ICT Intraday Trading Strategy: The Complete Daily Routine

The ICT framework is one of the most comprehensive retail trading methodologies available — and one of the most difficult to translate into consistent daily execution. The reason is not a lack of concepts. Most serious ICT students understand kill zones, AMD, fair value gaps, and order blocks individually. The problem is synthesis: knowing each concept in isolation but not having a structured process that tells you, at 7:30 AM on a Tuesday morning, exactly what to do and in what order.

This guide is that process. It does not introduce new ICT concepts. It organises everything you already know — daily bias, AMD, kill zones, macro times, FVG entries, risk management — into a daily and weekly routine with specific actions at specific times. The goal is a process you can follow mechanically until the pattern recognition becomes automatic.

Sunday Preparation — The Weekly Foundation (15 Minutes)

The most important session of the week happens before the market opens. Sunday preparation sets the directional context that governs every trade decision for the next five days. Traders who skip this step spend the week reacting. Traders who complete it spend the week executing a pre-made plan.

Sunday prep has one objective: determine the weekly bias and identify the primary draw on liquidity for the week.

Step 1 — Monthly context (2 minutes): Open the monthly chart. Where is current price relative to the monthly range? Is NQ in monthly premium (above the monthly 50% equilibrium) or monthly discount? Mark the monthly range high, EQ, and low. This determines whether the weekly trend is likely bearish (monthly premium) or bullish (monthly discount).

Step 2 — Weekly bias (5 minutes): Open the weekly chart. Mark the weekly range — the high and low of the last completed week. Is price above or below the weekly EQ? Identify the nearest unswept liquidity pool in each direction — the equal highs above and equal lows below. Which pool is the algorithm most likely targeting this week based on the monthly direction? That pool is the weekly draw on liquidity.

Step 3 — Key levels (5 minutes): On the daily chart, mark every significant unmitigated FVG and OB in the correct zone for the weekly bias direction. A bearish weekly bias means marking bearish FVGs and OBs in premium — these are the entry zones for the week. Mark them all, note their 50% CE levels, and identify which ones are BPRs (OB + FVG overlap). These are your limit order candidates for the week.

Step 4 — News calendar (3 minutes): Check the economic calendar for the week. Note any high-impact events (CPI, NFP, FOMC). On news days, the standard kill zone structure is often distorted before the announcement and can produce clean setups after. Do not trade into major announcements without specific understanding of how they affect the session structure.

The Daily Routine — From Alarm to Close

The following timeline covers a standard trading day on NQ/ES, covering both the London and NY sessions. Most traders trade only one of the two — the routine still applies, just limited to the session you choose.

The Pre-Trade Checklist — 8 Questions Before Every Order

Before placing any order, answer these eight questions. A valid trade requires yes to questions 1–6. Questions 7 and 8 determine position size and specific entry mechanics.

Three Daily Scenarios — How to Read the Day

Not every trading day follows the textbook AMD sequence. Recognising which of the three common day types you are in helps you adjust expectations and avoid forcing setups that are not there.

Full Week Walkthrough — NQ Bearish Week

Here is the ICT intraday strategy applied across a full week, showing exactly what the daily routine produces in a real bearish delivery cycle.

Sunday: NQ monthly premium. Weekly range: high 21,740, low 20,860. Weekly EQ: 21,300. Price at Friday close: 21,520 — in weekly premium. Weekly bias: bearish. Draw on liquidity: equal lows at 20,940. Mark bearish FVGs from Thursday's session in premium zone. Primary limit order candidate: bearish FVG 21,480–21,520 with OB overlap. Place limit short at 21,500 (BPR midpoint). Valid until swept or mitigated.

Monday: Pre-market builds range 21,448–21,512. Bias check: still bearish. No valid London setup (range did not sweep cleanly). 9:30 AM: small spike to 21,528 — does not sweep the pre-marked BPR zone. No Venom — opening range too narrow and bias not swept. No trade. Mark 21,528 as a new pre-market high. Review journal entry: "No trade taken — right decision, waited for valid setup."

