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Smartmoneyconcept

Mastering ICT Concepts: The Ultimate Trading Strategy GuideA lot of people are drawn to ICT trading concepts because they offer a deep understanding of how the markets truly work. With this guide, I want to explain the most popular ICT strategies in a simple and detailed way to help traders navigate these concepts effectively. The Inner Circle Trader (ICT) methodology offers a suite of trading strategies that delve into market mechanics, focusing on institutional behaviors and liquidity dynamics. This guide explores five prominent ICT strategies: Fair Value Gaps (FVG), Power of Three (PO3), Inversion Fair Value Gaps (IFVG) with Liquidity Sweeps, Breaker Blocks, and the Silver Bullet Strategy. Each section provides an in-depth explanation, trading approach, key considerations, and designated spots for illustrative images. 🔍 1. Fair Value Gaps (FVG) A Fair Value Gap (FVG) represents a price imbalance created when the market moves rapidly in one direction, leaving a gap between consecutive candlesticks. This gap signals inefficient pricing, which the market tends to revisit later to balance liquidity. Understanding FVGs is crucial as they reveal hidden institutional footprints. How to Trade: Identification: Spot an FVG when there is a three-candlestick formation where the second candle creates a gap between the high of the first candle and the low of the third candle. Retracement Expectation: The market typically seeks to fill these gaps as it rebalances price inefficiencies. Entry Strategy: Wait for price to return to the gap and enter in the direction of the initial impulse. Confirm the trade with market structure shifts or other confluence factors. Targets: Use previous highs/lows, liquidity zones, or equilibrium levels (50% of the FVG) as potential targets. Key Considerations: Timeframes: Higher timeframes like 1-hour, 4-hour, and daily yield more reliable signals. Volume Confirmation: High volume during the initial impulse strengthens the likelihood of a retracement. Partial Fills: The market may not always fill the entire gap. ⚡ 2. Power of Three (PO3) The Power of Three (PO3) describes how institutional players manipulate price action through three key phases: Accumulation, Manipulation, and Distribution. This strategy highlights how smart money engineers liquidity and misleads retail traders before delivering the intended price move. How to Trade: Accumulation Phase: Identify consolidation zones where price ranges sideways, often before major sessions (London or New York). Manipulation Phase: Wait for false breakouts or stop hunts where price temporarily breaks out from the range before reversing. Distribution Phase: Enter the trade in the opposite direction of the manipulation, targeting the liquidity created during the false move. Entry Confirmation: Market structure shifts after the manipulation phase. Bullish or bearish order blocks aligning with the intended direction. Fair Value Gaps in the distribution phase. Key Considerations: Patience: This strategy often requires waiting several hours for all three phases to complete. Liquidity Zones: Look for equal highs or lows near the range to anticipate the manipulation move. Time Windows: PO3 often plays out during high-volume sessions. 🔄 3. Inversion Fair Value Gaps (IFVG) with Liquidity Sweeps Inversion Fair Value Gaps (IFVG) are advanced price inefficiencies that act as dynamic support or resistance zones. When price fills a traditional FVG, that zone can later serve as an IFVG—particularly when aligned with liquidity sweeps. How to Trade: Identify Original FVG: Locate an FVG that has already been filled. Liquidity Sweep Trigger: Wait for price to sweep liquidity above or below a key level. Inversion Zone: When price returns to the previous FVG, treat it as a new support or resistance zone. Entry Confirmation: Watch for market structure shifts or rejection candles at the IFVG. Key Considerations: Confluence Zones: Combine IFVG with liquidity sweeps and order blocks. Patience: Wait for price action confirmation before entering. Stop Placement: Place stops below the IFVG in bullish setups or above in bearish setups. 🧱 4. Breaker Blocks Breaker Blocks are zones where previous support or resistance levels are invalidated by a liquidity sweep, only to become reversal zones. They represent areas where smart money accumulates orders before delivering price in the opposite direction. How to Trade: Identify Liquidity Sweeps: Spot areas where price breaks above or below a key high/low before reversing. Breaker Formation: The candle that invalidates the liquidity sweep forms the Breaker Block. Entry Strategy: Wait for price to retrace into the Breaker Block and confirm the trade with rejection candles or market structure shifts. Targets: Previous liquidity pools or opposing order blocks. Key Considerations: Higher Timeframes: Use 1-hour or 4-hour charts for the best results. Volume Analysis: High volume during the breaker formation strengthens the signal. Risk Management: Place stops beyond the breaker boundary. 🎯 5. Silver Bullet Strategy The Silver Bullet Strategy is a time-based model designed to capitalize on institutional price delivery patterns during specific one-hour windows. This strategy focuses on liquidity sweeps and Fair Value Gaps within these timeframes. How to Trade: Time Windows: Target these key one-hour sessions: London Open: 03:00 AM – 04:00 AM EST New York AM Session: 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM EST New York PM Session: 02:00 PM – 03:00 PM EST Identify Liquidity Zones: Look for equal highs/lows or session highs/lows. Execute Trades: Enter trades when price sweeps liquidity and rejects from an FVG or Breaker Block within the Silver Bullet window. Targets: Use opposing liquidity pools or session extremes. Key Considerations: Strict Timing: Only trade within the designated time windows. Confluence Factors: Combine with market structure shifts and order blocks. Risk Management: Place stops beyond liquidity sweep wicks. Conclusion Mastering ICT trading strategies requires patience, precision, and continuous practice. These five strategies—FVG, PO3, IFVG with Liquidity Sweeps, Breaker Blocks, and the Silver Bullet—provide a comprehensive framework to align with institutional price delivery. Use confluence factors and practice in demo environments before applying these methods in live markets. Happy Trading! Note: This guide is for educational purposes only and not financial advice. __________________________________________ Thanks for your support! If you found this guide helpful or learned something new, drop a like 👍 and leave a comment, I’d love to hear your thoughts! 🚀
Education
by TehThomas
6
Advanced Trend Analysis in SMC Smart Money Concept Trading Forex In this article, we will discuss how to execute advanced market trend analysis with smart money concept trading. I will teach you how to identify long-term, mid-term and minor trend and how to apply trend analysis in making predictions and trading. First, let me briefly remind you the basic rules of a trend analysis in SMC trading. We say that the market is bullish if there are at least 2 bullish impulses with 2 higher highs and a retracement leg between them with a higher low. The market is bearish if there are at least 2 bearish impulses with 2 lower lows and a retracement leg between them with a lower high. If the conditions for a bullish or a bearish trend are not met, we say that the market is consolidating . Bullish violation of the last higher high in a bullish trend is called a Break of Structure BoS. Bearish violation of the last higher low in a bullish trend is called a Change of Character CHoCH. Bearish violation of the last lower low in a bearish trend is called a Break of Structure BoS. Bullish violation of the last lower high in a bearish trend is called a Change of Character CHoCH. BoS signifies a trend continuation. CHoCH signifies a trend violation. In order to apply these rules on a price chart, we perceive the market movements as the set of impulse and retracement legs. However, with such a method of analysis a big question arises: what is exactly is the impulse leg, how strong and long it should be. Which price fluctuations can be a part of the impulse and which should be excluded. Look at the example above. A price action on AUDCAD can be perceived as one single bullish impulse or a combination of 3 bullish impulses and retracements and a combination of multiple impulses and retracements. Which way of analysis is correct? The fact is that the price action analysis on each chart is correct . The only difference between them is the perspective . From a long-term perspective , the entire price movement on the chart is a one single impulse. From a mid-term perspective , it is the market that is trading in a bullish trend in 3 bullish impulses. From a short-term perspective , it is the market that is trading in a bullish trend and started to consolidate and trade in sideways for some time, resuming the growth then. With advanced SMC trend analysis, you should learn to perceive a price chart not only as a combination of impulse and retracement legs, but also as a combination of long-term, mid-term and short-term trends and movements. Depending on your trading style, such a reasoning can be applied on any time frame. Look at AUDJPY pair on an hourly time frame. From a long-term perspective, the pair is trading in a bearish trend. Studying in details the last bullish impulse, we can perceive it as a minor bullish trend with its confirmed violation after a Change of Character. Let's discuss another example. EURNZD is trading in a clear long-term bullish trend on a daily. Zooming in the chart, we can also analyze the last bullish impulse in a long-term bullish trend as a mid-term bullish trend. At the same time, if we analyze the recent minor movements, we can spot a confirmed minor bearish trade on the pair. Why do we need such an in-depth market trend analysis? Always remember that a global trend is always born from a minor trend. Minor trend analysis will help you to identify local reversal, trend following signals much earlier. The fact that EURNZD started to trade in a minor bearish trend, being globally bullish, can be an important warning sign for us. You can see that after some time the pair started to fall rapidly. A minor bearish trend continued, a mid-term bullish trend was violated and a correction started in a global bullish trend. Your ability to correctly analyze different market perspectives is essential for making accurate predictions. The trend analysis rules and events that we discussed are more than enough for successful trading any time frame and any market. Study trend analysis, learn to identify global, mid-term and minor trend and good luck in your trading. ❤️Please, support my work with like, thank you!❤️
Education
by VasilyTrader
6
