I have been observing how the ICT system has gained so much traction lately, with millions of traders following its principles. The truth is, once you understand it, trading begins to make much more logical sense. The core idea is quite simple in theory: institutional capital is the one truly moving the markets, and if you manage to identify where they position themselves, how they create liquidity, and when they push prices, you gain a real advantage.

What fascinated me was discovering that there is an indicator tool called ICT Concepts that automates almost all of these functions. Basically, what it does is recognize and automatically mark the key areas of the ICT trading system on your chart. You don’t have to manually look for each element. You simply add the indicator, and it starts showing you market structures, trend changes, and potential order blocks.

The concept of order blocks is particularly interesting. These are zones where institutional capital likely placed large positions, and when the price returns to these areas, we often find high-probability trading opportunities. In bullish trends, they appear at local lows; in bearish trends, at local highs.

Then there’s the FVG, the Fair Value Gap, which automatically marks those gaps where transactions suddenly decreased. When you see one of these, it usually gets filled later, and that often continues in the direction of the trend.

Now, something that changed my perspective was understanding the Kill Zones. Not every moment is good for trading. The market has periods dominated by institutions and periods of random fluctuations by retail traders. Institutions mainly act during two windows: during the London open, between 3 and 5 pm Beijing time, when orders from European banks and market makers are concentrated, and just before the New York open, between 8 and 9:30 pm Beijing time.

The practical strategy I learned is quite clear. First, mark the appropriate period for trading. Then identify recent peaks and valleys on the 30-minute chart, those liquidity areas where there are unfilled orders. Switch to the 5-minute chart and wait for the structure to change, for the price to break key levels indicating a trend reversal. Then look for the FVG, and finally set your entry and exit based on those levels.

What surprised me is how much clearer ICT trading becomes once you see how these pieces fit together. The indicator does the heavy lifting of identification, but you need to understand the logic behind each move. It’s a system that requires patience and discipline, but when you see institutional mechanics working in real time, you understand why so many traders pursue it. Of course, this is not investment advice, just sharing what I’ve learned by observing how the market actually operates.