeframe break that resets the structure.
Trade Management: Partial Profits & Trailing
The edge isn’t only in entries; it’s in how you manage the open risk. Etienne uses predefined exits to avoid emotional flips.
- Take partial profits at +1R or at the next obvious structure level; move stop to breakeven only after partials are secured.
- Trail behind higher lows/lower highs or use a moving average (e.g., 20 MA) as a dynamic trail in strong trends.
- If momentum stalls and ADX cools under your threshold, tighten the trail or flatten at the next structure.
News & Event Filter
News isn’t “tradeable” here; it’s a volatility filter. The purpose is to avoid low-probability chaos that ruins perfectly good setups.
- Do not open new positions within one candle of high-impact releases on your instrument (e.g., CPI, NFP, central bank rate decisions).
- If already in a trade, reduce size or widen stop (with reduced size) ahead of scheduled events—decide which rule you’ll use before the week starts.
- If a spike breaks your structure and fails to reclaim it fast, exit and re-assess rather than hoping it snaps back.
Playbook for Sideways Markets
Trend tools break down into ranges. When the market is choppy, the plan shifts to protect capital and wait for clarity.
- If ADX < 20 and price swings between horizontal support/resistance, avoid trend entries; consider sitting out or switching to a strict range method.
- Only re-enable trend entries after a clean breakout and retest that re-establishes higher timeframe direction.
- Reduce risk by half in transition phases (post-breakout, pre-confirmation).
Session Timing & Trade Windows
Time of day affects follow-through. He focuses on windows with the best liquidity and trend extension.
- For FX/indices, prioritize London open through early NY and the first two hours of NY; reduce expectations late session.
- If your instrument trends best on specific sessions, confine entries to those windows in your rules.
- Avoid revenge trades outside the plan’s time windows—even if a “perfect” candle appears.
Journaling & Review Loop
This is where consistency is built. Etienne keeps the feedback loop short and brutally honest.
- Journal every trade: bias, setup type (MA pullback vs. structure), entry trigger, stop, size, exit reason, R result, and a screenshot.
- Review weekly: win rate by setup type, average R, best time windows, and most common avoidable mistakes.
- Promote rules that show positive expectancy and demote or refine the ones dragging results.
Common Mistakes To Eliminate
Avoiding errors is often the fastest path to a better equity curve. Bake these “don’ts” into your checklist.
- Don’t buy/sell far from structure; wait for pullbacks or retests.
- Don’t drop timeframes in frustration to “find” a trade; stick to planned TFs and signals.
- Don’t widen stops after entry. If the stop is in the wrong place, exit and re-enter on a valid new signal.
Codify A Process, Size Risk Small, Survive Drawdowns
Etienne Crete drills home that trading isn’t about flashy calls—it’s about a repeatable playbook you can run on autopilot. He wants your process written down: market scan, bias, setup, trigger, risk, and exit logic in that order, every time. When the routine is standardized, you stop improvising and your wins and losses come from the plan, not mood swings. That structure is what keeps you from chasing, hesitating, or second-guessing when the chart gets noisy.
Sizing is where Etienne Crete stays relentlessly conservative, because small, fixed risk is what keeps you alive to see the next trend. Keep each trade’s risk tiny relative to equity so a string of losers dents confidence, not the account. Tie your stop to structure or volatility, calculate size off that distance, and never widen a stop after entry. In drawdowns, reduce risk further, cut the frequency of trades, and keep logging every decision—discipline plus tiny risk is how you survive the rough patches and show up fully for the next clean run.
Trade With Trend Strength, Not Predictions: Structure, MAs, Confirmation
Etienne Crete says your job isn’t to predict; it’s to ride proven strength. Start on the higher timeframe and read structure—higher highs and higher lows or the opposite. Use the 20/50/200 moving averages to anchor bias so you’re trading with the tide, not against it. When structure flattens and the MAs braid, Crete dials risk down and waits.