Increase the difficulty level on yourself. Often, traders like to make things a lot harder for themselves than they need to. Everyone is seeking a silver bullet, truth is "less is actually more". Dow Theory is actually the Grandfather of technical analysis. If you have never heard of this, or even if you have and brushed over it, you are missing out. Some people will say things like "it's over 100 years old it can't work in today's market" Yet, humans have changed very little in those last 100+ years. Sentiment driven by fear and greed is where the secret is hidden. Let me explain by saying Dow theory has 6 "rules" (tenets). 1) Market Moves in Trends Markets have three types of movements: primary trends (long-term trends that last for years), secondary trends (medium-term trends that retrace parts of the primary trend), and minor trends (short-term trends that are typically noise). You will notice I used the weekly for the larger and the daily for the second. When I journal my trade setups; I simply use a traffic light system red lines size 4 for primary, then orange line 3 for secondary and green size 2 for the trigger phase. In addition to that, I mark the trends with 3 boxes and arrows pointing up down or sideways. The second rule; Each trend has three phases: Accumulation Phase. In this phase, informed investors start buying or selling, counter to the general market opinion. Public Participation Phase, more investors notice the trend after it is already underway, and media coverage expands, driving the trend further. (Wyckoff called this a mark-up or mark-down phase) Excess Phase (or Distribution): At this point, speculation is rampant and detached from actual value, leading informed investors to prepare an exit. This is where a lot of Wyckoff, Elliott and other tools such as Smart money concepts all overlap. Then, the 3rd rule. The market reflects all available information, such as economic conditions and sentiment. Therefore, movement in the market averages considers and reflects this information. (in simple terms, discount the news). 4) For a trend to be validated, different market averages must confirm each other. For example, the trend in the Dow Jones Industrial Average should be confirmed by the Dow Jones Transportation Average. If one index moves to a new high or low, the other should follow suit to confirm the trend. (I like this one less, but in some instances it can make the next move very obvious.) Rule 5) The trend is your friend, until the end. Until you see a clear change in the direction, a market shift. The trend is still in play. This one, I feel most just can't comprehend. As you can see below, I have marked up the extreme high and low, I know both my primary and secondary trends are down. So now, I can use my EW bias or start looking for a Wyckoff schematic. (if I believe we are about to see a shift in the trend.) You can start to look for information for areas of interest, look into volume and volume profiles. The last rule. Confirming the trend volume expanding in the direction of the primary trend. For an uptrend, volume should increase as prices rise and decrease during corrections. In a downtrend, volume should increase as prices fall. In this example, the Fibonacci levels line up, the volume is slowing, the EW count makes some sense and zoomed out you can see a shift. Now, with all of this info - we could look at "areas of interest" We are in a demand zone on the higher time frame. At this stage, there is no trade entry, but if we were to view a change in the character we could simply take a trade as a pullback on the primary trend down. Something like this; You see, all you are doing is following the trend and taking a look at other tools, auction areas, fib extensions, an EW bias, and hints of a Wyckoff schematic. But under the hood, the 3 trend principle is a simple-to-follow process. Disclaimer This idea does not constitute as financial advice. It is for educational purposes only, our principle trader has over 20 years' experience in stocks, ETF's, and Forex. Hence each trade setup might have different hold times, entry or exit conditions, and will vary from the post/idea shared here. You can use the information from this post to make your own trading plan for the instrument discussed. Trading carries a risk; a high percentage of retail traders lose money. Please keep this in mind when entering any trade. Stay safe.
Education
by Mayfair_Ventures
11
Smart Money Concept and How To Use It in TradingSmart Money Concept and How To Use It in Trading In the world of forex trading, understanding the movements and strategies of the market's most influential players like banks and hedge funds—termed "smart money"—can provide retail traders with a significant advantage. This FXOpen article offers a deep dive into the Smart Money Concept, discussing how institutional investors influence market trends and how retail traders can align their strategies with these market movers for potentially better outcomes. Understanding the Smart Money Concept The Smart Money Concept (SMC) centres on the principle that the movements of large institutional investors in financial markets can offer valuable clues to retail traders about future market trends. These institutional investors, often referred to as “smart money,” include banks, hedge funds, and investment firms, wielding significant capital power to influence market directions. The core of SMC lies in the belief that by observing and understanding the trading behaviours and patterns of these entities, retail traders can align their trading strategies to potentially tap into more favourable results. In essence, SMC is not merely about following the “money” but understanding the strategic placements and movements of these large volumes of capital. Institutional investors typically conduct extensive research and possess a deep understanding of the market dynamics before making substantial trades. Their actions, therefore, are often indicative of a broader market sentiment or an impending significant market move. By deciphering these signals, retail traders can gain insights into market trends before they become obvious to the wider market. Understanding SMC requires a shift in perspective from focusing solely on technical indicators and price action to considering the market's psychological and strategic elements. For retail traders, leveraging the Smart Money Concept means navigating the market with a more informed approach, using the trails left by institutional investors as a path to smarter trading decisions. Ideas in Smart Money Concept The Smart Money Concept introduces several foundational ideas that provide traders with a framework to interpret market movements through the lens of institutional activities. Order Blocks Represent areas where institutional investors have placed significant orders, usually in the form of a range. These blocks often precede a strong market move in the direction of the block, serving as a signpost for areas of interest to “smart money.” When the price returns back to this zone, it’ll often reverse (similar to an area of support or resistance). Breaker Blocks These are essentially failed order blocks. When an order block fails to hold the price, it breaks through, potentially indicating that the “smart money” direction has changed. When the price breaks above or below the order block, it can then act as a barrier for prices in the future (similar to the way an area of support can become resistance and vice versa). Breaks of Structure (BOS) A BOS occurs when the price surpasses a significant high or low, indicating a potential change in market trend. It signifies the end of one market phase and the beginning of another, offering clues about “smart money”’s influence on market direction. Recognising BOS can be crucial for determining trend direction. Change of Character (ChoCH) This concept refers to a notable alteration in the market's behaviour, often seen through an abrupt increase in volatility or a shift in price direction. A ChoCH usually follows a BOS, confirming a potential trend reversal and suggesting a new phase of market sentiment driven by institutional activities. Fair Value Gaps (Imbalances) These gaps represent areas on the chart where price moves quickly through, leaving a gap that indicates an imbalance between supply and demand. Institutional traders often target these gaps for potential returns, so prices tend to move back to fill them over time. Liquidity In the context of SMC, liquidity refers to the areas where “smart money” is likely to execute large orders due to the availability of opposite market orders. These are areas where stop losses and stop orders (to capture a breakout) are likely resting, usually around key highs or lows, trendlines, and equal highs/lows. The concept states that “smart money” is likely to push the price into these areas to execute large orders before the true market direction unfolds, as in a bull or bear trap. Accumulations/Distributions These phases indicate the period during which “smart money” is either accumulating (buying) or distributing (selling) their positions. Rooted in the Wyckoff theory, an accumulation occurs at lower price levels, often before a significant uptrend, while distribution takes place at higher price levels, typically before a downtrend. Identifying these phases can provide insights into the future market direction favoured by institutional investors. Steps to Trade Smart Money Concepts in Forex Trading SMC requires a nuanced understanding of market dynamics and the ability to interpret signs of institutional involvement. Below, we’ll take an overview of the approach. Traders can apply these steps to real-time forex charts on FXOpen’s free TickTrader platform. Determining the Trend Using Breaks of Structure (BOS)/Change of Character (ChoCH) Traders can identify the market trend by observing BOS and ChoCH. A trend is typically recognised by a series of higher highs/higher lows (uptrend) and lower lows/lower highs (downtrend). Trend continuation is seen when there's a clear BOS, where the price surpasses a significant high or low, signalling a shift in market direction. Following this, a ChoCH, an abrupt change in market behaviour, may confirm the new trend. Identifying these elements allows traders to align with the market's momentum, providing a strategic framework for setting a direction. Identifying an Order Block The next step involves pinpointing areas where institutional traders are likely participating, often signalled by a BOS or ChoCH. Traders look for the range that initiated this shift (marking an order block), with increased odds of accuracy if there's a pronounced move away from the range to create a fair-value gap or if it aligns with a breaker block. The presence of liquidity near these points, or if it was targeted to initiate the BOS or ChoCH, can further validate the significance of the order block. This phase is crucial for understanding where large volumes of trades are being placed and where the price may revisit before continuing the trend. Finding an Entry Point Once an order block is identified, finding a strategic entry point becomes the focus. Traders typically either position limit orders at the edge of the block or await specific candlestick patterns, such as hammers, shooting stars, or engulfing candles. These signals suggest a possible continuation of the trend, providing a cue for entry. However, other tools, like Fibonacci retracements or indicators, can also be used to identify an entry point within SMC. SMC vs Price Action The Smart Money Concept and price action are both popular trading strategies, yet they approach the market from distinct angles. Price action focuses on analysing past and present price movements to identify patterns or trends without considering external factors. It relies heavily on candlestick patterns, chart formations, and support and resistance levels, making it a strategy based on the technical aspects of trading. This approach is favoured for its simplicity and direct reliance on price data, allowing traders to make decisions based on the immediate market environment. On the other hand, SMC trading delves deeper into the underlying market dynamics, emphasising the influence of institutional investors or “smart money.” It seeks to identify where these major players are likely to enter or exit the market, using concepts like order blocks, liquidity zones, and fair value gaps. Smart money strategies are grounded in the belief that understanding the actions of institutional traders can give retail traders insights into potential market movements before they become apparent to the wider market. While price action is straightforward and relies purely on technical analysis, SMC incorporates a more strategic view, considering the psychological and strategic manoeuvres of the market's most influential participants. Traders might find price action appealing for its clarity and focus on the charts, whereas SMC offers a deeper, albeit more complex, analysis of market forces. Integrating the two can provide a comprehensive trading strategy, leveraging the simplicity and technical focus of price action with the strategic depth offered by SMC. The Bottom Line The Smart Money Concept bridges the gap between retail traders and the elusive strategies of institutional investors, offering a structured approach to deciphering market movements. By understanding and applying SMC principles, traders can navigate the forex market with potentially greater insight and confidence. Opening an FXOpen account provides an excellent avenue for traders eager to apply these advanced concepts in a live trading environment, setting the stage for more informed and strategic trading decisions. FAQs What Is the Smart Money Concept? The Smart Money Concept (SMC) is a trading strategy focused on understanding and leveraging the market movements initiated by institutional investors, such as banks and hedge funds. It posits that by identifying the trading behaviours of these major players, retail traders can make more informed decisions. What Is SMC Strategy in Trading? The SMC forex strategy involves identifying patterns and signals that indicate the involvement of institutional investors. This includes analysing order blocks, liquidity zones, breaks of structure (BOS), changes of character (ChoCH), and fair value gaps. By aligning with these signals, traders aim to position their trades in harmony with the actions of the “smart money.” Which Timeframe to Use for SMC Trading? The choice of timeframe in SMC trading should align with the trader's goals and strategy. Short-term traders may prefer 1-hour or 4-hour charts for quicker insights, while long-term traders might opt for daily or weekly charts to capture broader market trends influenced by institutional movements. Is SMC Better Than Price Action? SMC and price action cater to different aspects of market analysis. While a smart money strategy focuses on institutional movements, price action concentrates on the patterns formed by the price itself. Neither is inherently better; their effectiveness depends on the trader's strategy, market understanding, and comfort with the concepts. Integrating both can offer a comprehensive approach to market analysis. This article represents the opinion of the Companies operating under the FXOpen brand only. It is not to be construed as an offer, solicitation, or recommendation with respect to products and services provided by the Companies operating under the FXOpen brand, nor is it to be considered financial advice.
Education
by FXOpen
7
Learn 7 Types of Liquidity Zones in Trading In the today's article, we will discuss 7 main types of liquidity zones every trader must know. Just a quick reminder that a liquidity zone is a specific area on a price chart where a huge amount of trading orders concentrate. Read carefully, because your ability to recognize and distinguish them is essential for profitable trading. 1. Fibonacci Zones The zones based on Fibonacci levels can concentrate the market liquidity. Classic Fibonacci retracement levels: 0,382; 0,5; 0,618; 0.786 and Fibonacci Extension levels: 1,272; 1,414; 1,618 attract market participants and the liquidity. Above, you can see an example of a liquidity zone based on 0,618 retracement level. The reaction of the price to that Fib.level clearly indicate the concentration of liquidity around that. Also, there are specific areas on a price chart where Fibonacci levels of different impulse legs will match. Such zones will be called Fibonacci confluence zones. Fibonacci confluence zones will be more significant Fibonacci based liquidity zones. Above, is the example of a confluence zone that is based on 0,618 and 0,5 retracement levels of 2 impulses. The underlined area is a perfect example of a significant liquidity zone that serves as the magnet for the price. 2. Psychological Zones Psychological zones, based on psychological price levels and round numbers , quite often concentrate the market liquidity. Look at a psychological level on WTI Crude Oil. 80.0 level composes a significant liquidity zones that proved its significance by multiple tests and strong bullish and bearish reactions to that. 3. Volume Based Zones The analysis of market volumes with different technical indicators can show the liquidity zones where high trading volumes concentrate. One of such indicators is Volume Profile. On the right side, Volume Profile indicate the concentration of trading volumes on different price levels. Volume spikes will show us the liquidity zones. 4. Historic Zones Historic liquidity zones will be the areas on a price chart based on historically significant price levels. Market participants pay close attention to the price levels that were respected by the market in the past. For that reason, such levels attract the market liquidity. Above, you can see a historically significant price level on Silver. It will compose an important liquidity zone. 5. Trend Lined Based Zones Quite often, historically significant falling or rising trend lines can compose the liquidity zones. Above is the example of an important rising trend line on GBPJPY pair. Because of its historical significance, it will attract the market liquidity. Trend lined based liquidity zone will be also called a floating liquidity area because it moves with time. 6. Technical Indicators Based Zones Popular technical indicators may attract the market liquidity. For example, universally applied Moving Average can concentrate huge trading volumes. In the example above, a floating area around a commonly applied Simple Moving Average with 50 length, acts as a significant liquidity zone on EURJPY. 7. Confluence Zones Confluence zones are the liquidity zones based on a confluence of liquidity zones of different types. For example, a match between historic zones, Fibonacci zones and volume based zones. Such liquidity zones are considered to be the most significant. Look at the underlined liquidity zone on US100 index. It is based on a historical price action, psychological level 17000, significant volume concentration indicated by volume indicator and 618 Fibonacci retracement. Always remember a simple rule: the more different liquidity zone types match within a single area, the more significant is the confluence zone. Your ability to recognize the significant liquidity zones is essential for predicting the market movements and recognition of important reversal areas. Liquidity zones are the integral element of various trading strategies. Its identification and recognition is a core stone of technical analysis. Study that with care and learn by heart all the liquidity types that we discussed today. ❤️Please, support my work with like, thank you!❤️
OANDA:XAUUSDEducation
by VasilyTrader
5
SMART MONEY CONCEPT EXPLAINEDThe Smart Money Concept (SMC) involves understanding the behavior and strategies of institutional investors to inform trading decisions. Within SMC, there are several key components and strategies, including concepts like CHoCH (Change of Character), BOS (Break of Structure), FVG (Fair Value Gap), and others. Here's an in-depth explanation of these concepts: 1. Change of Character (CHoCH) Definition CHoCH refers to a significant shift in market sentiment or trend. It's a point where the market changes direction, indicating a potential reversal. Identification Higher Highs to Lower Lows (or vice versa): In an uptrend, CHoCH occurs when the market stops making higher highs and starts making lower lows, signaling a possible downtrend. Volume and Momentum Shifts: Increased volume or momentum in the opposite direction can also indicate a change of character. Application Entry/Exit Points: CHoCH helps traders identify potential entry and exit points by signaling when a trend might be reversing. 2. Break of Structure (BOS) Definition BOS occurs when the price breaks a significant support or resistance level, indicating a continuation or reversal of the trend. Identification Support/Resistance Levels: When price breaks these levels with strong momentum, it signals a BOS. Swing Highs and Lows: A break above a previous swing high or below a previous swing low is considered a BOS. Application Trend Confirmation: BOS helps confirm the direction of the trend, allowing traders to align their trades with the prevailing market direction. 3. Fair Value Gap (FVG) Definition FVG represents a price gap left in the market where there was a rapid price movement, often due to high volatility or significant market orders. Identification Price Gaps: FVGs are visible as gaps on the price chart where little to no trading occurred. Imbalance Zones: These are zones where the buying and selling are not balanced, leading to rapid price movement. Application Retracement Points: FVGs often act as magnets for price, as the market tends to revisit these gaps to fill them, providing potential retracement or entry points for traders. 4. Other Major Parts of the Smart Money Concept Liquidity Pools Definition: Areas in the market where a large number of orders are clustered, typically around key support and resistance levels. Application: Institutions often target these areas to trigger stop-loss orders, creating liquidity for their trades. Order Blocks Definition: Consolidation areas where institutions place large buy or sell orders, creating a base for future price movement. Identification: These are visible as zones of consolidation on the chart. Application: Order blocks can act as strong support or resistance levels, providing potential entry or exit points. Institutional Candles Definition: Large candlesticks that represent significant institutional activity. Identification: These candles are usually much larger than the surrounding ones and often occur at key levels. Application: They signal strong buying or selling interest from institutions, indicating potential future price direction. Stop Hunts Definition: The practice where institutions push the price to trigger stop-loss orders placed by retail traders to create liquidity. Identification: Sudden, sharp price movements towards obvious stop-loss levels. Application: Recognizing stop hunts can prevent premature exits and provide entry points at better prices. Market Cycles Accumulation Phase: Period where smart money is building positions, often characterized by sideways price movement with low volatility. Mark-Up Phase: After accumulation, the price starts to move upward rapidly as institutions push the market in their favor. Distribution Phase: Institutions begin to offload their positions, leading to sideways movement with high volatility. Mark-Down Phase: Following distribution, the price moves downward rapidly as institutions sell off their positions.
