Trusted ICT trading education · Updated June 2026 · 115 concepts covered
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Reference

ICT Concepts: The Complete List for 2026

Every significant ICT trading concept — defined, categorized by difficulty, and linked to the full guide. Search any term below or filter by category. Updated to include all 2024 and 2025 concepts from Michael Huddleston's mentorship content.

The ICT methodology contains dozens of concepts with specific terminology, abbreviations, and application rules. Use the search box to find any term instantly, or filter by category. Each concept links to a full dedicated guide where available.

Learn ICT in Order — The 9 Foundations

New to ICT? Learn these nine concepts in order before touching anything else. Every advanced concept builds on these foundations.

1
When to watch the market
2
Which direction to trade
3
BOS, CHOCH, MSS
4
BSL, SSL and sweeps
5
The AMD framework
6
Primary entry tool
7
Alternative entry tool
8
Fibonacci precision entry
9
Complete timed strategy
Showing all 115 concepts
Market Structure
Break of Structure
BOS
→ Full guide
When price breaks a previous swing high in a bullish trend, or a previous swing low in a bearish trend — confirming the trend continues. BOS = same-direction structure broken = trend intact. In a bullish trend, every new higher high is a BOS. After a BOS, continue looking for entries in the trend direction — order blocks and FVGs at the next pullback.
Beginner
Change of Character
CHOCH
→ Full guide
When price breaks the opposing structure — a higher low in a bullish trend, or a lower high in a bearish trend. The first warning the trend may be reversing. CHOCH = stop looking for continuation trades in the old direction. Wait for the MSS before entering the new direction. CHOCH alone is not an entry signal.
Beginner
Market Structure Shift
MSS
→ Full guide
The confirmed version of CHOCH — a structural break that was preceded by a liquidity sweep AND confirmed with a displacement candle leaving a Fair Value Gap. The FVG from the MSS displacement is the entry point. MSS = enter the new direction at the FVG. Requires: sweep → displacement → structure break → FVG. Without the sweep, it's just a CHOCH.
Intermediate
Short-Term High / Low
STH / STL
→ Full guide
The most recent local swing point — a high with one lower high on each side, or a low with one higher low. Used for entry-level MSS identification on the 5-minute and 15-minute chart. The granular building block of structure. STH/STL breaks are entry triggers; ITH/ITL breaks are more significant structural events.
Intermediate
Intermediate-Term High / Low
ITH / ITL
→ Full guide
A swing point with an STH/STL on each side. More significant than an STH/STL — required multiple price swings to form. Used for 1-hour and 4-hour structure analysis. The primary CHOCH and MSS reference level. A CHOCH at the ITL level carries significantly more weight than one at the STL level.
Intermediate
Long-Term High / Low
LTH / LTL
→ Full guide
The highest high or lowest low across a significant range — with multiple ITH/ITL on each side. The macro structural extreme and draw on external range liquidity. Used on the daily and weekly chart for identifying institutional targets. LTH/LTL are the ERL destinations — where price is ultimately being delivered.
Intermediate
Equal Highs
EQH
→ Full guide
Two or more swing highs at approximately the same level (within 5–10 pips on major forex, 0.1% on indices). Represents dense buy-side liquidity above. Retail traders see a double top and expect resistance. ICT traders see clustered stops above that the algorithm will target before reversing. EQH sweeps are common Judas Swing targets during London open.
→ Full guide Beginner
Equal Lows
EQL
→ Full guide
Two or more swing lows at approximately the same level. Represents dense sell-side liquidity below. Retail traders see a double bottom and expect support. ICT traders expect a sweep of the EQL before a bullish reversal. The more times a level has been tested, the denser the liquidity pool, and the more reliably it will be swept.
Beginner
Change in State of Delivery
CISD
→ Full guide
A shift in the algorithmic delivery state — identified by a candle closing beyond a short-term high or low after a liquidity sweep. Similar to CHOCH but more specifically refers to the algorithm's delivery state changing rather than the visual structure pattern. Used interchangeably with CHOCH by many ICT traders, though CISD has a slightly more mechanical definition.
Intermediate
Top-Down Analysis
TDA
→ Full guide
The strict multi-timeframe drill-down from the monthly chart to the 1-minute, where each timeframe answers exactly one question — narrative, weekly draw, daily bias, dealing range, setup, entry — and each answer constrains the level below. Analysis flows downward only: a lower timeframe never overrides a higher one, and stack alignment determines position size.
Beginner
Thank God It's Friday
TGIF
→ Full guide
The Friday-specific setup: after a trend week has reached its weekly draw on liquidity, Friday tends to retrace 20-30% of the weekly range as institutions take profit before the weekend. Faded from the weekly extreme after a final push, targeting the pre-projected retracement band — counter-trend by definition: reduced size, no runner, flat by the close.
Intermediate
Liquidity
Buy-Side Liquidity
BSL
→ Full guide
Resting orders above price — stop-losses from short sellers and buy stop orders from breakout traders. Located above swing highs, equal highs, previous session highs, and PDH. The algorithm sweeps BSL before bearish reversals. The BSL sweep is the manipulation phase — price appears to break out bullishly but reverses sharply after taking the stops.
