Michael ICT (WENT, Sniper, Forexmas) compiled by
@kratosbtc
W.E.N.T. - Part 1/5 (Discretionary Trader with a highly developed
pattern recognition and feel for the market)
He was born into a working class family, but could be subordinate to anyone, so
he was motivated to make money without working for someone.
Everyone wants to trade for the same reason. They want to become rich quickly,
quit their job and become famous and live easy.
Most people can’t actually trade because it goes against basic human wiring. They
go into trading without a plan and a system.
The mentality of get rich quick is dangerous, it wires your brain to look for
excitement and turns trading into the lottery.
Trading is an incredible opportunity to change your life, but you must approach it in
the correct, long-term thinking mentality and this is what this course is for.
Trading is not a way to impress your family, your girlfriend and your friends. Trading
is a business. How can you go forward as a business owner with a single
employee to make it successful? Submit to adversity, pain and time required to
learn the required skills.
Forget What You Think You Know
Most of the material out there is a waste of time and teaches you the wrong things.
The only correct teacher is the market.
He still buys all books and courses just to see if there’s anything new that he can
learn from. Believes that it’s all just a regurgitation of previous materials. Tricksters.
Most people are being set-up like sheep to go into the battlefield and get
slaughtered. We are being programmed to lose money.
Welcome To Your New Beginning
He is doing this to genuinely change other people’s lives, he isn’t interested
in monetary reward.
Self-Evaluation: You need to understand whether you are a fast thinker that quickly
changes his opinion on things, or whether it takes a lot for your to make a decision
on a matter. Day trading would suit a fast thinker who can change his mind quick.
Slow thinkers are more adapted to swing trading and position trading. Find some
time to see how you react to things around you and during interactions with other
people.
Leave your ego at the door. Absorb everything ICT is going to teach.
You cannot avoid the time required to learn, don’t look for shortcuts, there aren’t
any.
Demo Account Yourself into Fantasy
Demo accounts are a fantasy created for poor habit forming. You go into trading
with more than you should, like $50,000.
You get emotional charges, but for real trading you need less emotion not more.
Trader’s Graveyard
Trading business will humble everyone.
There are certain traits that put some traders faster than others into the graveyard.
Overtrading, trading witout a plan, trading without a protective stop, over
leveraging.
Doesn’t Require Long HOURS, but required RIGHT Hours
Even Bitcoin makes bigger moves at certain times of the day. NY, London and Asia
Swing Highs / Swing Lows (CANDLE FORMATIONS, WICKS are secondary)
For a swing low, he also maps out the highest point of the 3 candles involved in a
swing low.
For a swing high, he maps out the lowest point of those 3 candles also.
W.E.N.T. - Part 2/5
Consistently tracking your trades, and only risking 2% on every trade
can consistently grow your account.
Having a goal of 23 pips for a week, 90 pips for a month and only accepting 30 pip
stop per trade.
This growth is much larger in crypto, and small numbers in forex would be
exponentially bigger in crypto.
He always measures a risk / reward ratio before entering a trade, by calculating
limit entry, stop loss and target.
This way you know how much you stand to gain and lose.
You want at least 4:1, that’s what builds millionaires.
W.E.N.T. - Part 3/5
PRIMARY OBJECTIVE OF TRADING: Know Your Timeframe
Professional Perspective:
Trades on at least 3 time frames.
Position Trades:
Monthly / Weekly / Daily
Swing Trades:
Daily / 4 Hour / 1 Hour
Short Term Trades
4 Hour / 1 Hour / 15 Minute
Day Trades & Scalps
1 Hour / 15 Minute / 5 Minute
The targeting is used with HIGH &* MIDDLE time frame. Smallest timeframe is
used for ENTRY and EXIT.
All trades are based on SUPPORT & RESISTANCE, the most fundamental aspects
of price action and trading as a whole.
BETWEEN BLACK & WHITE
No-one in trading has a crystal ball, it’s all about probabilities.
Selecting a directional bias does not guarantee profitability. Nor does it guarantee
accuracy in either your Trade Direction and or Trade Results.
One trader’s Buy Bias may exist inside the realm of another Trader’s Sell Bias.
They both can be “correct” and make money and even see their respective profit
objectives achieved.
As a Trader you must enter “the Grey” and be comfortable with less than perfect
visibility. Trades will materialise and provide plenty of profit making potential.
W.E.N.T. - Part 4/5 (anything that isn’t horizontal is bullshit)
Support & Resistance are KING:
The most important and most reliable indicator is PRICE. There is no lag like others
like MACD, Moving Averages, Sochastic, RSI and so on.
The technician needs to be a master of his or her tools, not a slave to them.
Technical indicators should only be used as confirmation of what pice is telling
you, not the other way around. There will be many times when the stochastic
indicator is “overbought”, but the price can keep plunging for a long long time.
Selling just because an indicator says it’s overbought is just plain ignorant.
By understanding support & resistance, we can understand future probable moves
in the market.
Price tells you everything that has happened and is currently happening. It’s all
there to see. It’s instant with no lag. You can easily pick out areas where price has
shown support or resistance, not where you think, but where it actually has.
What does S&R tell us? we can identify areas of supply and demand. Supply is
area where sellers are likely going to overwhelm buyers causing market to go
down. On a chart we call this resistance. Demand is an area on a chart where
buyers are likely going to overwhelm sellers causing the market to go up. On a
chart, we call this support.
Knowing this, it only makes sense to buy at support and sell at resistance.
Markets run into resistance (Supply) because those traders that bought too late
and saw the price go down now want to get out at break even so they sell.