Education
by realmillionairefx
Profitable Multiple Time Frames Smart Money Strategy Revealed In this post, I will share with you a very accurate SMC strategy that combines top-down analysis, liquidity, imbalance, order block and inducement. Step 1 - Identify liquidity zones on a daily Liquidity zones are the areas on a price chart, where big players are placing their orders. From such areas, significant bullish and bearish movements initiate. Liquidity zones that are above the current price will be the supply zones, while the liquidity zones that are below the current price will be the demand zones. We will look for shorting opportunities from supply areas and for buying opportunities from demand zones. Here are the liquidity zones that I identified on EURJPY. Step 2 - Wait for a test of one of the liquidity zones Let the market test the liquidity zone. For buying, the price should reach a lower boundary of a demand zone. For shorting, the price should test an upper boundary of a supply zone. I underlined the exact levels that the price should test on EURJPY. Here is the test of the lower boundary of the demand zone. Step 3 - Look for inducement on an hourly time frame With the inducement, smart money make the market participants think that the liquidity zone that the price is testing doesn't hold anymore. When the price tests a supply area, an hourly candle close above its upper boundary will be a bullish inducement. With that, the smart money incentivize buying orders. When the price tests a demand area, an hourly candle close below its lower boundary will be a bearish inducement. With that, the smart money incentivize selling orders. The price closed below a lower boundary of a demand zone on EURJPY on 1H time frame. Step 4 - Look for imbalance on an hourly time frame After a violation of a supply area on an hourly time frame, look for a bearish imbalance. Bearish imbalance is a strong bearish candle with wide range and big body. With that candle, the market should return within a supply zone and closed within or below that. After a violation of a demand area on an hourly time frame, look for a bullish imbalance. Bullish imbalance is a strong bullish candle with wide range and big body. With that candle, the market should return within a demand zone and closed within or above that. Here is the example of a bullish imbalance on EURJPY. After a bearish inducement, the price formed a high momentum bullish candle and closed within the demand zone. The imbalance signify that a liquidity zone violation was a trap . With that, smart money simply was trying to grab the liquidity. That will be a signal for you to open an order. Step 5 - Look for an order block After the formation of the imbalance, the market becomes locally week and quite often corrects to an order block. Order block will be the closest hourly liquidity zone. After a formation of a bearish imbalance, look for a supply zone on an hourly time frame. That will be your perfect zone to sell. After a formation of a bullish imbalance, look for a demand zone on an hourly. That will be your area to buy from. Here is the order block on EURJPY. Step 6 - Set a limit order Set a sell limit order within a supply area after a formation of bearish imbalance on an hourly time frame. Set a buy limit order within a demand area after a formation of a bullish imbalance on an hourly. Here is your buy entry level on EURJPY. Step 7 - Select the target If you sell, your target should be the closest daily structure support: horizontal or vertical one. If you buy, your target should be the closest daily structure resistance: horizontal or vertical one. In our example, our closest structure resistance if a falling trend line. Step 8 - Set stop loss If you sell, stop loss will lie above a bullish inducement. If you buy, stop loss will lie below a bearish inducement. Here is a perfect point for a stop loss for a long trade on EURJPY. Step 9 - Trade Let the price trigger your entry, and then be prepared to wait. It took many days for EURJPY to reach the target. Trading Tips: 1. Make sure that you have a positive reward/ratio. It should be at least 1.2 2. Risk no more that 1% of your trading account per trade Being applied properly, that strategy shows 70%+ accuracy. Try it by yourself and let me know your results. ❤️Please, support my work with like, thank you!❤️
OANDA:XAUUSDEducation
by VasilyTrader
1
MARKET STRUCTURE USING SMART MONEY CONCEPT (ICT)The market structure, when viewed through the lens of the smart money concept, refers to the way financial markets operate and how price movements are influenced by institutional investors, or "smart money." These entities, such as banks, hedge funds, and large financial institutions, have significant capital and access to superior information, allowing them to impact market prices and trends. The smart money concept suggests that these institutions leave discernible footprints on price charts, which can be identified through patterns like accumulation and distribution, liquidity hunts, and manipulation of key support and resistance levels. Traders who understand and recognize these patterns can potentially align their strategies with the smart money, improving their chances of making profitable trades by following the sophisticated moves of these influential market participants.
Education
by FrankFx14
Smart Money Concept: A Focus on Liquidity and Trade ExecutionSmart Money Concepts (SMC) empower traders to understand the invisible hand of institutional players ("smart money") in markets. By analyzing liquidity, the lifeblood of price movements, SMC equips you to anticipate potential breakouts and identify high-probability entry points. Let's dive into key concepts: Liquidity Types: ● ERL (External Range Liquidity) : Areas of past significant price swings (highs and lows), attracting orders and potentially acting as support/resistance. Look at Previous Day/Week/Month H/Ls and Previous Trading Sessions H/Ls (Aisa, London, & NY) ● IRL (Internal Range Liquidity) : Areas within the current trading range where the price paused or reversed, indicating potential order clusters, like FVGs. Price moves from one Liquidity Zone (ERL) to the other (IRL) & vice versa! Price Zones: ● Premium/Discount Array : Based on the recent price leg, calculate the 50% midpoint (fair value) and extend 50% above and below to create a high-probability trading zone in regards to where the price should be going next, for example, if the price is in the lower part of the recent leg, then we should expect a move back into the Premium Array. Highs & Lows: ● LTH/LTL (Long Term High/Low) : Turning points over longer timeframes, often acting as strong magnets for price. ● ITH/ITL (Intermediary Term High/Low): Significant swing points, usually highest / lowest point when the price reaches an imbalance zone. ● STH/STL (Short Term High/Low): Recent swing points within the current trading range, acting as potential pivots, you will find those on both sides of the ITL/L. Identifying Imbalances: ● Gaps: Unfilled price spaces suggest imbalanced supply/demand, potentially leading to price retracements to fill the gap. ● FVG (Fair Value Gaps): Areas where price gapped through support/resistance, leaving an "unfair" imbalance, attracting corrective moves to rebalance price. Trade Execution: ● OTE (Optimal Trade Entry): Look for confluences of various SMC elements (liquidity zones, imbalances, price patterns) for high-probability entry points that match the 61.8 / 70 Fibonacci levels. ● Kill Zones: Increased volatility during major market openings (London, New York) can offer high-risk, high-reward opportunities. This is when you should be trading! Remember: ● SMC is a complex framework, master each element before combining them for strategic analysis. ● Backtest and paper trade your SMC strategies to build confidence before risking real capital. ● Market dynamics are fluid, adapt your analysis and trade execution based on evolving price action. By understanding these SMC concepts and their interplay with liquidity, you'll gain a good understanding of market movements and improve your trade execution. Remember, practice, patience, and disciplined risk management are crucial for success in any trading strategy.
OANDA:XAUUSDEducation
by financialflagship
The Contraction, Expansion, and Trend PhaseContraction, Expansion, and Trend Phase *also known as the Forex Master Pattern * The contraction, expansion, and trend phase, or the Forex master pattern, is a trading methodology that focuses on identifying and capitalizing on the recurring patterns and phases that occur in the markets. They are based on the concept of these three market cycles. Institutional players play a significant role in shaping these market cycles observed in the markets. 1.Contraction Phase This phase represents a period of low volatility and consolidation in the markets During contraction phases, institutional players often accumulate positions and establish their trading biases. Institutional accumulation during this phase can create the necessary liquidity and order flow for a breakout in the subsequent expansion phase. 2. Expansion Phase The expansion phase occurs when market volatility increases and the market breaks out of consolidation, leading to bigger price movements. Institutional players execute their strategies by inducing price movements to entice retail participation. Depending on their goals, institutions may manipulate prices upward or downward, creating liquidity for their trades while taking advantage of retail sentiment. Institutional buying during this phase can increase the movement in price and volatility, leading to rapid changes in markets and trends. 3. Trend Phase Once the market establishes a clear direction following the breakout, it enters the trend phase. The trend phase marks the end of the contraction, expansion, and trend phases, which are marked by sustained directional movements powered by institutional profit-taking activities. Retail traders often find themselves on the wrong side of the trade during this phase, triggering panic, liquidations, and potential market reversals. The panic caused in this phase can eventually lead to liquidations. While this is not a strategy, it is a versatile methodology that works on any timeframe and assets as long as it has enough volume on the market. You can develop many different types of strategies using the Contraction, Expansion, and Trend Phase .