Beginner
Sell-Side Liquidity
SSL
→ Full guide
Resting orders below price — stop-losses from long traders and sell stop orders from breakdown traders. Located below swing lows, equal lows, previous session lows, and PDL. The algorithm sweeps SSL before bullish reversals. The classic ICT long entry: SSL swept, displacement, FVG, MSS, enter long.
Beginner
Liquidity Sweep
→ Full guide
When price moves into a liquidity pool (BSL or SSL), triggers the resting orders, and then reverses. Three simultaneous effects: fills institutional orders at favorable prices, clears the path for the real move, and traps retail traders on the wrong side. The sweep is the manipulation phase — never enter during the sweep, only after the displacement that follows.
Beginner
Internal Range Liquidity
IRL
→ Full guide
Liquidity within the current price range — Fair Value Gaps, Order Blocks, and swing points inside the dealing range. IRL is what price passes through on the way to the final destination. Used as first and second partial profit targets. When price reaches IRL, it may pause or consolidate briefly before continuing to the ERL.
Intermediate
External Range Liquidity
ERL
→ Full guide
Liquidity beyond the current price range — the prior structural high (in a bullish delivery) or low (bearish delivery). The institutional delivery destination. Hold the remainder of your position to ERL. The same entry and stop that gives 2:1 to IRL can give 10:1 or more to ERL — managing to ERL is where the biggest R:R comes from.
Intermediate
Previous Day High / Low
PDH / PDL
→ Full guide
The high and low of the prior trading day. Among the most reliably targeted BSL (PDH) and SSL (PDL) levels in any session. Nearly every retail trader references these levels, making the stop clustering above PDH and below PDL extremely dense and predictable for institutional sweeps.
Beginner
Draw on Liquidity
DOL
→ Full guide
The nearest significant liquidity target in the direction of the daily bias — where the algorithm is delivering price today. Always identify your draw on liquidity before any kill zone opens. The IRL draw is today's partial profit target. The ERL draw is the week's institutional destination. Never trade without knowing your draw.
Beginner
Turtle Soup
→ Full guide
ICT's name for trading against retail breakout traders. When retail traders buy a breakout above a previous high (or sell a breakdown below a previous low), institutions take the opposite side — selling into the BSL sweep or buying into the SSL sweep. The Turtle Soup trade is entering short after a BSL sweep (or long after an SSL sweep), directly against the retail crowd that chased the breakout.
→ Full guide Intermediate
PD Arrays (Price Delivery Zones)
Fair Value Gap
FVG
→ Full guide
A three-candle price imbalance where the wicks of candles 1 and 3 do not overlap, leaving an untraded zone. The primary ICT entry tool. Enter at the 50% (Consequent Encroachment) of the FVG on the retracement. Requires: liquidity sweep before, kill zone active, daily bias aligned, unmitigated FVG. The FVG is the institutional footprint — where smart money left an imbalance that the algorithm will return to fill.
Beginner
Inverse / Inversion Fair Value Gap
IFVG
→ Full guide
An FVG that has been violated — price closed beyond the gap — and has flipped its directional role. A bullish FVG that is violated becomes a bearish resistance zone (IFVG). A bearish FVG that is violated becomes bullish support. IFVGs are powerful reversal reference points because they represent zones where the original institutional intent failed and the opposing side is now in control.
→ Full guide Intermediate
Implied Fair Value Gap
IFVG (alt)
→ Full guide
A hidden imbalance — displacement candles where the wicks overlap (no visible gap) but an imbalance still exists. Identified by measuring the 50% (Consequent Encroachment) of the wick of candle 1 and the 50% of the wick of candle 3 — the zone between those two midpoints is the implied FVG. Used when no standard FVG is visible but strong displacement occurred.
→ Full guide Advanced
Order Block
OB
→ Full guide
The last opposing candle before a significant displacement move. A bullish OB is the last bearish candle before a bullish impulse. A bearish OB is the last bullish candle before a bearish impulse. Entry at the 50% mean threshold of the candle body. Requires: liquidity sweep first, genuine displacement after, unmitigated zone, HTF bias aligned, correct premium/discount location.
Beginner
Breaker Block
→ Full guide
A failed order block — an OB that has been fully violated with a candle body closing beyond the zone. The former OB flips its role: a bullish OB that fails becomes bearish resistance (Breaker Block). Trade the first return to the Breaker level in the opposite direction. Entry: when price retraces to the former OB zone, look for a bearish rejection. Stop above the Breaker zone.
Intermediate
Mitigation Block
→ Full guide
When institutions return to a previous order block to exit (mitigate) a losing position rather than to continue their original direction. The OB retest appears valid but barely reacts before price continues through. Distinction: if HTF structure has shifted against the OB direction, treat the return as a mitigation (exit) rather than a bounce entry — wait for lower-timeframe confirmation before entering.
→ Full guide Intermediate
Balanced Price Range
BPR
→ Full guide
Two overlapping fair value gaps — one bullish and one bearish — at the same price level. The overlap zone represents a high-confluence area where both a bullish and bearish imbalance converge. Entry at the 50% of the overlapping zone. Strongest version of FVG confluence — two distinct institutional imbalances at the same price.