Markets find support (Demand) because those traders that missed the move up
have a second chance to get in so they buy.
Smart money follows the rules of supply and demand, by knowing how they
operate you can ride their coat tails.
How to find RELIABLE TRADE SETUPS:
Natural S&R Levels
Quarterly Highs & Lows
Monthly Highs & Lows
Weekly Highs & Lows
Daily Highs & Lows
Session Highs & Lows [Asia, London, New York] I see this with top traders all the
time.
Intraday Fractals
Trendline Analysis (Channels, Supply & Demand Lines
Implied S&R Levels
Fibonacci Retracements & Extensions
Pivots (Monthly, Weekly, Daily)
Identify these timeframes and see how accurately they wick for the asset you are
trading.
Institutional Price Levels (in forex they happen at .20 / .50 / 80 and round numbers, do we
have this in crypto?) Psychologically sensitive price levels
Where do We Find Explosive Moves?
Selling Weekly Highs and Buying Weekly lows places huge reward to risk in your
hands.
ICT W.E.N.T. 5/5
Daily Brackets created by Market Makers: example in GBP/USD: If the high is
made in London Open, the LOW Of the day will form between 10-11 o’clock in
NYT.
Sweet spot entry for shorting 0.62-0.68 FIB
Michael places focus on OPTIMAL sniper entries to lower risk. His setups
automatically bring money into the account.
He has several indicators, including Timeframe Killzones based on London and
New York.
Michael knows his precise trade and doesn’t shoot for anything else.
Loves the tool Daily Average Range (Weekly, Monthly Also)
His style is based on riding the coat tails of institutional money, because they
always win.
Midnight New York High fib retracement to London Low creates a sweestpot OTE
short entry. The JUDAS SWING.
The best moves occur AFTER stops are RAIDED.
He doesn’t try to catch the entire move, but only 50 pips a week. If he hits it in one
day, doesn’t trade for the rest of the week.
Sniper 1/5
Some expectations you should hold for trading:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
You will lose money.
You will not profit on every setup and you will miss opportunities.
You can and will blend these concepts with your own thinking.
This is not a team sport, some people will perform better than others.
Success is measured in small steps and victories, submit yourself to the learning
process and TIME.
Still trades based on a concept he learned in 1994, called the “Triple Screen” learned from
Alexander Elder’s book ‘Trading for a Living’.
Sniper 2/5
1. Just because you sat down in front of your computer and started looking at a
chart, doesn’t mean you need to execute a trade. There may be no trade available.
(SELECTIVE)
2. It’s not about the quantity of trades you execute, but the quality. This is the
hallmark of a professional discretionary trader.
3. Follow the whale / elephant, they always leave a trail of their trading activity, you
have to look with the right perception to find it.
IMPORTANT:
In a bearish environment (daily chart poised to move lower) you have a 70%
chance of seeing the high of the week formed by Tuesday’s LONDON OPEN. The
other 30% is either MONDAY or WEDNESDAY.
When there’s a large range candle (daily, 4H / 1H, 15min) do not usually work both
sides of that opening of that candle very much. Let’s elaborate further.
Institutional traders hold up a level to create for orders to enter the market. In
a bearish market environment, they want BUYERS and the smart money act as
SELLERS.
Every session HIGH and LOW are important. London, New York and Asia. Do that
research on the 5 minute candles. These are the levels we pull FIBS from.
The game is certainly RIGGED and washed out those that don’t have the
dedication to learn of HOW its RIGGED. This is what Michael teaches.
He learned purely through observation and had invent the appropriate vocabulary.
Never ever take a trade that’s not longing a support or shorting a resistance,
starting from 1H timeframe and upwards. This will force you to wait.
Homework: Study the DAILY and 4 HOUR CHART for ‘Reaction Levels’ - the important
levels. Take note of the magnitude of Price Action and how Price failed at potential levels
as well. Take a note of the volatility if you had taken the trade according to basic charting
principles. Trend lines, patterns, etc.
Sniper 3/5 (tracking institutional orders)
Quick Review of previous episode
Revealing the Market Maker
ICT Market Maker Buy Model
How Dealers Operate in Support Levels
ICT Market Make Sell Model
How Dealers Operate in Resistance Levels
Market Maker’s Business Model
Understanding Market Maker Order Pairing and Stacking
Exposing the Mechanics of the Price Swing
Time - Entering the ICT kill zones
London Kill Zone
New York Kill Zone
Notepad moments:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
For every quarter, find the Highest High and Lowest Low.
Same for monthly highs and lows.
Same for weekly highs and lows.
Same for daily highs and lows.
Whenever you see a SWING HIGH on a DAILY (extremely strong pattern), you must
record the data points. High, Open, Low, Close for all 3 candles involved in the
Swing High.
6. You do NOT look for a trade / pattern unless it is trading at a higher time frame
reaction level (support / resistance). Therefore, the trade has to be based around
higher timeframes.
Essentialy, Michael breaks down the week into separate days to identify the swing highs
and swing lows that occurred and identifies the behaviour of the price during the
killzones. He looks at the 5 minute candles to identify retracement levels using Fibonacci.
This is for day-traders.
Position Traders Use Monthly, Weekly and Daily Candles to trade. They swing larger
positions with no leverage and hold for longer periods.
Swing Traders use smaller timeframes and execute more trades.
Day-Trading / Scalping (1 hour / 15 minute / 5 minute)
The Market goes through a cycle of Consolidations and Swings (Uptrend /
Downtrend). Smart Money accumulates their position during boring times, the
consolidations.
