(7:00 AM – 10:00 AM EST): Focuses on the distribution phase, often retracing to a London key level before continuing the trend. 5. Blueprint for an ICT Trade Setup
Timing is as important as price. ICT notes emphasize trading during high-volatility windows: Usually a period of accumulation.
Huddleston’s narrative is not one of overnight success. He claims to have struggled as a retail trader before dedicating years to understanding the subtle, hidden mechanics of the market. His core revelation was that the financial markets are not random battlegrounds of supply and demand, but highly engineered spaces driven by complex algorithms, which he specifically refers to as the .
Understanding market direction requires distinguishing between a continuation of a trend and a reversal.
Switch to a . You are now in "waiting mode." You do nothing until price violently sweeps the liquidity level you identified. inner circle trader - ict forex ict notes.pdf
The Inner Circle Trader (ICT) methodology is a forex trading framework focused on interpreting Institutional Order Flow, utilizing concepts like Liquidity Pools, Fair Value Gaps, and Order Blocks to track market movements. It emphasizes price action and specific, high-volatility time windows, known as "Kill Zones," to identify potential trading opportunities based on institutional activity rather than traditional indicators. Detailed notes on these concepts can be found in various educational resources, such as ict forex ict notes.pdf.
Market structure analysis is the foundation upon which all ICT concepts are built. The methodology distinguishes between two critical structure events:
The lowest down-close candle near a support level before a sharp upward move.
An Order Block is a specific candlestick that represents heavy institutional buying or selling. (7:00 AM – 10:00 AM EST): Focuses on
The space between the low of Candle 1 and the high of Candle 3, where Candle 2 moved aggressively downward.
The impulsive MSS move leaves a three-candle imbalance — a Fair Value Gap. The Silver Bullet strategy requires that this FVG be positioned in the correct Fibonacci zone: below the 50% retracement level for long trades (discount zone) or above the 50% level for short trades (premium zone).
(stopping out retail traders). To rebalance inefficiencies in price delivery.
Don't try to learn FVGs, Order Blocks, and Breakers all at once. Master the Fair Value Gap first. His core revelation was that the financial markets
The foundational premise of ICT is that the financial markets are not random. Instead, a central bank smart money algorithm—often referred to by ICT students as the "Interbank Price Delivery Algorithm" (IPDA)—controls price delivery.
Rather than trying to trade against smart money, ICT teaches traders to recognize institutional footprints and mirror their movements. 2. Core Concepts: The Pillars of ICT
The goal of the ICT notes is to turn theory into a practical strategy. A common framework found in these notes involves: