ICT Donchian Smart Money Structure (Expo)█ Concept Overview
The Inner Circle Trader (ICT) methodology is focused on understanding the actions and implications of the so-called "smart money" - large institutions and professional traders who often influence market movements. Key to this is the concept of market structure and how it can provide insights into potential price moves.
Over time, however, there has been a notable shift in how some traders interpret and apply this methodology. Initially, it was designed with a focus on the fractal nature of markets. Fractals are recurring patterns in price action that are self-similar across different time scales, providing a nuanced and dynamic understanding of market structure.
However, as the ICT methodology has grown in popularity, there has been a drift away from this fractal-based perspective. Instead, many traders have started to focus more on pivot points as their primary tool for understanding market structure.
Pivot points provide static levels of potential support and resistance. While they can be useful in some contexts, relying heavily on them could provide a skewed perspective of market structure. They offer a static, backward-looking view that may not accurately reflect real-time changes in market sentiment or the dynamic nature of markets.
This shift from a fractal-based perspective to a pivot point perspective has significant implications. It can lead traders to misinterpret market structure and potentially make incorrect trading decisions.
To highlight this issue, you've developed a Donchian Structure indicator that mirrors the use of pivot points. The Donchian Channels are formed by the highest high and the lowest low over a certain period, providing another representation of potential market extremes. The fact that the Donchian Structure indicator produces the same results as pivot points underscores the inherent limitations of relying too heavily on these tools.
While the Donchian Structure indicator or pivot points can be useful tools, they should not replace the original, fractal-based perspective of the ICT methodology. These tools can provide a broad overview of market structure but may not capture the intricate dynamics and real-time changes that a fractal-based approach can offer.
It's essential for traders to understand these differences and to apply these tools correctly within the broader context of the ICT methodology and the Smart Money Concept Structure. A well-rounded approach that incorporates fractals, along with other tools and forms of analysis, is likely to provide a more accurate and comprehensive understanding of market structure.
█ Smart Money Concept - Misunderstandings
The Smart Money Concept is a popular concept among traders, and it's based on the idea that the "smart money" - typically large institutional investors, market makers, and professional traders - have superior knowledge or information, and their actions can provide valuable insight for other traders.
One of the biggest misunderstandings with this concept is the belief that tracking smart money activity can guarantee profitable trading.
█ Here are a few common misconceptions:
Following Smart Money Equals Guaranteed Success: Many traders believe that if they can follow the smart money, they will be successful. However, tracking the activity of large institutional investors and other professionals isn't easy, as they use complex strategies, have access to information not available to the public, and often intentionally hide their moves to prevent others from detecting their strategies.
Instantaneous Reaction and Results: Another misconception is that market movements will reflect smart money actions immediately. However, large institutions often slowly accumulate or distribute positions over time to avoid moving the market drastically. As a result, their actions might not produce an immediate noticeable effect on the market.
Smart Money Always Wins: It's not accurate to assume that smart money always makes the right decisions. Even the most experienced institutional investors and professional traders make mistakes, misjudge market conditions, or are affected by unpredictable events.
Smart Money Activity is Transparent: Understanding what constitutes smart money activity can be quite challenging. There are many indicators and metrics that traders use to try and track smart money, such as the COT (Commitments of Traders) reports, Level II market data, block trades, etc. However, these can be difficult to interpret correctly and are often misleading.
Assuming Uniformity Among Smart Money: 'Smart Money' is not a monolithic entity. Different institutional investors and professional traders have different strategies, risk tolerances, and investment horizons. What might be a good trade for a long-term institutional investor might not be a good trade for a short-term professional trader, and vice versa.
█ Market Structure
The Smart Money Concept Structure deals with the interpretation of price action that forms the market structure, focusing on understanding key shifts or changes in the market that may indicate where 'smart money' (large institutional investors and professional traders) might be moving in the market.
█ Three common concepts in this regard are Change of Character (CHoCH), and Shift in Market Structure (SMS), Break of Structure (BMS/BoS).
Change of Character (CHoCH): This refers to a noticeable change in the behavior of price movement, which could suggest that a shift in the market might be about to occur. This might be signaled by a sudden increase in volatility, a break of a trendline, or a change in volume, among other things.
Shift in Market Structure (SMS): This is when the overall structure of the market changes, suggesting a potential new trend. It usually involves a sequence of lower highs and lower lows for a downtrend, or higher highs and higher lows for an uptrend.
Break of Structure (BMS/BoS): This is when a previously defined trend or pattern in the price structure is broken, which may suggest a trend continuation.
A key component of this approach is the use of fractals, which are repeating patterns in price action that can give insights into potential market reversals. They appear at all scales of a price chart, reflecting the self-similar nature of markets.
█ Market Structure - Misunderstandings
One of the biggest misunderstandings about the ICT approach is the over-reliance or incorrect application of pivot points. Pivot points are a popular tool among traders due to their simplicity and easy-to-understand nature. However, when it comes to the Smart Money Concept and trying to follow the steps of professional traders or large institutions, relying heavily on pivot points can create misconceptions and lead to confusion. Here's why:
Delayed and Static Information: Pivot points are inherently backward-looking because they're calculated based on the previous period's data. As such, they may not reflect real-time market dynamics or sudden changes in market sentiment. Furthermore, they present a static view of market structure, delineating pre-defined levels of support and resistance. This static nature can be misleading because markets are fundamentally dynamic and constantly changing due to countless variables.