Therefore, we also want to be entering the market when it’s quiet and there’s not
much going on. This is when the range starts to get compressed. Michael gets
excited because he considers it as a SPRING tightening and tightening, and some
catalyst (unknown) will launch the price.
There’s an enormous amount of opportunity within the daily trading range. That’s
what you should be looking for. Trading in the direction of the daily range bias.
Asian Range is normally the quiet part of the daily RANGE, he focuses on London
and New York.
Knowing the trading ranges gives you the freedom to take time off from trading
and only be in front of a screen when it’s important.
He rarely trades past 2AM. Focuses on the volatility during sessions, because the
rest is consolidation.
Michael uses a patient, sniper like approach with very high probability of profit.
Professional traders don’t live in front of monitors. Junkies and action-hounds do.
They could be profitable, but they are probably high strung and on a bunch of
stimulant drugs surely on their way to burnout.
He uses EMA 9 and 18 to identify whether he should be buying on the dip or
shorting on a retracement.
Whenever price breaks out of a trading range into a higher range, we can use a fib
retracement from bottom of the range (where new range was created by breaking
previous swing highs) and connecting with top of the range. This way we can buy
the dip in an uptrend.
Sniper 4/5 (Range Finding)
Finding ORDER BLOCKS is of the utmost importance. By finding them we can
understand which levels are protected by institutional money. They are building a
trading position within that price range before a major move happens.
Smart money BUY on the down moves. They do not chase price. They sell when
it’s rallying up. You want to do the same.
The study of ORDER BLOCKS is to understand where SMART MONEY is getting
their fills. We can use those areas in the future during retracements / dips.
In order to be very specific on the order blocks, he looks for CONFLUENCE using
Fibonacci and Pivots. Also looks for round numbers.
He started looking at Daily, then zoomed in more and more to get very specific.
Look for a level where price drops to sharply and bounces. It retraces to touch the
same level very briefly.
Optimal Trade Entry Process
Firstly, find directional BIAS using moving averages to determine whether
you want to BUY or SELL.
What we are looking for here is where price moves with CONVICTION.
We are looking at SESSION highs and lows.
Find an AGGRESSIVE move up that breaks MARKET STRUCTURE or the
AGGRESSIVE MOVE DOWN.
Then, find the candle that was before that. BEARISH candle in BULL
movement. BULLISH candle in BEARISH movement.
Draw a horizontal line from the top of that candle. This line has now become
the new support or the new resistance.
Now we want to use a FIB RETRACEMENT starting from swing low to swing
high of the NEW trading range.
However, it does happen where the price doesn't retrace down to the level
we want, and that’s ok.
Sniper 5
Hidden Optimal Trade Entry
When a price is trading down towards and order block and especially around a
round number, Michael would use that point for fib retracement to find an entry.
This is not taught anywhere else.
For example using institutional levels .20 / .50 / .80
There are Two Primary Range Concepts employed in his Trading style: FULFILLED
& UNFULFILLED ranges.
UNFULFILLED is when price is expected not to trade to the S&R [Hidden OTE]
FULFILLED is when price has traded to and away from S&R [Hidden OTE]
How to Take Profit
Most traders don’t understand order blocks and during violent moves down, they
would never consider trying to catch a knife.
One of the hardest things for Michael is profit taking, even after 20 years of trading.
Due to human factor, he sometimes wants to overtrade.
Also used to fumble around in the markets until he met Larry Williams. Made all of
the mistakes in the book.
Firstly, you need the MEAT of the move, not the ENTIRE move.
If you don’t have a pre-planned exit before you execute the trade, you will be
swayed by your emotions to make a mistake. You will be plagued when you are
not trading because you will internally arm wrestle yourself. Set take profits before
executing the trade.
FULCRUM bottom is an important pattern. It’s also the fundamental concept to
understand how to take profits.
He uses FIB extension from Swing HIGH to SWING LOW to get an extension for
potential price targets.
ically, we need a trending market, where we look for OTE on the way down or on
the way up, selecting our entry through order blocks and fibs.
Sniper 6
Break in market structure means the trend has reversed direction. Here we find
FULCRUMS to identify targets for our trades. Fib extension 1.27 and 1.6 are the
most accurate, with targets sometimes reaching the 2.0 mark.
Following the elephants and identifying their buying levels, let’s you purchase for
WHOLESALE instead of RETAIL prices.
Michael suggests for newbies to limit their risk to 1%. He has worked his way up
to 3.5% ONLY when everything is lined up. Weekly, Daily, 4 hour, and 15 minutes.
When you experience a streak of losses, you need to cut down your trading size.
This will teach you patience required to succeed in this game.
Your job as a trader is to protect your capital and create safeguards that limit your
downside. Losses are inevitable.
You have to think of yourself as a lion, they eat a large portion of what was taken
down by the lioness. He gets the lion’s share and walks away. Let other traders
chase the entire move and continuously disappoint themselves.
Give yourself enough room for error, you may have a great entry but the price may
continue going against you for a little bit before turning sharply and creating profit.
Leave a margin of error for yourself. It’s liberating.
Sniper 7
Consolidation of price in a tight range is a warning signal that a big move is about
to happen.
The professional is moving towards an area of consistency where they cherry pick
their trades very carefully. It’s satisfying to sit on your hands and wait for market
conditions to develop and provide you a setup you specialise in. You fearlessly
execute the trade and watch it unfold exactly as you predicted.
JUDAS SWING = false move lower before shooting off higher OR false move
higher before shooting off lower. Judas Swing usually taps a liquidity pool (where
tons of stops are), so that whales can get their order filled before the movement
really starts.
