ICT Glossary
Every ICT trading term in one place. Definitions link to full guides and dedicated term pages where available.
A 3-candle imbalance where price left an inefficient gap likely to be revisited.
A false push at the London or NY open designed to grab liquidity before the real move.
High-probability session windows (London, NY AM, NY PM, Asia) where ICT setups form.
A wick that runs stops above highs / below lows before reversing.
Internal structure break that precedes a full BOS; earliest reversal signal.
The 62–79% Fib retracement of an impulse leg used as an entry zone.
The last opposing candle before a displacement move; acts as institutional demand/supply.
An order block price closed through and then reclaimed — it flips from support to resistance or vice versa.
The origin of a failed push; price returns so trapped positions can exit near break-even.
Accumulation → Manipulation → Distribution daily/weekly cycle.
A 1-hour ICT window (10–11 AM / 2–3 PM NY) targeting FVGs after a liquidity run.
Correlated assets (NQ vs ES) failing to make matching highs/lows — signals hidden strength/weakness.
- BOS (Break of Structure) (guide)
- A confirmed break of the prior swing high/low signalling trend continuation.
- CHoCH (Change of Character)
- The first opposing swing break that hints trend may be reversing.
- Displacement
- A strong, aggressive expansion candle series that typically leaves imbalance behind.
- Equal Highs / Lows
- Matching swing points sitting as obvious liquidity pools above/below price.
- Fair Value Gap (FVG) (guide)
- A 3-candle imbalance where price left an inefficient gap likely to be revisited.
- Inverse FVG (IFVG) (guide)
- An FVG that failed to hold and now acts as resistance/support in the opposite direction.
- Judas Swing (guide)
- A false push at the London or NY open designed to grab liquidity before the real move.
- Killzone (guide)
- High-probability session windows (London, NY AM, NY PM, Asia) where ICT setups form.
- Liquidity Sweep (guide)
- A wick that runs stops above highs / below lows before reversing.
- MSS (Market Structure Shift) (guide)
- Internal structure break that precedes a full BOS; earliest reversal signal.
- OTE (Optimal Trade Entry) (guide)
- The 62–79% Fib retracement of an impulse leg used as an entry zone.
- Order Block (OB) (guide)
- The last opposing candle before a displacement move; acts as institutional demand/supply.
- Breaker Block (guide)
- An order block price closed through and then reclaimed — it flips from support to resistance or vice versa.
- Mitigation Block (guide)
- The origin of a failed push; price returns so trapped positions can exit near break-even.
- PDH / PDL
- Prior Day High / Prior Day Low — key daily liquidity references.
- Power of Three (PO3) (guide)
- Accumulation → Manipulation → Distribution daily/weekly cycle.
- Silver Bullet (guide)
- A 1-hour ICT window (10–11 AM / 2–3 PM NY) targeting FVGs after a liquidity run.
- SMT Divergence (guide)
- Correlated assets (NQ vs ES) failing to make matching highs/lows — signals hidden strength/weakness.
- Smart Money Concepts (SMC) (guide)
- Framework built around institutional order flow, liquidity and structure.
- Turtle Soup (guide)
- A false breakout reversal setup that fades the sweep of prior highs/lows.
- Unicorn Model (guide)
- Breaker block + overlapping FVG confluence entry model.
Practice the terms in replay
Load any historical NQ session and watch these concepts form live on the chart — killzones, FVGs, order blocks, liquidity and structure drawn automatically.
Open NQ Replay