→ Full guide Advanced
Rejection Block
→ Full guide
A candle or sequence with extended wicks in one direction, showing significant price rejection. Represents institutional order flow entering against the wick direction. Similar to an order block but identified by wick structure rather than body structure — the extended wick reveals where institutions aggressively entered against retail breakout momentum.
→ Full guide Advanced
Vacuum Block
→ Full guide
A rapid price movement with minimal price discovery — essentially a very large FVG spanning multiple candles. Price moves so fast that very little trading occurs at intermediate levels, creating a strong retracement magnet. Vacuum blocks often form during major news events and represent the most extreme version of an institutional imbalance.
→ Full guide Advanced
Propulsion Block
→ Full guide
A sequence of candles that accelerate a move — used as a reference zone for re-entry after a retracement. The propulsion block forms when institutional order flow is at its most aggressive, creating a sequence of same-direction candles. Price often retraces back to this zone before the next leg of the move.
→ Full guide Advanced
1st Presented Fair Value Gap
1st FVG
→ Full guide
The very first FVG that forms after the market opens at 9:30 AM EST. A high-probability entry tool — the algorithm often delivers price back to the first FVG of the session before continuing in the true direction. Particularly powerful when the 1st FVG aligns with the daily bias direction and forms during the early NY open kill zone (8:30–10:00 AM).
→ Full guide Advanced
Entry Models
Optimal Trade Entry
OTE
→ Full guide
Fibonacci-based entry model targeting the 62–79% retracement of the displacement swing. Anchor point 1 (100%) at the sweep wick extreme; anchor point 2 (0%) at the displacement peak. The 70.5% mean threshold is the optimal entry — add it manually to TradingView (value: 0.705). Stop beyond 100%. A candle body closing beyond 100% = hard invalidation.
Intermediate
Mean Threshold / Consequent Encroachment
CE
→ Full guide
The 50% midpoint of any ICT price zone — applied to FVGs, order blocks, or the OTE range. The preferred entry point within any zone because it represents the most efficient price within the institutional range. The term "Consequent Encroachment" is ICT's specific label for the 50% level of an FVG.
Beginner
Institutional Order Flow Entry Drill
IOFED
→ Full guide
A specific entry model using a Fair Value Gap within a displacement that follows a liquidity sweep and CISD. The most mechanical ICT entry — strict rules for displacement candle size, FVG requirements, and confirmation. Designed to be executed without discretion once the structural prerequisites are met. Used by prop firm traders who need rule-based entries.
→ Full guide Advanced
ICT Unicorn Model
→ Full guide
A high-probability trade model combining three ICT tools aligned at the same price level: a market structure shift, a fair value gap, and an order block — all confirming the same entry zone. Named "unicorn" because the triple-confluence scenario is rare. When all three align in the correct premium/discount zone during a kill zone — maximum conviction entry.
→ Full guide Advanced
Session & Timing
Kill Zones
KZ
→ Full guide
The four time windows when institutional order flow is most active: Asian (8 PM–12 AM EST — accumulation range), London Open (2–5 AM EST — manipulation phase), New York Open (8:30–11 AM EST — distribution phase, highest probability), London Close (10 AM–12 PM EST — continuation or reversal). Only trade setups that form during kill zones. Outside these windows, probability drops significantly.
Beginner
Silver Bullet Strategy
SB
→ Full guide
Time-based strategy targeting three specific one-hour windows: 3–4 AM EST (London), 10–11 AM EST (NY AM — highest probability), 2–3 PM EST (NY PM — lowest). Within each window: daily bias first → liquidity sweep → displacement → FVG → entry at 50% on retracement. Minimum 1:2 R:R to first target. The 10 AM window is the single best hour to trade in the entire day.
Beginner
Macro Times
→ Full guide
Specific intraday time references when institutional algorithms execute orders: 8:30, 9:30, 10:00, 11:00 AM and 1:30, 2:00, 4:00 PM EST. Price often makes short-term pivots at these exact times. Used for precision entry timing within kill zones — waiting for price to reach your FVG zone near a macro time significantly increases the probability of a clean reaction.
→ Full guide Intermediate
Asian Session / Asian Range
AR
→ Full guide
The overnight accumulation phase (8 PM–12 AM EST). Price consolidates, forming the high and low that London and New York will target. Mark the Asian high as BSL and the Asian low as SSL before London opens. These are the primary sweep targets for the London Judas Swing. On JPY pairs, the Asian session can also produce genuine directional moves.
Intermediate
New York Midnight Open
NYMOP
→ Full guide
The price at exactly 12:00 AM EST — the start of the New York trading day in the ICT model. Acts as a significant reference level throughout the day. Price often uses the NY Midnight Open as support or resistance. Particularly relevant for the Asian session and London open — the distance between price and the NY Midnight Open informs whether price is in a premium or discount state relative to the new day's open.
→ Full guide Beginner
New York Lunch / Dead Zone
→ Full guide
11:30 AM to 1:30 PM EST — the period between the NY open kill zone and the London close. Lowest institutional participation of the day. Volume drops, spreads widen, price chops without direction. Do not trade during this window. Many traders lose back their morning profits here. If you don't have a trade by 11:00 AM, stop and wait for the afternoon.