Multiple profit strategy = take partial profit at previous high, then move up your
stop just below the new higher low that was formed. This let’s you ride the price
action while minimising your risk just in case market structure breaks.
After 20 years of experience, he can only predict the market moves with 75%
accuracy which is not always.
If you can’t follow rules, you will fail as a trader. It’s that simple.
You have to define it very clearly what you should be doing and have the discipline
to follow it.
Profit Taking (Identify BEFORE taking the trade)
In SYNC: (the bias of HTF matches the trade you are about to execute on the LTF //
take off smaller portions first, allowing bigger portions to run)
Intermediate Trading (Daily)
20 - 20 - 20 - 20 - 20
25 - 25 - 25 - 25
20 - 40 - 40
Short-Term Ratio (4 hour)
30 - 35 - 35
25 - 75 (taken out at ‘known range, when shorting it’s a previous LOW. Then
75 is targeted with Fibonacci Extension tool aiming for 1.27 or 1.6)
Day-Trading Ratios (1 hour)
30 - 60 -10
20 - 20 - 60 (all time frames synced)
20 - 80 (all time frames sync)
Scalping (15 minutes and below)
50-50
Out of SYNC (the bias of HTF is opposite of the trade you are about to execute on
LTF // take off larger portions sooner)
Intermediate Trading
50 - 30 - 10 - 10
60 - 20 - 20 (you want to take profits quicker to eliminate risk)
Short-Term Ratio
60 - 20 - 20
80 - 20
50 - 50
Day-Trading Ratios
80 - 10 - 10
75 - 25
50 - 50
READ YOUR NOTES at least ONCE a day. No need to watch the videos twice, but feed
your brain the right information.
Sniper 8 (Summary and Overview of ALL Sniper series so far. There’s no additional
technical concepts.)
ICT Sniper Series Skillset
The Market only moves by means of large funds entering and exiting the
market. Price seeks Profit.
We do not attempt to predict price moves, we wait for the smart money to
move price and read the clues they left behind. Like a detective.
Retail traders cannot move the market, unless there’s a massive HYPE wave
where irrationality completely takes over and people FOMO.
Structured Business Trading Model - Moves in repeating fashion at certain
times.
HTF indicate the direction of Smart Money.
Smart Money / Large Funds are NOT scalpers. They REQUIRE and
PRODUCE sustained moves.
Trading in the direction of institutional money makes our equity rise.
Volatility is the telltale sign that someone with a lot of money is moving the
market and it’s time to pay attention to that particular asset class.
Quiet markets are due to quiet fundamentals. They are graveyards waiting
for you to bury yourself. You will end up overtrading.
Price typically moves in overall weekly direction - we take trades in the same
direction of the bias.
Dynamic explosive moves occur from HTF analysis and Time & Price Theory
Entering markets when prices move opposite to your intended trade is
optimal. (aka prices coming down in a bullish bias, going up in bearish bias)
Market Makers generally drive markets higher to sell into the rallies.
Market Makers generally drive markets lower to buy into the drops.
Significant price moves are typically seen AFTER stops are raided.
Fibonacci is useful for STOP PLACEMENT / FINDING ENTRY / FINDING
TARGETS
LONDON open and NY open are ideal times for trades with unique traits.
Majority of the Daily Range HIGHS and LOWS form inside ICT kill zones.
Look for weekly setups that align with HTF, Time & Price at key S & R levels.
Trade with controlled risk management and equity management, ALWAYS.
What analysis and process is used on the Study of the Daily Chart?
Price action seeks ‘yield’ and market will move wherever yield is supplied.
Seasonal tendencies are considered - but they are not guaranteed.
Look at obvious S & R levels. Look at the weekly and daily chart for this.
Do not discount the levels acquired on the Weekly and Monthly charts. You
will handicap if you ignore the HTF.
Determine current market structure. Bullish or Bearish bias? What swing are
we in: Long-Term / Intermediate / Short-Term
Overlaying 9 & 18 EMA for directional bias. I can use something different in
crypto. Guppy? Ichi?
Highlight KEY swing highs and swing lows.
Note the DAILY candle high - low - open - close. These are sensitive price
levels.
Identify major REACTION levels - where a price QUICKLY moves away from
the level.
Highlight potential order blocks where price will react in similar fashion.
ALL LEVELS and ORDER BLOCKS are carried over to the 4 hour, then 1
hour then 15 minute timeframes.
What analysis and process is used on the Study of the 4Hour Chart?
The Daily Analysis is kept on focus. We hold our daily bias to look for trades.
With DAILY ANALYSIS being BULLISH, we look for key support levels to
enter trades on.
With DAILY ANALYSIS being BEARISH, we look for key resistance levels to
enter trades on.
You can see majority of stop orders. So look for for potential areas where
stops could be raided = LIQUIDITY POOL. Another way of asking that is,
WHO IS WINNING RIGHT NOW AND WHERE ARE THEIR STOP ORDERS?
Define 4 hour ORDER FLOW and couple this with MARKET STRUCTURE.
Buying support when DAILY UP.
Define 4 hour ORDER FLOW and couple this with MARKET STRUCUTRE.
Selling resistance when DAILY DOWN.
Look for the reaction levels within the daily directional premise / bias. (where
price sees quick advances or declines)
ORDER BLOCKS can be further refined on this timeframe, getting more
precise figures for areas of institutional interest.
If in DOUBT, the 4 HOUR can be used instead of DAILY to find directional
bias.
All 4 hour analysis is carried over to the 1 hour and lower timeframes.