Education
by Traders_Endeavors
ICT Kill Zones Time Asia London New YorkIn the fast-paced world of forex trading, timing is everything. While the forex market operates 24 hours a day, not all hours offer the same trading opportunities. That’s where ICT Kill Zones Times come into play. Forex kill zones are the time when high probability trading setup formed These strategic time frames can open up a world of possibilities for traders who know how to leverage them. In this post, we’ll explore the concept of ICT Kill Zones ‘ times and how they can lead to high-probability trade setups and potential profits. The ICT Asian Kill Zone Times: The Dawn of Opportunities The Asian Kill Zone is the first of the strategic periods in the forex market. It is particularly relevant for traders dealing with the Australian dollar, New Zealand dollar, and Japanese yen pairs, as these markets are most active during this time. What makes the Asian Kill Zone special is its volatility, driven by economic news releases that occur during this session. Traders who keep an eye on these news releases and their impact on the market can make the most of this period. Main Characteristics of Asian Kill Zone -During the Asian Kill Zone, traders can often find optimal trade entry patterns, offering potential gains of 15 to 20 pips for scalp trades. -NZD, and JPY pairs are ideal for this time of the day. -The Asian Open can sometimes set up an Optimal Trade Entry Pattern that can offer a 15 – 20 pip scalp. -The Higher frame bias is helpful here – but short-term retracements in either Bull or Bear -Markets can offer similar OTE Setups. Asian Kill Zone Time ICT Asian Kill Zone Times lies in between 8:00 PM Eastern to10:00 PM Eastern ICT London Kill Zone Time The ICT London Kill Zone takes center stage during the London trading session, witnessing the highest volume of order execution compared to other sessions. It is an opportune time for those trading the EUR and GBP pairs. Notably, the London Open often presents opportunities for traders to enter positions with the potential for gains ranging from 25 to 50 pips. Main Characteristics of London Kill Zone One of the distinctive characteristics of the London Kill Zone is its tendency to create the low of the day in bullish markets and the high of the day in bearish markets. Time of ICT London Kill Zone London Kill Zone of ICT lies between 2:00 AM to 5:00 AM Eastern Time Traders should monitor the key times between 2:00 AM to 5:00 AM New York time to capitalize on the price action during the London session. The New York Kill Zone Time: The Land of Opportunities For traders dealing with major pairs coupled with the dollar index, the New York Kill Zone is an essential timeframe to watch. Similar to other Kill Zones, this period often sets up optimal trade entry patterns, providing potential gains of 20 to 30 pips for scalp trades. Time of New York Kill Zone The New York Kill Zone occurs between 8:00 AM to 11:00 AM Eastern Time. This time is favorable for major pairs and benefits from the overlap with the London session, making it a golden opportunity for traders. New York Kill Zone lies between 8:00 AM to 1:00 AM Eastern Time The London Close Kill Zone: The Final Countdown The London Close Kill Zone is a specific time frame that can create continuation points for swings that extend well into New York afternoon hours. It’s the last chance for traders to make their moves before the market closes for the day, making accurate predictions during this period potentially profitable. Between approximately 8:00 AM to 9:00 AM Eastern Time (adjusted for daylight savings) , traders can find optimal trade entry patterns, offering opportunities for 10 to 20 pips of profit on scalp trades. Monitoring the key times from 10:00 AM to Noon NY time can yield valuable insights during the London Close Kill Zone. ICT Kill Zone on During Daylight Saving Time (DST) Now, let’s talk about Daylight Saving Time (DST), which starts on the second Sunday in March and ends on the first Sunday in November. During this period, Eastern Time is shifted one hour ahead to Eastern Daylight Time (EDT), which is UTC-4. For example, let’s consider April 10th, and the time is 11:30 AM in Eastern Time (ET) during Daylight Saving Time. To convert this to Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), you add 4 hours to the local time: 11:30 AM ET (UTC-4) + 4 hours = 3:30 PM UTC During Daylight Saving Time, the clocks are adjusted forward by one hour, giving us an extra hour of daylight in the evenings. When Daylight Saving Time ends, we set the clocks back by one hour to return to Eastern Standard Time. ICT Kill Zone Setting on Trading View On the TradingView chart, you’ll find the time zone option at the bottom right corner. To set the correct time zone, click on it, and choose “UTC-5” during regular days (Standard Time) and “UTC-4” during daylight saving time, which typically occurs from the second Sunday in March to the first Sunday in November. ICT Kill Zones Indicator Trading view & MT4 A number of indicator are available on the trading view that automatically highlights the ICT kill zones on your chart. ICT Kill Zone LuxAlgo is one of the best indicators available on trading view. To Add ICT Kill Zone indicator you adopt the following steps: Step1:Click on the indicator icon on top of the trading view Step2 write LuxAlgo ICT Kill Zone Understanding and effectively utilizing ICT Kill Zones can significantly enhance a trader’s success in the forex market. Each Kill Zone represents a unique opportunity with its own set of potential gains.
Education
by Golden_Star1994
ORDER BLOCK trading strategyThe order block trading strategy is based on the concept of smart money, focusing on identifying specific zones where institutional traders previously executed their orders. Once we have successfully identified these zones, we patiently wait for the price to revisit these levels. By using a suitable strategy, we then enter our trades in the anticipated direction. -What is an Order Block in Forex: Order blocks are special zones within the market where significant buy or sell orders from major market participants, like institutional traders, have been previously executed. These order clusters, situated in specific price regions, hold considerable influence over price action, market sentiment, and liquidity. Order blocks serve as a specialized methodology to determine crucial support and resistance levels, derived from the trading behavior of institutional traders. These levels are subsequently employed as strategic points for initiating or concluding trades. -Understanding Order Block in Trading: In Forex or any other market, ict order block represent crucial price levels where we observe significant and aggressive price movements. These levels are characterized by large firms strategically placing their orders, which often results in the market moving forcefully from those points. To influence the market in a specific direction, smart money or hedge funds execute orders worth billions of dollars at particular price levels. However, not all of their orders are immediately filled. As a result, smart money revisits these levels to execute the pending orders, leading to further movement in the desired direction. -ICT Order Blocks Definition: Order blocks can indeed be identified on any time frame, ranging from small time frame like 15m,30 m and m5 to larger time frames like daily or weekly charts. Order blocks can be classified into two main types: Bullish Order Blocks and Bearish Order Blocks. 1. Bullish Order Block: A Bullish Order Block is recognized as the last downward candle before the price experiences a significant and aggressive upward movement. It represents a key level where institutional traders placed substantial buy orders, causing the market to rally strongly from that point. 2. Bearish Order Block: On the other hand, a Bearish Order Block is characterized by the last upward closing candle before the price undergoes a sharp and forceful downward movement. It signifies a critical level where large market participants, such as institutional traders, positioned significant sell orders, resulting in a significant decline in the market. By identifying and analyzing these Bullish and Bearish Blocks, traders can gain insights into a potential reversal or continuation patterns and utilize them as entry or exit points for their trades. Trading order blocks go beyond solely identifying the last up or down closing candle. To effectively trade order blocks, it is essential to consider several contextual factors, including: 1. Liquidity Hunt: Market participants, especially institutional traders, may strategically place their orders to trigger stop losses or create a liquidity imbalance. Understanding liquidity patterns and how they can influence price action is crucial. 2. Daily Bias: Evaluating the overall market sentiment and bias for the day is important. This involves considering factors such as news events, economic releases, and geopolitical developments that may impact the market and influence order-block behavior. 3. Interest Rates and Fundamentals: Fundamental factors, including interest rates, economic indicators, and central bank policies, can significantly influence market conditions. Understanding how these factors interact with order blocks can provide valuable insights for trading decisions. By taking these contextual factors into account, traders can enhance their understanding of order blocks and make more informed trading decisions. To identify order blocks, price action traders typically examine historical price movements on the chart to locate areas where the market has shown strong reactions. -How to identifying order blocks: 1. Look for strong price reactions: Analyze the chart to identify areas where the price has displayed significant and notable reactions, such as sharp reversals, extended consolidations, or breakouts. 2. Mark potential order block levels: Once you identify these areas of strong price reactions, mark them as potential order block levels on your chart. These levels represent key price zones where institutional traders may have executed large orders. 3. Assess support and resistance characteristics: Consider how the price behaves with the marked order block levels. If the price bounces off a specific level multiple times, it indicates a robust level of support or resistance, depending on whether the price approached the level from above or below. 4. Watch for role reversal: When an order block level is breached, its role as support or resistance can reverse. For instance, a broken resistance level may transform into a support level, and vice versa. In such cases, traders often wait for a retest of the broken level before entering trades in the direction of the breakout. By following these steps and considering the principles of support and resistance, traders can effectively identify and utilize order blocks in their trading strategies. However, it’s important to note that order block analysis is just one tool among many in a comprehensive trading approach. -How To Trade Order Blocks: The steps you’ve mentioned provide a general guideline for trading order blocks in forex. Here’s a breakdown of each step: 1. Point of Interest (POI): Start by identifying potential order blocks on higher time frames, such as daily and 4-hour charts. These could be areas of consolidation or strong price reactions. Once you’ve marked these POIs, move to the next step. 2. Optimization: Switch to lower time frames like 1-hour, 15-minute, or 5-minute charts to refine and optimize your POIs. By zooming in on these lower time frames, you can better analyze the price action within the identified areas. 3. Price Observation: Keep an eye on the price action in the higher time frame. Monitor how the price behaves as it approaches your POI. This observation helps you determine the strength of the order block and potential trading opportunities. 4. Rejection Analysis: When the price reaches your POI, switch to the lower time frame to examine how the order block reacts to the price. Look for signs of rejection, like fair value gap 5. Entry on Lower Time Frame: Once you’ve observed a rejection or a significant reaction at the order block on the lower time frame, you can plan your entry. Look for suitable entry signals, such as a breakout, pullback, FVG price Imbalance, and more 6. Stop Loss Placement: To manage risk, it’s important to place a stop loss order. Consider setting your stop loss 1 to 5 pips below the order block ict to allow for potential market noise and fluctuations. This helps protect your trading capital in case the trade doesn’t go as planned. Remember, these steps provide a general framework for trading ict order blocks, but it’s crucial to develop a trading strategy that suits your risk tolerance, trading style, and market conditions. It’s recommended to thoroughly back test and practice your strategy before applying it with real money. Additionally, staying updated with market news and having proper risk management practices are essential for successful trading.