Beginner
Seek and Destroy Friday
S&D
→ Full guide
ICT's name for the Friday pattern around high-impact news events (especially Non-Farm Payroll). Price makes an extreme false move before or during the news release — sweeping stops in both directions before resolving in the true direction. The manipulation is more extreme than a normal Judas Swing. On NFP Fridays, wait for both BSL and SSL to be swept before considering an entry.
Intermediate
Opening Range
OR
→ Full guide
The price range formed in the first few minutes of a session opening — typically the first 1 to 15 minutes of the NY open (9:30–9:45 AM EST). The opening range high and low often act as reference levels for the session. The 1st Presented FVG is directly related to the opening range — the first FVG after the 9:30 open is a high-probability entry tool.
→ Full guide Intermediate
Power of Three / AMD
Power of Three
PO3
→ Full guide
The master ICT framework: Accumulation (range builds, liquidity pools form), Manipulation (liquidity sweep — the false move that traps retail), Distribution (real move toward institutional target — the only phase worth trading). Fractal — operates on every timeframe simultaneously. On the daily: Asian = Acc, London = Man, NY = Dist. On the weekly: Monday = Acc, Tue/Wed = Man, Thu/Fri = Dist.
Beginner
Judas Swing
→ Full guide
The manipulation phase of the daily PO3, specifically at the London open. Price moves against the daily bias — appearing to be a genuine breakout — sweeps BSL or SSL, then reverses sharply in the true direction with a displacement. Named for the biblical betrayal: it lures traders in before reversing against them. Recognizing the Judas Swing stops you from being trapped by the manipulation.
→ Full guide Beginner
Accumulation, Manipulation, Distribution — the three phases of Power of Three expressed as an acronym. Used interchangeably with PO3. AMD is the structural delivery pattern the algorithm uses on every timeframe, every session, and every week.
→ Full guide Beginner
Higher Timeframe Concepts
Daily Bias
→ Full guide
Your directional conviction for the trading day, derived from top-down HTF analysis. Five inputs: weekly structure, daily structure, draw on liquidity, premium/discount location, session scenario. Established before the kill zone opens — not during or after. Without daily bias, the Silver Bullet and FVG entries are random. With it, they have direction, target, and context.
Beginner
Premium
→ Full guide
The area above the 50% equilibrium of the current dealing range. Optimal zone for bearish setups — the algorithm is statistically likely to deliver price lower from premium. Entering long in premium fights the most likely near-term delivery direction. Bearish bias + price in premium = the setup ICT traders wait for before shorting.
Beginner
Discount
→ Full guide
The area below the 50% equilibrium of the current dealing range. Optimal zone for bullish setups. Entering short in discount fights the institutional delivery. Bullish bias + price in discount = maximum conviction long setup. Always check whether your FVG or OB entry is in the correct premium/discount zone before entering.
Beginner
Dealing Range
DR
→ Full guide
The price range from the most recent significant swing high to swing low on the daily chart. The 50% midpoint is equilibrium. Use the daily dealing range to assess whether current price is in premium (above 50%) or discount (below 50%). For intraday context, use the previous day's high and low as the short-term dealing range.
Intermediate
Interbank Price Delivery Algorithm — the ICT concept that price is delivered by algorithms programmed to target liquidity pools and imbalances on a systematic basis. IPDA is the mechanism behind kill zones (when the algorithm activates), liquidity sweeps (how it fills institutional orders), and FVG retracement (how it rebalances imbalances). Understanding IPDA explains why ICT concepts work rather than just that they work.
→ Full guide Intermediate
Quarterly Shift
QS
→ Full guide
A major directional change that often occurs in January, April, July, and October as institutional money repositions for the new quarter. ICT teaches that these quarterly boundaries frequently produce significant trend reversals. Watching for quarterly shifts helps align swing trades with the largest institutional moves of the year.
→ Full guide Advanced
SMT Divergence
SMT
→ Full guide
When two correlated assets fail to confirm each other's move. If EUR/USD makes a new high but GBP/USD does not — or NQ makes a new high but ES doesn't — the divergence signals institutional manipulation in one pair. The asset that made the false high (the sweep) will typically reverse first. SMT divergence is a powerful confirmation tool before an MSS entry.
→ Full guide Intermediate
Advanced & Newer Concepts
Suspension Block
→ Full guide
A PD Array introduced by Michael Huddleston in September 2025. Forms when price suspends (hovers) above or below a key level before resolving in one direction. Acts as support or resistance for the subsequent move. The suspension phase represents institutional order accumulation before the next delivery leg — the period of minimal price movement that precedes a significant directional move.
→ Full guide New 2025
Hidden Order Block
Hidden OB
→ Full guide
A PD Array not visible on the standard price chart — identified through specific algorithmic price delivery patterns rather than conventional candle analysis. Requires advanced understanding of institutional delivery sequences to locate. The Hidden OB is one of ICT's more nuanced concepts, reflecting how institutional activity isn't always legible in standard candlestick form.
New 2025
Venom Trading Model
→ Full guide
A structured trading model introduced by Michael Huddleston in April 2025, combining Power of Three, liquidity sweeps, and FVGs in a specific format for session-based delivery. One of the most searched ICT concepts of 2025. The Venom Model provides a pre-defined framework for how to sequence the trade setup steps — from bias establishment through entry execution.