What analysis and process is used on the Study of the 1H Chart?
We hold to our DAILY analysis for directional bias.
DAILY analysis could be mixed - consult the 4 hour. Ideally they agree.
DAILY and 4 HOUR order blocks will produce highest probability setups.
However, PRICE REACTION levels seen on the 1H will help you fine tune
those order blocks.
The hourly provides a great vantage point for watching swings.
Where are the potential liquidity pools?
Use Market Structure and Fibonacci to build additional confluence on
potential setups.
If we are BULLISH and hunting a LONG, Mon - Wed is typically when
Weekly LOW is formed.
If we are BEARISH and hunting a SHORT, Mon - Wed is typically when
Weekly HIGH is established.
We are NOT looking to trade every trade - we cherry pick our scenarios and
aim to trade consistently.
All DAILY, 4H and 1H is carried over to the 15 minute timeframe.
What analysis and process is used on the Study of the 15Min Chart?
HTF analysis and bias is carried over.
Have the days separated by vertical lines to highlight the possible Day of the
Week Theory.
Note the ASIAN RANGE high and the low every day. (5GMT is the end)
Look for daily HIGHS to form in SELL MODELS between 7-10 GMT.
Look for daily LOWS to form in BUY MODELS between 7-10 GMT.
Typically the daily HIGH or LOW is formed on a sharp countertrend
movement [Judas] tap into the liquidity.
TRADE OPPORTUNITY, overlap of TIME & PRICE: Hunt inside KILLZONES
and ORDERBLOCKS.
Opposite Daily HIGH or LOW is formed inside 15 - 16 GMT. [London Close]
Use FIBS to measure potential RISK:REWARD and OTE.
Use FIBS to measure profit targets.
If the LONDON setup was incorrect or missed, use the 12 - 14 GMT [NYO]
Most of the time NYO is continuation of price action initiated by LO.
Avoid NYO setups if DAILY SWINGS are maturing into key S & R. NYO could
produce reversals.
If 3 losses are taken, reduce trading size and leverage. Slow and steady
development.
Sitting down at the computer = doesn’t mean you need to trade. Don’t rush
the patterns, wait until odds are in your favour.
Focus on the 1H reactionary levels to identify RISK:REWARD. We want at
least 3:1.
If you haven’t done DAILY and 4 HOUR analysis, you have 0 ZERO to look at
15 minute timeframes.
Stay patient and focused, the results will surprise you.
ICT Precision Concepts 1 (Order Flow)
Low Risk + High Probability Setups are derived from HTF.
Trends / Order Flow remain for longer periods of time and require more effort to
change them.
Michael doesn’t look for fundamental reasons why the market does one or another
movement. He knows what makes him tick, and that’s why he trades based on
technicals. His understanding of his own psychology + repetition of the same
pattern.
He would have never taught these concepts if he believed they would stop
working because so many people started using them.
The EMA’s on the Weekly Timeframe will assist in higher odds Order Flow & Order
Blocks.
We wait for setups to come to us. We DO NOT chase price action. We are
PROFESSIONALS who make money with the decision we make.
There are 1000’s of people applying ICT concepts, yet everyone has different
results. Why is that? We all think, feel and act differently.
Everyone knows how Tiger Woods plays, they can watch and study him for years,
but that doesn’t guarantee they can play like him. In fact, no-one can.
You should JUDGE your development compared to YESTERDAY’S VERSION OF
YOU. Not a mentor, not another trade you look up to.
Mentioned Linda Ratschke mentioning reading the markets comparable to reading
music.
When we’re in a bullish environment and you see the prices declining, that is NOT
smart money selling. That is a lack of smart money BUYING.
ICT Precision Concepts 2 (Weekly Order Blocks)
We are looking for areas where price AGRESSIVELY moved away from an area and
then returned to it later.
If you derive the framework of the trade off a weekly chart, you have to manage the
trade off the weekly chart. Not daily or hourly.
We are looking for confluence between orders flow and weekly order blocks.
Forexmas 1 - What should New Traders Study and Practice?
Retail trading tactics that include patterns, supply and demand are deadly. Forget
you ever learned them.
Here you will learn how to retrain your eye to search for useful formations and
setups that constantly repeat.
First thing you want to look for is, what needs to be done to make whoever is
winning right now - lose?
You need to take a note of EQUAL highs and EQUAL lows. Make a note of them.
Retail trading teaches us to take the wrong trades. Institutional players that
actually move the markets think completely differently. They know that trader’s buy
stops are sitting above equal highs, and they know that trader’s sell stops are
sitting below equal lows. THIS is what they are looking for. They need someone to
take the opposite side of their trade.
Trading when your hand is hot is foolish. You need to have the discipline to
execute trades ONLY when you are given an optimal trade entry by the market.
Forcing a trade is attempting the market to fulfill your dreams. You may get lucky,
but even worse this will teach you the wrong habits for trading.
A low risk entry is price trading back into an order block after penetrating it.
Forexmas 3 - Accumulation / Manipulation / Distribution
OHLC is extremely important.
Open = "Initial Value Price - Prior to Imbalance"
Close = “Closing Value Price - Post Price Imbalance"
Range Expansion (between open and close) = “Dynamic Price Imbalance"
Accumulation (the low) = “Long Positions Built Up"
Manipulation (the high) = “Engineering Long Liquidity” (quick sudden move higher
or lower to entice breakout traders, who are placed on the wrong side of the trade)
OR “Neutralizing Short Liquidity” (traders already on the right side of the market
are neutralised with a quick stop run)
Distribution = “Pairing Long Exits with Pending Buy Interest"
Refer back to video to see what accumulation and distribution look like in BULL
and BEARISH conditions.