Education
by Golden_Star1994
21
SMC The best way to detect Order Blocks Due to the great popularity of the Smart Money Concept approach, traders around the world are learning how to identify Order Block in the best way possible. Although there are different variations of the approach, the logic remains the same - accurately identifying a large limit volume in order to get the best entry point and catch the movement of a major player. I will show you, in my opinion, the most accurate practice for detecting Order Block, which in addition will increase the number of potential entries. It is different from the classic application. Check it out! Defining Max and Min on the chart No matter what asset you are trading and timeframe, any logic for finding OB starts with marking the lows and highs (MIN MAX). This is necessary to: Identifying the trend in whose direction we will be looking for the Order Block. Directly for the Order Block itself, as it will be located at one of the MIN or MAX. In our example, we will be looking for an Order Block on USDJPY H1 Note: There are so-called true Min and Max (signed in white on the chart). They determine the direction of the trend on this timeframe and the Order Block can be located in them. But there are also local Min and Max (signed in orange color), which do NOT determine the direction of the trend on this timeframe, but they can also contain an Order Block. Having determined the true Min and Max, it is not difficult to establish the trend direction by comparing the last 4 points of the true MIN MAX. In our case, the trend is downward. Looking for a Order Block by trend OB should be searched at the last MAX (in case of selling) or MIN (in case of buying). It does not matter whether it is a local or a true MIN MAX, the most important thing is the most recent one. And here are the specific rules for this (for a bearish OB): Find the most recent MAX Find the last green candle before the MAX MAX point should be a false breakout of this green candle Draw the boundaries of this green candle - they will be the order block Let's turn to a close-up of our example: All conditions are met. Found order block for sale. Oder Block activation and entry. Once an Order Block is marked, it is not yet sufficient to find an entry. An important condition before entry is Activation of the block. This is how we make sure that a major player is really moving the price in the right direction. Activation is the breakdown of the block in the direction of the trade. In our example, activation is a break of the lower boundary of the block. Attention: if the block order breaks through in the opposite direction, it is considered broken and can no longer be used. After activation, you should wait for the price to return to the block and open a trade there. It is ideal to put a limit order. Stop Loss will always be the upper boundary of the block, Take Profit can be taken variably, there are no rigid rules. Strong blocks can give more than one reaction. Then you can try to enter the block again. Conclusion In this article, we have shown the author's variant of how to find a block order on the trend and showed an example of how to work it out. Such blocks are especially strong and give many good entries. Of course, finding a block order is an important part of the Smart Money concept, but there are many more tools that will help to clarify the entry and exit and make SMC as efficient as possible (e.g. liquidity). We will talk about them in other articles.
Education
by Smart_Miner
3
How to trade Smart Money Concepts (SMC)This trading strategy was initially popularized by an infamous trader who is also the founder of the Inner Circle Trading (ICT) method which is claimed to be the evolved version of the SMC. Let’s first take a look at the building blocks of this trading strategy and compare it with the well-known trading concepts by industrial titans (Dow, Wyckoff, Elliott). Essentially, SMC puts forth the notion that market makers, including institutions like banks and hedge funds, play a deliberate role in complicating trading endeavours for retail traders. Under the Smart Money Concepts framework, retail traders are advised to construct their strategies around the activities of the "smart money," denoting the capital controlled by these market makers. The core concept involves replicating the trading behaviour of these influential entities, with a specific focus on variables such as supply, demand dynamics, and the structural aspects of the market. Therefore, as an SMC trader, you'll meticulously examine these elements when making trading decisions, aligning your approach with the sophisticated techniques of prominent market figures. By embracing this perspective and closely monitoring the actions of market makers, SMC traders endeavour to establish an advantageous position in their trading activities, aiming to capitalise on market movements driven by smart money. When you initially dive into the Smart Money Concepts (SMC), the technical vocabulary can be a bit overwhelming. To help demystify it, here's an overview of some common terms used by SMC traders. 1. Order Blocks These are used to discuss supply and demand. Some SMC traders consider order blocks as a more refined concept than standard supply and demand, although not everyone agrees on this. An order block signifies a concentrated area of limit orders awaiting execution, identified on a chart by analysing past price movements for significant shifts. These zones serve as pivotal points in price action trading, influencing the market's future direction. When a multitude of buy or sell orders cluster at a specific price level, it establishes a robust support or resistance, capable of absorbing pressure and triggering price reversals or consolidation. 2.Fair Value Gap You should clarify whether your current trading style suits you. If you don't have time to look at charts during the day, you should not focus your strategy on intraday trading using 1 5-minute or 30-minute charts. It is definitely better to develop an approach that works on a 4-hour or daily chart so that you have enough time to analyze the charts before or after work. Ideal time and timeframe This phrase describes an imbalance in the market. It occurs when the price departs from a specific level with limited trading activity, resulting in one-directional price movement. In the case of a bearish trend, the Fair Value Gap represents the price range between the low of the previous candle and the high of the following candle. This area reveals a discrepancy in the market, which may indicate a potential trading opportunity. The same principle applies to a bullish trend but with the opposite conditions. 3.Liquidity Liquidity plays a pivotal role in SMC. It pertains to price levels where orders accumulate, rendering an asset class "liquid." Essentially, these are price points with available orders ready for transactions. Liquidity can manifest in various forms, such as highs and lows or trend line liquidity. How liquidity is handled varies depending on the trader. One of the most common approaches is to use a pivot high or pivot low. For better understanding, a pivot high or low is formed when several adjacent candlesticks have a higher low or lower high. In the picture, we can see the pivot low. The candlestick has the lowest low compared to its three neighbours to the right and left. 4.Break of Structure (BOS) Once you become familiar with this terminology, you'll realize that many SMC concepts are consistent with traditional trading ideas. A fundamental element of SMC market analysis is the emphasis on the "break of structure" (BOS) in the market. 5.Change of Character (ChoCH) For instance, in a chart illustrating breaks of structure, each time the price surpasses the previous high, a break of structure occurs. Conversely, when the price drops below previously established lows, it signals a change of character (ChoCH). SMC traders leverage their understanding of these patterns to make informed decisions based on the market's behaviour.