→ Full guide New 2025
Redelivered Rebalanced Price Range — a price range that has been redelivered (revisited) and rebalanced (partially or fully filled by price action). A hidden PD Array that forms when price creates an FVG but then moves through and back, partially rebalancing the gap. The RDRB identifies the remaining unbalanced portion of the original imbalance as the active reference level.
New 2024
ICT 2022 Model
→ Full guide
A complete ICT trading model presented in the 2022 mentorship content, combining daily bias, kill zone timing, liquidity sweeps, and FVG entries in a structured step-by-step format. One of ICT's most referenced named models — provides a complete end-to-end trade execution process from pre-session preparation through trade management.
Advanced
Displacement
→ Full guide
An energetic, one-directional price move with large candle bodies (65%+ body-to-range ratio) that breaks structure and leaves Fair Value Gaps behind. Displacement is the visible signature of institutional participation — it separates a real Market Structure Shift from a weak drift through a level, and it is the quality filter for every FVG, CISD, and inversion.
Beginner
Inducement
IDM
→ Full guide
Engineered liquidity placed intentionally between current price and a real point of interest — a minor swing that tempts early entries whose stops then fuel the true move into the deeper array. Price sweeps the inducement first, then delivers to the actual POI. Recognising inducement prevents entering one level too early.
Intermediate
SIBI / BISI
→ Full guide
The formal names of the two FVG types. BISI: Buy-Side Imbalance, Sell-Side Inefficiency — a bullish FVG created by an up-move. SIBI: Sell-Side Imbalance, Buy-Side Inefficiency — a bearish FVG from a down-move. The names describe which side dominated (imbalance) and which side's prices were skipped (inefficiency).
Intermediate
Central Bank Dealers Range
CBDR
→ Full guide
The 2:00 PM – 8:00 PM ET range whose standard deviation projections forecast where the next day's high or low may form. A small, quiet CBDR produces reliable SD projections; the levels act as targets and reversal references for the London and NY sessions that follow.
Advanced
New Week Opening Gap
NWOG
→ Full guide
The gap between Friday's 5 PM ET close and Sunday's 6 PM ET open. The algorithm references NWOGs for weeks — price repeatedly returns to and reacts at these gaps and their midpoints. The most recent several NWOGs (and daily NDOGs) act as standing support/resistance references.
Intermediate
Candle Range Theory
CRT
→ Full guide
The framework treating every candle as a range: the previous candle's high and low are liquidity pools, and the current candle's interaction with them — sweep and reverse, or accept and continue — is a complete AMD cycle at candle scale. CRT reads HTF candles as setups: the sweep of a prior daily or 4H candle's extreme is the trigger.
Advanced
Weekly Profile
→ Full guide
The templates describing how the trading week typically unfolds — which day prints the weekly low or high, when the weekly manipulation occurs, and how the expansion delivers to the weekly draw. Classic profiles include the Tuesday-low bullish expansion and the midweek reversal. The weekly profile is the context layer for daily bias.
Intermediate
Monthly Profile
→ Full guide
The month-scale delivery framework: how monthly ranges form, where the month's manipulation and expansion phases fall, and how monthly opens act as premium/discount references for swing positions. The monthly profile sits above the weekly in the top-down stack.
Advanced
Market Maker Model
MMM
→ Full guide
The complete delivery map: original consolidation, engineered moves away from it (the curve's first side), the Smart Money Reversal at the extreme, and the mirrored return through the same levels (the second side). The Market Maker Buy/Sell Model frames every other concept as one leg of a larger symmetric structure.
Advanced
Point of Interest
POI
→ Full guide
Any pre-identified zone where a trade decision is planned — an order block, FVG, breaker, or liquidity level flagged during analysis. POI is the umbrella term: the top-down drill-down produces a shortlist of POIs, and the LTF sequence at a POI is what converts it into an entry.
Beginner
Sniper Entry
→ Full guide
The precision-entry discipline: one refined limit order at the exact level (the FVG's CE, the OB's mean threshold) instead of market entries or averaging. The sniper approach trades fewer, better-priced positions with structurally tight stops — the execution style the ICT toolkit is built for.
Intermediate
Bread and Butter Setup
B&B
→ Full guide
The recurring daily session template: the overnight/Asian range sets the stage, London or NY manipulates one side, and the session delivers to the opposite liquidity pool. The 'bread and butter' is the repeatable everyday version of the AMD cycle traded as a routine.
Intermediate
PD Array Matrix
PDA
→ Full guide
The ordered toolkit of Premium and Discount arrays — FVGs, order blocks, breakers, mitigation blocks, rejection blocks, void — ranked by reliability and matched to premium (sell arrays) or discount (buy arrays) zones. The matrix answers 'which zone do I trade, and in which half of the range?'
Intermediate
Liquidity
→ Full guide
The resting orders — stop losses and pending entries — clustered at predictable price levels. Liquidity is the fuel of all price delivery: the algorithm moves from pool to pool, sweeping stops to fill institutional orders. Understanding where liquidity rests is the foundation beneath every ICT concept.
Beginner
Market Structure
MS
→ Full guide
The skeleton of price movement: swing highs and lows in sequence, broken (BOS) to continue trends, cracked against trend (CHoCH) to warn, and shifted with displacement (MSS) to confirm reversals. Market structure is the grammar every other ICT concept is written in.