Forexmas 4 - Time & Price Theory
Everything you seek to understand in price action is found in the candlestick
formation - OHLC.
The HTF like Monthly / Weekly / Daily gives us the institutional trend bias.
If Price Action is BULLISH, We focus on buying AT or BELOW the MONTHLY
Opening Price.
If Price Action is BEARISH, We focus on selling AT or ABOVE the MONTHLY
Opening Price.
ICT Power of 3 = Looking at MONTHLY OPEN + WEEKLY OPEN + DAILY OPEN.
Large Institutions use algorithmic systems that key of the monthly and
weekly opening prices. There are MASSIVE amounts of volume in these
Entities Actions. We would do well to attempt to mimic their actions.
Forexmas 5 - ICT Asian Killzone
Best for AUD / JPY pairs.
Consolidation during the Asian Session holds many clues to how the Daily Range
will develop over the remainder of the 24hr Trading Day. vThis will be covered in
future lessons.
Video is really focused on Forex. Not much application to crypto on first glance.
Forexmas 6 - London Killzone
Has the highest probability of creating either the HIGH (when bearish) or the LOW
(when bullish) of the day - low risk entry price point.
Need to analyse past few weeks of Bitcoin to see if that’s true too.
The London Session sees the highest volume of order execution.
If it’s trending during London, we could see a slow New York session.
If there’s no trend during London, we could see an expansive New York session.
By studying London throroughly, you get a lot of anticipation power.
Price is FRACTAL. What we see on the higher time frames is what we see on the
lower timeframes.
BEARISH DAILY PROFILE = Open, Quick Rally Up (taking stops out and where we
enter), Move Down to make LOTD, Close near Low.
BULLISH DAILY PROFILE = Open, Quick Dip (taking stops out and where we
enter), BIG move up to make HOTD, Close near High.
If we’re in a bullish market structure, and during London Session, the price makes
the low but doesn’t expand upwards, we can expect a higher probability move
UPWARDS during the NEW YORK.
Forexmas 7 - New York Killzone
A lot of the news releases are scheduled during the New York session. These news
may further exaggerate the trend or create a reversal.
Two potential scenarios exist on the New York Session:
[most likely] continuation of London’s move (when daily is in a clear
momentum - either bullish or bearish)
BULLISH DAILY = Open, Quick Dip (taking stops out and where we
enter), BIG move up to make HOTD, Close near High.
BEARISH DAILY = Open, Quick Rally Up (taking stops out and where
we enter), Move Down to make LOTD, Close near Low.
[less likely] complete reversal on the daily direction
trading continuations is the most lucrative. He does offer how to read
reversals in his Mentorship. Advanced.
New York is the most advantageous to trade, because you have the most KNOWN
elements in place:
If the DAILY is BULLISH and we see London Open showing us a quick dip and
massive upwards expansion, we know NY will continue the expansion.
If the DAILY is BEARISH and we see London Open showing us a quick rally and a
big downwards expansion, we know NY will continue.
Forexmas 8 - London Close Killzone
London Close can create continuation points for swings that trade well into the
New York afternoon hours.
Other times, the London Close can also be a Reversal Point for Price and what had
been the direction of the day or week - can change during London Close.
Now you know how DAILY candles form during the day while moving through the
timezones.
However, there are times when we won’t be able to trade this way.
Z-DAY is when price is moving up and down in a consolidation.
Seek and Destroy is when price is really violent up and down (Parts) and moves
unexpectedly towards the end of the day.
Forexmas 9 - Asian Range
Asian Range can be used in combination with directional bias to build context to
the market’s likely direction.
He learned the trick from Chris Lori
As soon as we move into 12AM Midnight New York, which is 4PM for Sydney, we
are in a ground for fertile movement.
Narrow consolidation during the Asian Range is a signal of an impending violent
move.
You can look at 12AM New York Midnight as RESET of the ALGORITHM.
If we are bullish, you can expect the price to dip and seek liquidity.
Highly recommends the book ‘Street Smarts’ especially for the Turtle Soup Trading
Pattern he learned which he uses.
In Bullish Conditions, draw a horizontal line from the Asian Range Low and High.
Watch the price take out the High. We want to buy during the retrace when the
price touches the previous High of the Asian Range.
In Bearish Conditions, draw a horizontal line from the Asian Range Open. Watch
for the price to penetrate the open and trade above it. Watch for confluence with
time, if it’s trading within a Killzone - GO SHORT.
He actually uses Market Orders for these entries because price doesn’t stay there
too long and a limit order may miss.
You have to spend time reading and forecasting price action VIA CHARTING.
Watching videos or reading books will not develop this skill.
Forexmas 10 - Judas Swing
The Price Swing that usually happens in the London Killzone is a run on stops
called Judas Swing.
Having a HTF understanding will help determine which direction the Judas will
swing.
You hunt for a Judas Swing from Midnight to 5AM New York Time.
The Judas Swing is “False Run” that trips up traders that lack the understanding of
the true direction of the day.
In BULLISH conditions, once again draw horizontal lines from Asian Range HIGH
and LOW. The Judas Swing will peak the price through the HIGHS and then drop
violently to hunt for long stops before going on a rally. We enter if the price peaks
over the HIGH and then drops below the New York Opening Price. A picture here
would probably be useful.
Consolidate your knowledge, look for particular patterns and once you have found
them. Print them out and build a logbook. This will train your eye to see these
patterns forming LIVE.