Education
by Golden_Star1994
2
Happy New Year 2024| Learn Our Methods | Read Description|Happy New Year Everyone 2024: Let's first talk about CHFJPY then we will talk about how you can improve and learn some tips. CHFJPY in last six or seven months price overbought heavily due to JPY poor performance and government's zero intention to interfere in the market. However, many reports suggests that JPY will likely to be rebound in first quarter of 2024 in this case we can see a strong shift in price characteristics. Our first entry indicates, that we should expect price to continue the bearish momentum and drop from current area of the price. However, as we will having NFP in the first week of the month, it is likely to see some unexpected movement in the market. Second entry, is when price fill the gaps in the market and then drop smoothly, we will keep you updated. We want all of you to succeed in the forex or commodities trading. Here how you can improve: Firstly find one or two pairs that suits you: meaning if you focus on every single instruments available to trade in the market, you will never succeed instead focus on one or two pairs and master them, know how and when these pairs move, what factors influence them in the market and trade swing highs and lows. Secondly, use longer time frames to have a better vision, have a longer vision which will help you catch the big moves, yes, it is time consuming but if you are beginner then focus first in this and then along the way you will learn intraday trading. Lastly, learn more about consolidation, accumulation and distribution: before the big reversal, price first will consolidate then accumulate and distribute, you should be looking to enter in phase of accumulation and take every enter when price consolidate which leads to a breakout. If you learn above information in details and practice, your chances of becoming a successful trade increase. There is no overnight success, it is all hard work, if you believe in your self and focus on above things you will one day be proud of yourself. Happy New Year and Trade Safe 2024. We wish all of you all the best. Team Setupsfx_
Education
by Setupsfx_
11
Market Manipulations. Bullish Trap (smart money concepts) In the today's article, we will discuss how smart money manipulate the market with a bullish trap. In simple words, a bullish trap is a FALSE bullish signal created by big players. With a bullish trap, the smart money aims to: 1️⃣ Increase demand on an asset, encouraging the market participant to buy it. 2️⃣ Make sellers close their positions in a loss. When a short position is closed, it is automatically BOUGHT by the market. Take a look at a key horizontal resistance on AUDCHF. Many times in the past, the market dropped from that. For sellers, it is a perfect area to short from. Bullish violation of the underlined zone make sellers close their position in a loss and attracts buyers. Then the market suddenly starts falling heavily, revealing the presence of smart money. Both the sellers and the buyers lose their money because of the manipulation. There are 2 main reasons why the smart money manipulates the markets in a such a way: 1️⃣ - A big player is seeking to close a huge long position When a long position is closed, it is automatically SOLD to the market. In order to sell a huge position, smart money needs a counterpart who will buy their position. Triggering stop losses of sellers and creating a false demand, smart money sell their position partially to the crowd. 2️⃣ - A big player wants to open a huge short position But why the smart money can't just close their long position or open short without a manipulation? A big sell order placed by the institutional trader, closing their long position, can have an impact on the price of the asset. If the sell order is large enough, it can push the price downward as sellers outnumber buyers. Smart money are trying to balance the supply and demand on the market, hiding their presence. It is quite complicated for the newbies and even for experienced traders to recognize a bullish trap. One of the efficient ways is to apply multiple time frame analysis and price action. Remember, that most of the time bullish traps occur on key horizontal or vertical resistances. After you see a breakout, analyze lower time frames. Quite often, after a breakout, the market starts ranging. After a breakout of a key daily resistance, gold started to consolidate within a narrow range on an hourly time frame. Bearish breakout of the support of the range will indicate a strength of the sellers and a highly probable bullish trap. Remember, that you can not spot all the traps, and occasionally you will be fooled by smart money. However, with experience, you will learn to recognize common bullish traps. ❤️Please, support my work with like, thank you!❤️
COINBASE:BTCUSDEducation
by VasilyTrader
3
SMC Trading Basics. Change of Character - CHoCH In the today's post, we will discuss one of the most crucial concepts in SMC - Change of Character. Change of Character relates to market trend analysis. In order to understand its meaning properly, first, we will discuss how Smart Money traders execute trend analysis. 🔘 Smart Money Traders apply price action for the identification of the direction of the market. They believe that the trend is bullish , if the price forms at least 2 bullish impulse with 2 consequent higher highs and a higher low between them. The market trend is considered to be bearish , if the market forms at least 2 bearish impulses with 2 consequent lower lows and a lower high between them. Here is how the trend analysis looks in practice. One perceives the price action as the set of impulse and retracement legs. According to the rules described above, USDCAD is trading in a bullish trend because the pair set 2 higher lows and 2 higher highs. 🔘Of course, trends do not last forever. A skill of the identification of the market reversal is a key to substantial profits in trading. Change of Character will help you quite accurately identify a bullish and bearish trend violation. 📉In a bearish trend , the main focus is the level of the last lower high. While the market is trading below or on that, the trend remains bearish . However, its bullish violation is a very important bullish signal, it is called a Change of Character, and it signifies a c onfirmed violation of a bearish trend. In a bearish trend , CHoCH is a very powerful bullish pattern. Take a look, how accurate CHoCH indicated the trend reversal on Gold. After a massive selloff, a bullish breakout of the level of the last lower high confirmed the initiation of a strong bullish wave. 📈In a bullish trend , the main point of interest is the level of the last higher low . While the price is trading above that or on that, the trend remains bullish . A bearish violation of the last higher low level signifies the violation of a current bullish trend. It is called a Change of Character, and it is a very accurate bearish pattern. Take a look at the example on Dollar Index below. In a bullish trend, bearish violation of the last higher low level quite accurately predicted a coming bearish reversal. Change of Character is one of the simplest, yet accurate SMC patterns that you should know. First, learn to properly execute the price action analysis and identify HH, HL, LL, LH and then CHoCH will be your main tool for the identification of the trend reversal. ❤️Please, support my work with like, thank you!❤️
OANDA:XAUUSDEducation
by VasilyTrader
7
Blueprint to Success: How to Master Trading Sessions & Planning👑 Pre-Trading Sessions & Planning: 🔥 Key Details + Concepts -------------------------------------- (Psychological, Technical & Concepts): 🟠 Psychological: - Don’t trade if your emotions aren’t aligning with what is on the screen. - If you’re not super happy about entering, and you don’t fully accept the loss, don’t take the trade. - Don’t ‘force’ something to work because it won’t. - Trade as if you are looking for buys and sells in your markup. This removes mental bias, and effectively emotion in trading. 🟠 Technical: - Cause is the most important factor in trading – find what caused the injection of volume (‘follow the money’). Did it get effectively mitigated? Did it leave imbalance? … Find that block of orders and don’t get liquidated - The more inducement respected, the more liquidity to take out, the bigger the move - Zones to trade from must have resting orders to mitigate. Make sure they have inducement above/below (or create it), and they are the cause of structural breaks, demand/supply fails etc - Start analysing on the daily first! Find the intention of price and follow it - Mark out S/R – (support becomes resistance levels vice versa) as that level will be liquidated to usually meet our orderblock above/below it - Previous daily/weekly highs/lows can act as strong structural inducement points - Price needs reason to move to certain levels – imbalance - Often when we have a low Phase 2 inducement, we will sweep it’s orderblock as a SMT because of the zone’s large imbalance = lack of inducement - If you don’t spot the buyers/sellers who got swept before entering, you’ll become liquidated - Mark out pullback zones too - If we break our LPOD/S, we are effectively going to run through all mitigated price until the next valid orderblock - Ensure you wait for your respective time-frame reaction (e.g., don’t look for a 1m reversal from a 4h zone) - If price taps the outside of a zone but doesn’t enter it, it can still be used as inducement - We don’t recommend stacking countertrend trades - A mitigation can be confirmed when price sweeps into its previous range over another small-range inducement. 🟠 Concepts - The demand/supply that took out the Phase 1 inducement then gets broken confirms a shift in market structure. If it is respected, we can trade a continuation. - A ‘slight mitigation’ is when price sweeps liquidity into a range, but doesn’t properly mitigate the orderblock where the high-volume orders lie. Even though we may react from there, we can come back to this orderblock and properly mitigate it, using the ‘slight mitigation’ level as a point of inducement. - It is important for the AR (automatic rally) to ‘fail’ in a reversal range after the B/SC (Buyers/sellers climax) as it often grabs the LPOD/S (the last point of demand & supply), so it is successfully mitigated - News candles can be targeted high/lows as they don’t have inducement - Price works with momentum. You will never see something shoot up or down randomly - Refine zones by excluding the inducement it swept before it – draw a line through the orderblock from the inducement it swept. This will refine your orderblock to the pure manipulation *has exceptions* - If an inducement phase isn’t very clean or only sweeps a small range, there will be another opportunity as more manipulation is needed to fuel a larger move - Weak highs and lows are determined after a leg has been properly mitigated; the 5-15m TF is best to determine an active zone - A high/low is likely to be targeted when it wicks the other side’s high/low (to sweep) instead of having a candle closing over (BoS) - The first part of a ChoCh is often formed from Phase 1 inducement getting swept, creating a slight pullback, then breaking it again to hit the refinement Used Word Definitions: - LPOD/S – Last point of demand/supply - ChoCh – Change of character (a