Execution is simple: wait for a pullback into value—an MA zone or recent swing area. Then demand confirmation like an engulfing close, a strong rejection wick, or a break and close back through the level. Place the stop beyond the invalidation point and only then size the position; if confirmation doesn’t print, Etienne Crete skips the trade. No chasing, no guessing—just repeatable signals that piggyback on real momentum.
Volatility-Based Position Sizing Using ATR; Adjust Stops And Targets
Etienne Crete ties risk to market noise, so position size flexes with conditions instead of your emotions. Use ATR to locate a logical stop beyond normal wiggle—e.g., 1.0–1.5× ATR past the invalidation point—then compute size from that distance so the dollar risk stays constant. When volatility expands, widen the stop and shrink the size; when it contracts, tighten the stop and allow a larger size. This keeps each trade’s risk steady while respecting how much the market is likely to move.
Targets flex too. Set realistic profit objectives as ATR multiples (like +1.5× to +3× ATR from entry) or at the next structure that aligns with current volatility. If ATR spikes after entry, consider partial profits sooner and trail behind structure or a moving average to lock gains. If ATR collapses, lower expectations and aim for quicker, smaller wins. Etienne Crete also uses regime filters—skip trades when ATR is abnormally low (dead markets) or abnormally high (whipsaw danger)—and recalculates size each day so the plan always matches the tape.
Diversify By Strategy, Market, And Timeframe To Smooth Equity
Etienne Crete pushes diversification beyond the usual “trade more tickers.” He wants you to spread risk across strategy types (trend, pullback, breakout), across instruments (FX pairs, indices, commodities), and across timeframes (H4 swing with M15 entries, or D1 swing with H1 timing). That way, a cold patch in one lane doesn’t freeze your whole P&L, and your edge isn’t hostage to one market mood.
He also stresses clean separation: each strategy has its own rules, watchlist, and tracking, so performance is traceable. When one strategy underperforms, Etienne Crete dials it down without killing the others, keeping the equity curve steadier. Use uncorrelated pairs or products where possible, avoid stacking highly correlated trades, and stagger entries across sessions to reduce clumping. Over time, this mix-and-match approach smooths volatility, keeps confidence intact, and lets compounding do the heavy lifting.
Prefer Defined Risk Setups; Cap Losses, Avoid Unlimited Tail Exposure
Etienne Crete is adamant that your edge only matters if you survive, and survival starts with defined risk on every single trade. Decide the invalidation level first, set a hard stop beyond structure, and size the position so a loss is fully acceptable before you click buy or sell. No averaging down, no moving stops—those are how small dents become account killers. If a setup can’t be defined cleanly with a logical stop, Etienne Crete passes and waits for the next one.
He also caps exposure at the account level to keep tail events from wrecking the week. Use daily and weekly loss limits, limit correlated positions, and avoid stacking risk into the same theme or session. Ahead of major news, either stand aside or reduce the size so a gap or spike can’t blow past your plan. Defined risk turns randomness into a manageable cost of doing business and keeps you in the game long enough for the strategy to work.
In the end, Etienne Crete’s edge is just disciplined simplicity: read the trend, judge its strength, and only act when price pulls back to value and proves it still wants to go. He defines direction with clean structure—higher highs and higher lows for longs, the reverse for shorts—then sanity-checks momentum before risking a dime. Moving averages frame the path of least resistance, Fibonacci and prior swing zones mark the “fair fight,” and entries come only after price action confirms the defense of that area. If the structure flattens or pullbacks start breaking the trend, he stands down instead of forcing trades.
Risk stays defined and boring. Stops live beyond the invalidation level (not where they “feel safe”), size is calculated from that distance, and losses are treated as a routine cost of doing business. He watches the calendar so scheduled news doesn’t blindside a good setup, takes partial profits when the market pays, and lets a trail ride if momentum stays healthy. Most importantly, the whole routine is written, repeatable, and reviewed—because a trader who journals decisions, measures results, and adjusts rules with evidence won’t need predictions or hero calls. They’ll have a process that compounds.