In BEARISH conditions, the price will peak down through ASIAN RANGE LOW and
then jump through the NYOP and break the highs. That’s a Judas Swing.
FOREXMAS 11 - Money Management That Works (The Most
Important Topic to Learn)
Keeping 2% risk is really high in Forex.
You should decrease the amount you risk on a trade after a losing streak. Move
down to 1.5% then 1% then 0.5% until you feel confident trading your typical size
again.
Foremax 12 - Identify Daily Trend
We can identify the TREND with DAILY candles. Draw a horizontal line from both
the HIGH and LOW of the previous day. Now observe if today’s price is penetrating
it upwards or downwards or staying within the established range.
Very rarely do we see both sides of the PREVIOUS DAILY CANDLE traded through.
It usually indicates indecision, or a market reversal.
If we are bullish, we focus on the HIGH of the previous DAILY being taken out.
If we are bearish, we focus on the LOW of the previous DAILY being taken out.
He marks DAILY candles that penetrate the PREVIOUS days HIGH and LOW with a
small X. He calls it the OUTSIDE day, indicates either indecision or reversal.
Forexmas 13 - Trading the Key Swing Points
The Asian Open
MOST LIKELY SCENARIO:
BULLISH SETUP: Asian Consolidation, London Open creates daily LOW,
New York drives EXPANSION, London Close makes daily HIGH.
BEARISH SETUP: Asian Consolidation, London Open Creates daily HIGH,
New York drivesEXPANSION, London Close makes daily LOW.
LESS LIKELY SCENARIO:
BULLISH IMPETUS: Asia creates daily LOW, London creates daily HIGH.
BEARISH IMETUS: Asia creates daily HIGH, London creates daily LOW.
London Open (as taught in Power of 3)
BULLISH BIAS: If ASIA creates the LOW of the DAY and then starts to RUN UP,
London Open will RETRACE into OTE
BEARISH BIAS: If ASIA creates the HIGH of the DAY and then starts to RUN
DOWN, London Open will RETRACE UP into OTE.
Therefore, London can be a retracement of the move created by the Asian Open.
New York
Can either create HIGH or LOW of the day.
New York can be a retracement of the London Open:
London Open creates an IMPULSIVE MOVE, retraces into New York to
provide OTE and provides further EXPANSION.
London Close
Can also create HIGH or LOW of the day.
BULLISH: If ASIA created the LOW of the day, London Close can create the
HIGH.
BEARISH: If ASIA created the HIGH of the day, London Close can create the
LOW.
Can be REVERSAL of long term conditions.
MUST STUDY: Look at when the WEEKLY and MONTHLY highs and lows are forming.
They form a story.
Forexmas 14 - Smart Money Technique (SMT Divergence)
Comparing Dollar Index to Foreign Currency Pairs.
This is a Forex Technique which I will be skipping due to only trading
cryptocurrency at this point.
Forexmas 15 - ATM Method (Break in MARKET STRUCTURE)
A standalone price action pattern focused on trading key turning points in market
direction.
More frequent in Forex than crypto because the market changes direction more
often. (Not sure if true)
Capitalizes on stop runs.
Can be found on the 60 minute chart.
Easy to spot and trade.
He primarily wanted to teach his kids to trade this pattern, and has refined the
teaching process over the years to make it simple.
Process for BEARISH conditions:
Scan for KEY Swing HIGHS with Short Term Swing Low broken to the
downside.
We are looking for the Price to break down below a previous Swing Low.
The price retraces into Swing Low and we SHORT IT and target previous
swing low.
Visually, look for CHECKMARKS that are violated by price action on
the downturn.
This pattern is stronger if we see TWO Ticks Up.
Process for BULLISH conditions:
We are looking for a CROOKED number SEVEN.
Look for Prices Trending Downwards and then suddenly Moving Upwards
and Taking Out an OLD SWING HIGH.
When the price retraces down to the Swing High, we go LONG.
Forexmas 16 - How to Find Explosive Moves
Look out for compressed WEEKLY and DAILY ranges. This means something is
brewing. During those days traders normally get bored and when they least expect
it, an explosive movement happens. Retail traders attempt chasing the price. You
should anticipate those movements before they happen to trade like an institution.
Forexmas 21 - Trade Psychology and Effective Journaling
Major Psychological Barriers and Solutions
FOMO (Fear of Missing Out)
To overcome FOMO, you have to develop a trading plan. Killzones are important to
understand Time Theory. Next, you have to select a few setups that you want to
look for and execute them. Instead of chasing price, we are waiting for the price to
trade into the levels we have selected.
Even by missing a move, we know that a setup can form on other days of the
week, and definitely next week. Neophyte traders don’t have this luxury because
they are operating from a scarcity mindset.
Fear of Losing
Once again, this comes from a lack of trading plan. If you don’t have a method
that’s seen consistency in hindsight and backtesting, you will not have the
necessary ability to embrace uncertainty.
All of us hit a wall in trading, at which we really have to consider if trading is for
me. For most people, trading is the wrong choice and they are better off moving
on.
If you are trading, you have to fully accept that losses are a part of the job. Trying
to avoid them is absolutely deadly to your trading career.
Impatience Between Setups
You may have a well groomed trading strategy and risk management strategy,
but in-between waiting for those setups, you get impatient. Or if you see the
pattern forming, but you can’t stand waiting for the price and you execute the
trade before it runs away.
Another situation is when you have successfully executed a trade, and the rush
you get from winning pushes you to execute another trade. You can only learn how
to overcome impatience with experience.
Demand your price, demand your setup.
