ICT trading strategy: the complete daily workflow
ICT (Inner Circle Trader) concepts — liquidity sweeps, fair value gaps, session levels and market structure shifts — are not separate setups. They are chapters of the same story that plays out almost every trading day on index futures and gold. This guide combines the individual models in the MFT Academy into one workflow: bias first, levels second, then sweep, confirmation and entry. All times are New York time.
The one-sentence version
Decide which liquidity pool price is drawn to today, let the New York session raid a session extreme, wait for the structure shift and the fair value gap, and enter on the retest — with the stop beyond the sweep wick and at least 2R of room to the target.
1. Set the daily bias
Everything starts with one question: which liquidity is price most likely drawn to today — the buy-side above or the sell-side below? Check whether the previous day high or low is still untaken, where the daily candle closed inside its range, and which session pools are untouched. Price below the New York midnight open means the day is in discount (favour longs); above it means premium (favour shorts).
2. Mark the map
Asia builds the first range of the day, London expands it and sets a second pair of extremes. Together with the previous day and previous week highs and lows, these are the only lines that matter. An untouched pool is worth far more than one already raided — once a level has been swept, its liquidity is consumed.
3. Wait for the sweep
Retail stops sit directly above session highs and below session lows. Early in the New York session price is drawn to one of those extremes, takes the stops, and either fails (a raid) or breaks with conviction. The single most valuable skill in this strategy is telling those two apart: a wick through the level with the body closing back inside is a sweep. A body close beyond it is a real break — stand aside or trade the retest the other way.
4. Confirm with structure and a gap
A sweep alone is not an entry. Confirmation comes when price displaces away from the level, breaks the most recent counter-swing (a market structure shift) and leaves a fair value gap behind. If price closes fully through an existing gap, that gap inverts — former support becomes resistance. That inverted gap is the strongest confirmation in this playbook.
5. Enter on the retest
Enter on the first retest of the inverted or fresh fair value gap. The stop goes just beyond the sweep wick — if that wick is taken out, the idea is simply wrong. The first target is the opposite side of the session range, then the previous day high or low. If the setup cannot offer at least 2R, skip it. One good trade a day beats five forced ones.
6. Respect the risk rules
The model does not blow the account — position sizing does. Fixed risk per trade (0.5–1% of the evaluation account), a hard stop after two losses, and no trades in the minutes around CPI, FOMC or NFP. Most prop firm challenges fail on trailing drawdown, not on the model.
The five models that automate this
The workflow above is exactly what the MFT scanner watches for. Five of the academy models run live in the dashboard and alert you at the sweep, at the confirmation and at the entry window — so you can execute the strategy without staring at the chart all session.
Session Sweep + Inversion FVG
The core reversal model. Liquidity above/below a session extreme is taken, price rejects and closes back through a fair value gap that then flips into support or resistance.
ICT Silver Bullet
A strictly time-boxed model. One hour, one setup, then you close the laptop.
PDH / PDL Liquidity Run
Yesterday's high and low are the most obvious pools on the chart. Price either raids them and reverses, or breaks and expands.
Fair Value Gap (FVG)
The three-candle imbalance that price keeps coming back to.
Turtle Soup
Fading the classic 20-period breakout that fails.
MFT watches NQ, ES and Gold through every session, draws the levels for you and alerts you when the workflow reaches step five.