Beginner
Reversal Patterns
→ Full guide
The recurring sequences that mark genuine turning points: the liquidity sweep into displacement, the failed continuation, the SMT-divergent extreme. ICT reversal patterns are defined by the sweep-shift sequence rather than by classical chart shapes.
Intermediate
Repeating Price Patterns
→ Full guide
The fractal principle: the same delivery sequences — accumulation, manipulation, distribution; sweep, retrace, expansion — repeat identically on every timeframe from the monthly to the 1-minute. One pattern vocabulary, every scale.
Beginner
London Open Kill Zone
LOKZ
→ Full guide
The 2:00–5:00 AM ET window where the London session typically prints its Judas Swing — often forming the low or high of the day — before the true daily delivery begins. One of the two primary kill zones alongside New York.
Beginner
Risk Management
→ Full guide
The ICT risk framework: fixed fractional risk per trade, stops at structural invalidation (never at arbitrary distances), partial profit-taking at the first draw, and reduced size on counter-trend or conflicted setups. The layer that makes the win-rate math survivable.
Beginner
30 Pips a Day
→ Full guide
The forex daily-target approach: one qualified London or NY setup per day, closed at a fixed modest objective. The concept is discipline packaging — the setup is standard ICT; the fixed target enforces exit consistency and prevents overtrading.
Intermediate
Stop Hunt
→ Full guide
The colloquial name for a liquidity sweep: price deliberately running through a cluster of stop orders to fill institutional positions before reversing. Every 'stop hunt' is the algorithm collecting the counterparty volume a large order requires.
Beginner
Low Resistance Liquidity Run
LRLR
→ Full guide
A delivery path with few opposing arrays between price and the target pool — old cleared levels, mitigated zones, thin structure. Price moves fast through low resistance. Identifying whether the path to the draw is low or high resistance sets speed and target expectations.
Advanced
High Resistance Liquidity Run
HRLR
→ Full guide
A delivery path dense with unmitigated opposing arrays — fresh order blocks, unfilled FVGs — between price and the target. High-resistance runs are slow, choppy, and prone to deep retracements at each array. The opposite of the clean LRLR path.
Advanced
Liquidity Void
→ Full guide
A large one-directional price run leaving a wide band of barely-traded prices — effectively an oversized inefficiency that price tends to revisit and fill. The void is the FVG's bigger sibling: same rebalancing logic, larger scale.
Intermediate
True Day Open
TDO
→ Full guide
The 00:00 ET (midnight New York) opening price — ICT's true start of the trading day. Price above the TDO is in intraday premium (shorts preferred on bearish days); below is discount. The anchor for the daily manipulation-and-delivery read.
Intermediate
True Week Open
TWO
→ Full guide
The Monday 00:00 ET opening price — the weekly equivalent of the True Day Open. The week's premium/discount reference: bullish weeks tend to manipulate below it early before expanding above it. Used with the weekly profile templates.
Intermediate
Red Folder News
→ Full guide
High-impact scheduled economic releases (NFP, FOMC, CPI) — marked with red folders on economic calendars. Red-folder windows override normal delivery patterns with fresh repricing flow; most ICT setups, including TGIF, are disqualified when one lands in the session.
Beginner
A round-number price level (1.08000, 21,000) where psychological stop and entry clusters rest independent of structure. When a structural pool sits near a handle, the two clusters merge into one oversized target — common on forex majors.
Beginner
Body Close
→ Full guide
The closing price of a candle's body — ICT's confirmation standard. Wicks test levels; body closes deliver verdicts. Sweeps, CISDs, inversions, and structure breaks are all judged by where the body closes, never by where a wick reached.
Beginner
Smart Money Concepts
SMC
→ Full guide
The community-derived methodology built from ICT's public teachings — same core ideas (order blocks, liquidity, structure) with simplified vocabulary and some altered definitions. Understanding where SMC and original ICT diverge prevents mixing incompatible rule sets.
Beginner
Standard Deviation Projections
STDV
→ Full guide
Range extensions projected in multiples (1x, 2x, 4x) of a reference range — classically the CBDR or Asian Range — used to forecast where the next session's extreme may form. The SD levels act as targets and reversal references, strongest when they confluence with structural pools.
Advanced
Smart Money Reversal
SMR
→ Full guide
The turning point of the Market Maker Model: the sequence at the curve's extreme — final pool swept, displacement against the prior trend — where the model's first side ends and the mirrored return begins. The SMR is the MMM's name for the sweep-and-shift reversal.
Advanced
Terminus
→ Full guide
The completion point of a Market Maker Model — the original consolidation or opposing liquidity pool where the delivery's second side terminates. Reaching the terminus closes the model; the runner's final target in MMM-framed trades.
Advanced
Consolidation
→ Full guide
Sideways price containment within a defined range — the accumulation phase where institutional positions are built and both sides of the book fill. Consolidations are the origin of expansions: the longer the containment, the larger the engineered liquidity on both sides.
Beginner
Expansion
→ Full guide
The directional delivery phase: price leaving a consolidation with displacement and running toward the draw. Expansion follows manipulation in the AMD sequence and is the phase where positions entered at the retrace are paid.