Fear of Not Being Good Enough
Byproduct of being on social media. If you can’t handle the amount of ‘expert
Traders’ who show off cash and their winnings calls but never the losers - you will
end up comparing yourself to them and you will ALWAYS fall short. If you are
experiencing this and it’s affecting your trading, you are better off staying off social
media completely.
Lack of Discipline & Following Rules
As human beings, we are naturally rebellious because we like to stand out.
When told not to do something, we badly want to do it.
When we know we SHOULD do something, we end up not doing it.
This is why WE NEED RULES and the discipline to stick to these rules. If you can’t
force yourself to follow the rules you have created for yourself, your time as a
trader is already running out.
Rules have to be very concise, rigid with no room for misinterpretation.
Searching for the Next Best Thing
Whoever is HOT right now is where the crowd will flood. It’s always been this way
and not only in trading.
Your goal as a trader to be independent in your analysis and your decisions. Keep
the focus on developing your skills rather than trading off other people’s analysis
or calls.
3 Trader Personas
Being a successful trader requires the integration of 3 parts, and channeling them
at the correct time.
The analyst is objective and analyses the market through an objective lens.
The trader looks for opportunity through a prism of REWARD : RISK.
The gamble is impulsive, pushes high leverage and takes big risks. This is the one
you need to watch. The gambler takes both wins and losses very seriously and
either pushes for more trades after winning, or becomes scared to trade after
losing.
You want to bring your focus towards being the analyst and watching the price
action as it develops, watching the key levels and following the trading plan. This is
the one who keeps you on the right path.
Effective Journaling (Identifying Weaknesses)
Daily LOG.
The BEST TRADING BOOK out there is the one you are about to write. You can’t
teach your experience to someone else. You can talk about it, but it won’t have the
same impact. JOURNAL is a winning trader’s secret.
Take a SCREENSHOT before you execute a trade and ANTICIPATE what you think
is going to happen.
How you felt going into the Trading Day. You MUST develop the DISCIPLINE to put
off trading if you have significant events in your life that will steal your attention
from trading.
He gives himself the GIFT of ROUTINE.
If you don’t RELEASE your FEELINGS through JOURNALING, those thoughts and
feelings will grow like cancer in your mind and cloud your judgment and affect your
performance.
Record any ANXIETY / FEARS you had when watching PRICE ACTION. This is a
BEAUTIFUL opportunity to learn more about yourself. Screenshot the price action
and make a note of what you’re feeling.
Any ELITE PROFESSIONAL in any INDUSTRY, records what they have done, when
and how they felt about it. You don’t want to have to rely on your memory.
Detail where you felt UNCERTAINTY and how you COPED. He plays with deck of
cards, fidget spinners and coins. You have to SUBMIT to the trade. Either it works
out or it doesn’t.
What are you happy with? Use POSITIVE words for the things you did well on.
Avoid NEGATIVELY charged words when you struggle. Otherwise your
SUBCONCIOUS will filter that as a source of stress. Next time you look at a
charge, your perception won’t be able to pick up on that element and you will
completely miss out.
Weekly LOG.
Contrast EXPECTATIONS (analysis conducted at the beginning of the week) vs
actual RESULT. This way you can identify what you missed and how you can
improve. Could do this DAILY too.
Mastering High Probability Scalping
We start by looking at the HIGHS and LOWS of the previous 2 days.
Now we know which levels will have stop runs to liquidate shorts and longs.
We are looking to trade consistently like the banks.
We are not looking to trade every single day. Daytrading is not every day trading.
Michael marks the DAILY HIGH and LOW with a SHORT HORIZONTAL LINE.
SWING HIGHS and SWING LOWS are the basics of Price Action.
Banks target those highs / lows more than anything else for LIQUIDITY.
When BULLISH, and we see a SWING HIGH broken, we start looking for a SWING
LOW. The HIGH of CANDLE #3 will be raided for liquidity. Here we want to be
buying.
When BEARISH, and we see a SWING LOW broken, we start looking for a SWING
HIGH and wait for it to form. The LOW of CANDLE #3 will be RAIDED for
LIQUIDITY. He were want to be selling.
When looking at the HOURLY chart to evaluate these setups, he pulls FIBS from
the BODIES of CANDLES. He uses SESSION HIGHS and LOWS as reference
points.
Sometimes you may get a PERFECT entry inside of a Killzone, but the move
doesn’t take place for 24 hours. This is where you test your patience and trust the
process as a scalper.
ICT Power of 3 & Trading Process Using Daily Bias
BULLISH
BEARISH
OPEN & LOW: Accumulation of LONGS.
MANIPULATION: price goes opposite of inte
nded direction. (goes down to tap into liquidi
ty)
RANGE EXPANSION upwards.
HIGH & CLOSE: Distribution
OPEN & HIGH: Accumulation of SHORTS
MANIPULATION: price goes opposite of in
direction. (going up to tap into liquidity)
RANGE EXPANSION downwards.
LOW & CLOSE: Distribution
Confirm LONDON session was bullish.
Wait for New York (Sydney 9-11PM) to RETR
ACE stalk a LONG.
Wait to enter on the 62% Fib from Session L
OW to HIGH
Expect price to retest HIGH of the DAY and t
hen Fib Extensions.
Confirm LONDON session was bearish.
Wait for New York (Sydney 9-11PM) to RE
up and stalk your SHORT.
New York usually retraces from SWL (crea
ondon)
If no retracement - walk.
If it does - enter on the 62% fib.
Expect price to retest LOW of the DAY or
US Day LOW. (then Fib Extensions)