WickCheck / Trading school / Learning corner / Advanced
Advanced Level 3 of 3
Full ICT models and the finer concepts behind them: displacement, inversions, breakers, timing and intermarket divergence.
Your path: 3 lessons in order
- The ICT 2022 model explainedSweep, market structure shift with displacement, fair value gap entry: the most taught ICT entry model.
- ICT Silver Bullet strategy explainedThe one-hour ICT setup: what it is, the rules, common variations and what testing shows.
- Power of 3 (AMD) as a trading planAccumulation, manipulation, distribution: using the idea without guessing.
Words to know at this level
31 terms. Open any of them for a picture, how to spot it and a rule you can test.
Market structure shift (MSS)A break of the opposite swing, usually with a strong, fast move, that signals price may now head the other way.DisplacementA fast, strong move made of large candles, often leaving fair value gaps behind.Change in state of delivery (CISD)Price closing back through the opening level of the candles that started the last move, showing delivery has flipped direction.Inversion fair value gap (IFVG)A fair value gap that price closes straight through, after which traders expect it to act as support or resistance from the other side.Balanced price range (BPR)The overlap between a bullish and a bearish fair value gap that formed close together.Liquidity voidA long, one-directional run of candles with little trading on the way, often a cluster of fair value gaps.Breaker blockAn order block that failed: price broke through it after a liquidity sweep, and it is now expected to act from the other side.Mitigation blockLike a breaker, but without the sweep: a failed swing whose last opposite candle is later used as a zone.Inducement (IDM)A small, obvious level near a zone that tempts traders in early, so their stops become the liquidity that is taken before the real move.Draw on liquidity (DOL)The pool of liquidity price is most likely heading toward next, such as old highs, equal lows or an unfilled gap.Order flow (ICT)In ICT usage, the direction in which price keeps respecting bullish or bearish zones, not exchange order-book data.Optimal trade entry (OTE)An entry zone at the 62% to 79% retracement of a swing, with 70.5% as the commonly used midpoint.Silver BulletAn ICT setup traded in a single hour, most often 10:00 to 11:00 New York time: liquidity sweep, then a fair value gap entry.Judas swingA false move early in a session that runs the opposite way to the day's real direction, trapping traders before reversing.Power of 3 (AMD) (PO3 / AMD)The idea that a daily or session candle forms in three phases: accumulation, manipulation, distribution.ICT macrosShort 20 to 30 minute windows around the hour (for example 09:50 to 10:10 New York time) when ICT says the algorithm seeks liquidity.SMT divergence (SMT)When two related markets disagree: one makes a new high (or low) and the other does not.Consequent encroachment (CE)The 50% midpoint of a fair value gap or a long wick.Mean thresholdThe 50% level of an order block's body.BISI and SIBIICT names for bullish (BISI) and bearish (SIBI) fair value gaps.Rejection blockThe wicks at a swing high or low, used as a level when price returns.Propulsion blockA candle that trades into an order block and then pushes price on: a second-step order block.New week and new day opening gap (NWOG / NDOG)The gap between Friday's close and Sunday's open (NWOG), or between one day's close and the next open (NDOG).Central bank dealers range (CBDR)The price range from 14:00 to 20:00 New York time, used by ICT to project the next day's highs and lows.IPDA (Interbank Price Delivery Algorithm)ICT's name for the idea that price is delivered between ranges of the last 20, 40 and 60 trading days.Market maker model (MMXM)ICT's map of a full move: consolidation, a run to one side, a smart money reversal, then delivery to the other side.Midnight openThe price at 00:00 New York time, used by ICT as the daily reference for premium and discount.Risk of ruinThe chance a run of losses wipes out an account or breaks a loss limit.Monte Carlo testReshuffling your backtest trades many times to see the range of possible equity curves and drawdowns.Walk-forward testOptimising on one period, then testing the result on the next unseen period, repeated across history.Sharpe ratioAverage return divided by the variability of returns: return per unit of risk.
← Back toIntermediatePut it to work →Strategy libraryPopular strategies backtested on real data. Open one and run it yourself.
Education only, not financial advice. Definitions vary between teachers; these are ours, written for clarity.