Beginner
Prop Firm Trading
→ Full guide
Running the ICT methodology inside funded-evaluation constraints: risk per trade derived from the daily drawdown (0.25-0.5%), a personal hard stop far inside the firm's limit, a tested kill-zone rotation (Silver Bullet, 2022 Model), and rule-mapping for trailing drawdown, news restrictions, and time boundaries. The evaluation is a risk-management test with a trading component.
Intermediate
Quarterly Theory
QT
→ Full guide
The fractal time framework dividing every cycle — year, month, week, day, session, 90-minute blocks — into four quarters running one AMDX script: Q1 accumulates, Q2 manipulates (the Judas), Q3 distributes, Q4 continues or reverses. Each cycle's True Open (its Q2 start price) anchors premium and discount at that scale. Developed by Daye, formalising ICT's time doctrine.
Advanced
GBP/USD (Cable)
→ Full guide
The pound-dollar pair through the ICT lens: London’s home-currency session owns it (81% of Asian ranges swept in the kill zone), its Judas runs 25-45 pips deep with verdicts by body close rather than distance, round-number handles merge with structural pools, and its correlation with EUR/USD supplies forex’s classic SMT divergence pairing.
Intermediate
Position Sizing
→ Full guide
The two-step formula run on every ICT trade: risk amount = account × risk percent, then size = risk amount ÷ stop distance — with the stop set by structure before size is considered. Fixed risk, variable size: the 5-pip SMT stop gets a large position, the 45-pip Judas stop a small one, and both lose identical dollars if wrong. Round down; never shrink the stop to fit the size.
Beginner
Swing Point Hierarchy
STH/ITH/LTH
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ICT’s recursive classification of every high and low: a three-candle swing is a Short-Term point, a Short-Term point flanked by lower ones promotes to Intermediate-Term, and an Intermediate point flanked by lower ones to Long-Term. Tier decides everything: the weight of a break (STH routine, ITH = true MSS, LTH = regime change), the size of the liquidity pool, and where the stop belongs — beyond the governing swing.
Intermediate
Trading Psychology
→ Full guide
The methodology’s specific mental game: every ICT concept pairs with an engineered emotional trap — the Judas triggers FOMO, the sweep triggers stop panic, accumulation exhausts patience. The counter-doctrine is structural: decisions made calm at pre-session, sessions reduced to checklist-matching, no-trade days graded as wins, trade count watched as the earliest tilt alarm, and nothing renegotiated from inside a position.
Beginner
Entry Models (Compared)
→ Full guide
The five named ICT models — 2022, Silver Bullet, Unicorn, Venom, Bread & Butter — run one shared skeleton (sweep → shift → array → draw) plus exactly one constraint each: a time box, a confluence stack, a session anchor, or a daily template. The comparison covers all nine axes, the decision framework for choosing a first model, and the model-hopping failure mode.
Intermediate
Reaper IFVG
→ Full guide
One of the newest named PD arrays (2026): an inversion FVG forming immediately before a breaker block in the same displacement leg — the old trend’s gap closed through and inverted, its order block failed into a breaker, one move producing both. The stacked zone (inverted gap in front, breaker behind) marks reversals with double backing; entry at the IFVG’s CE, stop beyond the stack’s far side.
Advanced
CISD vs MSS
→ Full guide
The two reversal confirmations, priced against each other: the CISD flips at candle level — earliest signal, best entry, tightest stop, most false starts — while the MSS waits for the governing swing to break with displacement — later, filtered, right more often. The comparison covers the speed-reliability frontier, the which-when framework (let the location choose the trigger), and the chain trade that uses both with one stop.
Intermediate
New Day Opening Gap
NDOG
→ Full guide
The gap the calendar manufactures every trading day: 5:00 PM ET close to 6:00 PM ET reopen, a strip of never-traded prices with edges and a consequent encroachment that the algorithm references for days. Tracked as a rolling recent-five map — draw candidate, reaction level, and bias referee.
Intermediate
Opening Range Gap
ORG
→ Full guide
The gap only RTH charts can see: yesterday’s 4:15 PM settlement to today’s 9:30 AM open, subdivided into quadrants around its CE. Q1 classifies the day (fill or gap-and-go), the CE commits, settlement decides the afternoon — the framework that governs the first hours of every regular session.
Intermediate
One Shot One Kill
OSOK
→ Full guide
The weekly-range sniper model: one pre-planned trade per week. Bias from the weekly draw, Monday builds the trap, a Tuesday/Wednesday killzone hosts the single entry via the standard sequence, and the position holds to the weekly objective. A week with no setup is a week won by not firing.
Advanced
London Close
LC
→ Full guide
The closing killzone: 10:00–12:00 ET around the 11:00 fix, where London squares its books and the day's counter-trend retracement is scheduled. One gate — delivered into the draw, or still owing? — decides whether the window offers the classic LC reversal or a continuation pullback.
Intermediate
Scalping Strategy
1M
→ Full guide
The method at minimum scale: the sweep–displacement–FVG sequence on the 1-minute chart, inside killzone macro windows, in the 15M delivery's direction. The timeframe stack, the cost math, the ~90 minutes of valid scalping per day — and why the 1M chart never votes on direction.
Advanced
Seasonal Tendencies
SZN
→ Full guide
The calendar bias layer above every timeframe: the market's average year — September weakness, the October bear killer, the year-end rally, gold's summer bottom — used to pick the campaign side and meter size, never to place an entry. And when a tendency cleanly fails, the calendar just sent its loudest signal.