Tuesday: Pre-market builds 21,466–21,536. 2:33 AM London: small push above Asian high 21,540 — partial sweep but no clean body close. 9:30 AM: Judas spikes to 21,562, sweeping Monday's high at 21,528 and forming a new BSL target. MSS fires at 9:48 AM. 1st Presented FVG: 21,490–21,526. 50% CE: 21,508. Limit placed at 21,508. Fills at 10:09 AM. Stop: 21,568. T1: prior session low 21,448 — 60 pts, 1.0R. Hit 10:52 AM. 50% closed, stop to BE. T2: 21,180 — 328 pts. Held overnight.

Wednesday: T2 runner still open. New NY setup check: remaining 50% position from Tuesday running, stop at BE. London produces no new valid entry. AM opens — T2 at 21,180 hit at 10:22 AM during Silver Bullet window. Close remaining 50%. Total Tuesday-Wednesday trade: T1 profit + T2 profit = strong week regardless of Thursday/Friday.

Thursday/Friday: Weekly target at 21,180 hit. Remaining weekly delivery limited. Trade smaller size if new setups form. No pressing needed — the week's primary target is complete. Focus on journaling and reviewing the Tuesday execution quality.

The Beginner's 4-Week Progression

New ICT traders typically try to apply all concepts simultaneously and become paralysed. The 4-week progression narrows the focus week by week until the full framework is being applied naturally.

Week 1 — Kill zones only: Do not trade. Open charts at London open (2 AM ET) and NY open (9:30 AM ET). Watch for 60 minutes each session. Log what happens: does a sweep occur? Does price reverse? Where do the moves start and end? The goal is not profit — it is pattern recognition. Can you identify a session's high and low forming? Can you see the Judas Swing after the fact? Week 1 succeeds if you can consistently identify the kill zone structure without trading.

Week 2 — Add AMD identification: Still no trading. Now label each session as you watch: which candles represent accumulation? Which is the manipulation sweep? When does distribution begin? Use the 9:30 AM open as your primary study point. Watch NQ open, label the Judas Swing, mark the MSS candle. Can you identify the 1st Presented FVG from the MSS? Paper log entries: "If I had entered here at X, stop at Y, T1 at Z — what would have happened?"

Week 3 — Paper trade one setup: Choose the Silver Bullet only. 10:00–11:00 AM ET, NQ only. Apply the full 8-question checklist before every entry. Paper trade every valid setup. Log results. The goal is not profit — it is checklist discipline. Can you complete all 8 questions in under 2 minutes? Can you identify and not take invalid setups even when they look good?

Week 4 — Live trade with minimum size: Open an account funded with capital you can afford to lose entirely (or use a demo account with realistic sizing). Trade the Silver Bullet only, minimum size (1 MNQ contract or equivalent). Apply the checklist. Apply the T1/T2 rule exactly. Two consecutive full stop-outs = stop for the day, no exceptions. Week 4 succeeds not by profit but by executing the plan without deviation across all trades.

Common Intraday Execution Mistakes

Trading during the dead zone (11:30 AM–1:30 PM). The dead zone is real. Price during this window drifts without institutional backing. Every ICT concept — FVGs, order blocks, kill zone timing — becomes lower probability during this window. The most reliable pattern traders notice is that setups formed in the dead zone look identical to kill zone setups but fail at 2–3x the rate. The fix is binary: do not place new orders between 11:30 AM and 1:30 PM ET.

Changing the bias mid-session based on price action. The daily bias is set before the session. If two consecutive stop-outs occur, the bias may need revision — but that revision happens at the end of the session, not in real time during the session. Changing the bias because the first trade stopped out and re-entering in the opposite direction is revenge trading dressed up as analysis. The bias is set once. It is revised after the session, not during it.

Not having T1 and T2 levels identified before entry. The two targets must be named before the order is placed. "I'll figure out the target after I'm in" is not a plan — it is an emotional decision waiting to happen. The 8-question checklist requires T1 to be named in question 8. If you cannot name T1 before entering, the checklist fails and the trade should not be placed.

Treating every kill zone setup as a weekly-bias trade. A valid Silver Bullet setup on a bearish day is an intraday trade. It does not automatically carry to the weekly draw on liquidity. Most Silver Bullet trades complete at T1 (IRL) within the same session. Holding every entry to the weekly ERL target is position sizing and holding beyond the setup's structural scope. The T2 target should be the daily ERL, not the weekly ERL, unless the setup specifically occurs in the context of a weekly-scale delivery that has not yet completed.

Frequently Asked Questions