sweep of liquidity then a break of structure) - BoS – Break of structure (a failure of supply or demand creating a price leg break) - OB – Orderblock (a valid zone to trade from) - FVG – Fair value gap (a form of inefficiency/price gaps in the market) - IMB – Imbalance (a form of inefficiency/price gaps in the market) - IPA – Inefficient price action (imbalance) - S&D – Supply and demand (the levels of buying and selling) - IFC – Institutionally funded candle (a candle created by institutions to push price to a certain area) - IPB – Inducement Pullback (The level where price pullbacks before a continuation) - PA – Price action (how price is moving) - B2S – Buy to sell (often seen as a wick to mitigate or sweep) - S2B – Sell to buy (often seen as a wick to mitigate or sweep) - AOI – Area of interest (an area of price that is reactive or tradable) - POI – Point of interest (a specific point where price is reactive or tradable) - IND – Inducement (placement of liquidity that is used to manipulate traders) - EQH/L’s – Equal highs/lows - SMT – Smart money trap (a zone that doesn’t have liquidity under/above it, and gets run, trapping SMC traders) - MSS - Market Structure Shift (a confirmed shift in the markets direction towards the next reversal zone) - Vectors – Large-bodied, impulsive candles that are to push price to its purposeful target - V-SR – V-Shaped Recovery (quick movement of price to enter and exit a zone) - TF – Time frame - FR – Failed Reaction (Internal supply/demand failure) - OF – Order-flow (the movement of money through the market) - True Zone – The actual orderblock that will be used which holds the high volume or orders - PDH/PWH or PDL/PWL – Previous daily/weekly high/low 🟠 Colour Codes: 🟠 Time and Price (Times in AEST): ASIA > FRANKFURT > LONDON > NEW YORK - Asia: – Asia is important to analyse as it can create the model for New York and London its purpose is to create liquidity above and below its session. Mark the bottom and top to create a range, as well as the midline. Often, price will aim to take a high/low or both (AWS) starting with Frankfurt + London Open. If Asia takes a form of liquidity and is impulsive, a continuation trade can be played. - Frankfurt: - Frankfurt often prepares London for its main movement of the day. It often does this by taking out the high or low of Asia to create an orderblock mitigation for London, creates more Phase 1 inducement for London to take out, or helps to move price to an already-made valid orderblock. - London: - When London opens, there is a volatility spike in price. London’s purpose is to attack the liquidity created during Asia. Often, London creates a continuation mitigation after 1.5 hours, but can also contribute to a larger liquidity build-up for New York. Entries that induce + mitigate can be taken at the open (sometimes +30). After 2 hours of opening, we often see a shift in direction. - Pre-NY: - Before New York opens, we often see an impulsive move that directly contributes to the New York session. Sometimes, we can create a valid zone for New York to play from by mitigating high-volume orders. Most often, we see an impulse in price to move into a higher timeframe orderblock to then become targeted liquidity, or we create more low timeframe reversal inducement to then be swept. - New York: –We open with a volatile shift of momentum. New York’s purpose is to attack the liquidity created during the London session, or to create a continuation from London. The New York trap usually starts 1 hour after opening and reverses. After 1.5 hours of opening (MMM), we often see a clean mitigation of the ‘correct’ orderblock and liquidate the opening move. Sometimes, New York Open can mitigate the high-volume orders and continue in the correct direction of the day. - London Close – mitigates the peak of NY open / Reversal for a continuation in NY open direction. Sometimes there is a mitigation-inducement before London Close. - Magic Minute Mitigations (MMM) - refer to high probability trading times that mitigate active continuation orderblocks. We can best see these 1.5 hours after London and New York Opens – rarely, we can see these 3.5 hours after these opens instead. In the next post I will continue with my 8-step daily markup process and my Asian session manipulation formulas. If you found this article helpful, please share it with your friends and leave a comment! Cheers!
Education
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Mastering Liquidity in Trading: Unraveling the Power of SMC 🔥Liquidity is what moves the market. Liquidity and liquidity pools are created and targeted by the markets and a lack of understanding on this topic is the main reason why the trading mind fails even if the analyst mind is correct. Traders who have been victim to their stop losses being taken by a wick before price running in their favour are the perfect example of having the correct analytical mind but a weak trading one. Liquidity is unlike an order block or price inefficiency or anything else that can be physically identified on a chart. It is invisible, however, it is still possible to identify without the need of indicators or anything other than price action alone. Simply put, liquidity is money in the market. Typically, this money comes in the form of retail orders and stop losses. Knowing this allows us to understand that if the market targets liquidity, and liquidity comes in the form of retail stop losses, the market must be hunting and going against retail strategies. 🟢The first and most prominent of these retail strategies is the idea of support and resistance. On the chart we can see an example of what retail traders would refer to as a level of resistance. In doing this they would short price from this level expecting a move down. This creates a liquidity pool just above this ‘resistance level’ where the average retail trader would place their stop losses. This liquidity pool is now a target for the market. So instead of trading this move down, we wait for the liquidity grab and use the rest of this strategy to capitalise on the bearish move that we can expect. On the Chart is a demonstration of the market hunting liquidity before making its next move. Again this is where traders would be correct in terms of bias but incorrect in terms of trading. This is an example of what an informed chart looks like. Instead of highlighting support and resistance levels, we highlight equal lows and equal highs respectively. Equals are usually in the form of otherwise referred to double tops or double bottoms but can also be more than that. The key difference, however, is that we would anticipate the market hunting the liquidity above the equal highs and below the equal lows. Due to this, we avoid being a victim to the market stopping us out by a wick and falling in our direction. The second most prominent retail strategy or idea is the trend-line. Every time a trend-line formation is present within the market, we can now understand the amount of stop losses and, therefore, liquidity that would be sitting under this ‘trend-line’. Above is an example of the importance of recognising trend-line liquidity. Once the liquidity above the equal highs has been hunted, we need to establish the next liquidity pool in the market. Seeing a break above the ‘resistance level’ would be seen as a ‘bullish breakout’ by the average trader. However, we can identify that as a liquidity purge and higher high, in which case we can expect a higher low to be made - which would mean a bearish retracement. On top of this, we can see a build up of trend-line liquidity just above the discount end of the parent price range. This gives us an added confluence and confidence in the fact that we can expect lower prices with the liquidity underneath the trend-line as our first target. Above is an example of liquidity being grabbed on the bullish side (above the equal highs) sending the uninformed trader long based off of a ‘bullish breakout’, then hunting the liquidity on the bearish side (below the trend-line) and sending the uninformed trader short based off of the break of the trend-line. This is typical of the market - it shakes out impatient and uninformed traders on both sides of the market before making the actual move. Here is another examples of how trendline liquidity gets purged by the market. On the chart we can see a trend-line where many traders would be longing the market, unaware that they will be victims of a liquidity purge. Below we can see that liquidity purge below the trend-line which would send the average trader short. Using the rest of the strategy, we are able to understand that price will react from specific levels to go long Below we can see the completion of this market cycle with our levels being respected and the real bullish leg being made. 🔥🟠🔥🔥🟠🔥 BONUS CHEATSHEETS👇👇👇👇
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Unlocking the Secrets of Price Inefficiency: Dive Deep into FVG👑Price inefficiencies are also known as imbalances, gaps or voids. Healthy price action moves in a zigzag fashion, making highs and lows in line with the directional bias at any given moment. When price isn’t trending we find it consolidates, in which case highs lows are still being made. However, we may also see price move in straight lines with huge volume and momentum. When this happens, price finds itself unable to deliver price in an efficient manner. For example, in a bullish environment, price may continue to make higher highs without providing higher lows at a discount price. When price moves with this much momentum, it leaves behind imbalances. 🟠An imbalance can be identified by open space in price action, where the wicks on either side of a candle do not match each other. On the left is an example of price inefficiency, since the wick high of candle 1 does not meet the wick low of candle 3, leading to an imbalance on candle 2. 🟠This is an example of healthy price action with no imbalances. This is because all candles have wicks on either side of them. Since wicks were bodies during live price action and are bodies on lower time frames, this shows that price was delivered efficiently to buyers and sellers in this area. Whereas the example above shows an imbalance on a bullish candle, which shows that price was only available to buyers in that imbalance and therefore is not efficient. 👉For price to be efficient, it needs to be delivered to buyers and sellers. This helps us understand that in our original bullish imbalance, price has to come back and fill that imbalance using bearish price action in order to make that price available to sellers. This re-balancing could take hours, days, weeks or years, but it is our job to understand that it must happen at some point. Inline with the rest of the strategy, we can use this knowledge to pick out the specific imbalances that will be filled and how we can capitalise on this. 🟠This is an example of the correctly identified imbalance and where we expect price to react from 🟠This is an example when is our level being met, it is at this point that we use the rest of the strategy and knowledge to capitalise on the move that is about to unfold with high risk:reward entries. 🟠This is the completion of this particular market cycle, with our level being respected and price giving us a nice bullish leg. 🔴Bearish Order Flow: 🟢Bullish Order Flow:
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