Intermediate
Nasdaq (NQ)
NQ
→ Full guide
The method's flagship instrument: $20-a-point E-mini Nasdaq-100 futures, where the framework is most legible — the overnight builds liquidity, the 9:30 open spends it, and the killzones deliver it to the tick. Contract mechanics, the NQ-vs-ES decision, the full session map, and the level ecology, in one file.
Intermediate
ICT 2024 Mentorship
2024
→ Full guide
The free 2024 lecture series in one place: five lectures, one clock-first model. Named windows in the New York day, a single raid–displacement–array sequence inside each, run on a 15M/5M/1M stack — plus the shared toolkit, the study order, and why an empty window is the model working.
Advanced
ICT 2024 Lecture 1
L1
→ Full guide
The foundation lecture: the post-08:30 New York model. Five elements, three charts, one sequence — map the pools by 08:29, let price raid one, demand 5M displacement and a structure close, enter at the array, stop beyond the raid wick.
Intermediate
ICT 2024 Lecture 2
L2
→ Full guide
The 07:00 pre-market hunt and the inversion FVG entry: the push reaches a pool and leaves a gap, the reversal closes through structure and that gap in one move, and the retest of the inverted zone frames the whole morning.
Intermediate
ICT 2024 Lecture 3
L3
→ Full guide
NDOG, NWOG and the PM session: the opening gaps as standing furniture the algorithm consults for days, a rolling ladder of levels with their CE midpoints, and the two afternoon inheritances — retrace to a gap, or pay the morning’s unpaid draw.
Intermediate
ICT 2024 Lecture 4
L4
→ Full guide
The 08:30 release and the 09:30 open as scheduled liquidity events: the standdown through the repricing, the three-way read that separates a reversal from a repricing, and the open’s verdict on the morning.
Intermediate
ICT 2024 Lecture 5
L5
→ Full guide
The Asian session and the NDOG: how the overnight builds the pools London and New York spend, the scaling changes for thin tape, and the three-observation checklist that hands you a finished morning map for free.
Intermediate
Daily Profiles
DP
→ Full guide
Where the day’s high and low actually form: six intraday templates produced by one variable — when the day’s false move happens. Two questions at 09:30 classify the session, and the answer sets your objectives and patience rather than your entry.
Intermediate
→ Full guide

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the most important ICT concepts to learn first?
The nine foundational concepts in order: Kill Zones → Daily Bias → Market Structure (BOS/CHOCH/MSS) → Liquidity (BSL/SSL/sweeps) → Power of Three (AMD) → Fair Value Gap → Order Block → Optimal Trade Entry (OTE) → Silver Bullet. Learn and practice each one before moving to the next. Every advanced concept builds directly on these nine foundations.
What does ICT stand for in trading?
ICT stands for Inner Circle Trader — the trading methodology developed by Michael J. Huddleston. The methodology teaches traders to identify and trade with institutional order flow rather than against it, using kill zone timing, liquidity pool targeting, and price delivery concepts like FVGs and order blocks.
What is a PD Array in ICT?
PD Array stands for Premium/Discount Array — the collective name for all ICT price levels representing institutional entry and delivery zones. PD Arrays include: Fair Value Gaps (FVG), Order Blocks (OB), Breaker Blocks, Mitigation Blocks, Balanced Price Range (BPR), Inversion FVG (IFVG), Rejection Blocks, Propulsion Blocks, Vacuum Blocks, and Reclaimed FVGs. These are the specific price zones the algorithm uses as reference points.
What is the difference between BOS and CHOCH in ICT?
A Break of Structure (BOS) occurs when price breaks in the same direction as the trend — a new higher high in a bullish trend, or a new lower low in a bearish trend. BOS confirms the trend is continuing. A Change of Character (CHOCH) occurs when price breaks the opposing structure — a higher low in a bullish trend, or a lower high in a bearish trend. CHOCH is the first warning the trend may be reversing. BOS = continuation. CHOCH = first reversal warning. Neither is a trade entry signal by itself — the MSS (which requires a liquidity sweep + CHOCH + displacement) is the entry signal.
Is ICT trading profitable?
ICT trading can be profitable when applied with discipline and a complete framework — not just individual concepts in isolation. The 2022 Model specifically provides a structured daily process (bias, AMD, kill zone, PD array entry) that reduces random entry and improves consistency. Like any trading methodology, profitability depends primarily on: disciplined risk management (1–2% max per trade), patience to wait for valid setups within kill zones, and avoiding the common mistake of trading ICT concepts out of context. Many traders who report inconsistent results are applying ICT patterns without the full framework — entering FVGs and order blocks without confirming bias, AMD phase, and kill zone timing first.

This hub is arranged in the order we recommend learning: start with Kill Zones and AMD (the session framework), then Fair Value Gap and Order Block (the entry tools), then liquidity concepts (BSL/SSL, sweeps, equal highs/lows), then advanced models. Most traders learn in the reverse order — entries first, context second. It works better the other way around. If you know when to trade and why price moves before you know where to enter, every individual entry concept clicks immediately rather than feeling like an isolated pattern.

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ICT Optimal Trade Entry (OTE)