Recently, many people have been discussing the ICT trading system, with attention exceeding 3 million people, but few truly understand it. I’ve spent a lot of time studying it myself, and I feel that the core logic is actually just one principle: follow the money of the big institutions.

Large capital is the real driving force behind market trends. They will first position themselves, create liquidity, and then push the price. If you can figure out where the liquidity is, which levels are prone to washouts, and when to enter, trading becomes much more logical.

I found that the ICT Concepts indicator tool is quite well-made, almost incorporating all the concepts emphasized by the Inner Circle Trader. With it, it’s like having the manual for the ICT system. You can find it by entering it in the chart search bar, and after adding, it will automatically identify and mark various ICT zones.

Speaking of which, the most ingenious part of this system is the timing. Not every time period is worth trading; the market is actually divided into times dominated by institutions and times when retail traders are chaotic. Only when institutions start placing orders to sweep liquidity do all the ICT models truly come into play.

Based on practical experience, there are two periods when trends are most likely to emerge. The first is the London open, from 3 to 5 pm Beijing time, which is the clearest window in the ICT system’s structure. As the global forex center, European banks and market makers will concentrate their orders at this time. The highs and lows formed during the Asian session will be collectively swept away, and then the real intraday trend begins.

The second is before the New York open, from 8 to 9:30 pm. This is the second most important trading period after London. Interestingly, it often involves reverse liquidity sweeps—after the first wave of London’s trend, the market often moves in the opposite direction before the New York open, sweeping out the liquidity left behind by the previous move, pushing out local traders, and then heading in the true US session direction.

In actual trading, my process is as follows. First, mark the suitable trading times, preferably focusing on the London open window. Second, before the trading session, find the recent swing highs and lows on the 30-minute chart and draw lines to mark liquidity zones—areas where a large number of unexecuted buy and sell orders are accumulated.

Third, switch to the 5-minute chart and wait for the trend structure to change. If it’s a bullish opportunity, you want to see the price stop falling, rebound, and break through the previous swing high. This indicates the bearish structure has been broken, and the price is likely to turn bullish.

Fourth, look for fair value gaps, or FVGs. These are unidirectional gaps formed when market trading volume suddenly decreases. They are likely to be filled later, and once filled, the price often continues along the trend.

Fifth, enter and exit. If the gap is large, when the price retraces to the gap area, enter at the upper or middle part of the gap, set stop-loss below or near the previous low, and take profit using a fixed ratio or previous high.

The bearish logic is the reverse: mark the time period → find the 30-minute swing → switch to 5-minute for structure change → mark FVG → set short positions. When the price hits liquidity, encounters resistance, falls back, and breaks below the previous swing low, that’s a signal to short.

Honestly, mastering the core of ICT is about understanding the behavioral logic of institutions, not memorizing indicators. Once you truly understand this system, trading becomes much clearer.