Inadequate Representation of Market Complexity: Markets are influenced by a myriad of factors, including economic indicators, geopolitical events, institutional actions, and market sentiment, among others. Relying on pivot points alone for reading market structure oversimplifies this complexity and can lead to a myopic understanding of market dynamics.
False Signals and Misinterpretations: Pivot points can often give false signals, especially in volatile markets. Prices might react to these levels temporarily but then continue in the original direction, leading to potential misinterpretation of market structure and sentiment. Also, a trader might wrongly perceive a break of a pivot point as a significant market event, when in fact, it could be due to random price fluctuations or temporary volatility.
Over-simplification: Viewing market structure only through the lens of pivot points simplifies the market to static levels of support and resistance, which can lead to misinterpretation of market dynamics. For instance, a trader might view a break of a pivot point as a definite sign of a trend, when it could just be a temporary price spike.
Ignoring the Fractal Nature of Markets: In the context of the Smart Money Concept Structure, understanding the fractal nature of markets is crucial. Fractals are self-similar patterns that repeat at all scales and provide a more dynamic and nuanced understanding of market structure. They can help traders identify shifts in market sentiment or direction in real-time, providing more relevant and timely information compared to pivot points.
The key takeaway here is not that pivot points should be entirely avoided or that they're useless. They can provide valuable insights and serve as a useful tool in a trader's toolbox when used correctly. However, they should not be the sole or primary method for understanding the market structure, especially in the context of the Smart Money Concept Structure.
█ Fractals
Instead, traders should aim for a comprehensive understanding of markets that incorporates a range of tools and concepts, including but not limited to fractals, order flow, volume analysis, fundamental analysis, and, yes, even pivot points. Fractals offer a more dynamic and nuanced view of the market. They reflect the recursive nature of markets and can provide valuable insights into potential market reversals. Because they appear at all scales of a price chart, they can provide a more holistic and real-time understanding of market structure.
In contrast, the Smart Money Concept Structure, focusing on fractals and comprehensive market analysis, aims to capture a more holistic and real-time view of the market. Fractals, being self-similar patterns that repeat at different scales, offer a dynamic understanding of market structure. As a result, they can help to identify shifts in market sentiment or direction as they happen, providing a more detailed and timely perspective.
Furthermore, a comprehensive market analysis would consider a broader set of factors, including order flow, volume analysis, and fundamental analysis, which could provide additional insights into 'smart money' actions.
█ Donchian Structure
Donchian Channels are a type of indicator used in technical analysis to identify potential price breakouts and trends, and they may also serve as a tool for understanding market structure. The channels are formed by taking the highest high and the lowest low over a certain number of periods, creating an envelope of price action.
Donchian Channels (or pivot points) can be useful tools for providing a general view of market structure, and they may not capture the intricate dynamics associated with the Smart Money Concept Structure. A more nuanced approach, centered on real-time fractals and a comprehensive analysis of various market factors, offers a more accurate understanding of 'smart money' actions and market structure.
█ Here is why Donchian Structure may be misleading:
Lack of Nuance: Donchian Channels, like pivot points, provide a simplified view of market structure. They don't take into account the nuanced behaviors of price action or the complex dynamics between buyers and sellers that can be critical in the Smart Money Concept Structure.
Limited Insights into 'Smart Money' Actions: While Donchian Channels can highlight potential breakout points and trends, they don't necessarily provide insights into the actions of 'smart money'. These large institutional traders often use sophisticated strategies that can't be easily inferred from price action alone.
█ Indicator Overview
We have built this Donchian Structure indicator to show that it returns the same results as using pivot points. The Donchian Structure indicator can be a useful tool for market analysis. However, it should not be seen as a direct replacement or equivalent to the original Smart Money concept, nor should any indicator based on pivot points. The indicator highlights the importance of understanding what kind of trading tools we use and how they can affect our decisions.
The Donchian Structure Indicator displays CHoCH, SMS, BoS/BMS, as well as premium and discount areas. This indicator plots everything in real-time and allows for easy backtesting on any market and timeframe. A unique candle coloring has been added to make it more engaging and visually appealing when identifying new trading setups and strategies. This candle coloring is "leading," meaning it can signal a structural change before it actually happens, giving traders ample time to plan their next trade accordingly.
█ How to use
The indicator is great for traders who want to simplify their view on the market structure and easily backtest Smart Money Concept Strategies. The added candle coloring function serves as a heads-up for structure change or can be used as trend confirmation. This new candle coloring feature can generate many new Smart Money Concepts strategies.
█ Features
Market Structure
The market structure is based on the Donchian channel, to which we have added what we call 'Structure Response'. This addition makes the indicator more useful, especially in trending markets. The core concept involves traders buying at a discount and selling or shorting at a premium, depending on the order flow. Structure response enables traders to determine the order flow more clearly. Consequently, more trading opportunities will appear in trending markets.
Structure Candles
Structure Candles highlight the current order flow and are significantly more responsive to structural changes. They can provide traders with a heads-up before a break in structure occurs
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Disclaimer
The information contained in my Scripts/Indicators/Ideas/Algos/Systems does not constitute financial advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any securities of any type. I will not accept liability for any loss or damage, including without limitation any loss of profit, which may arise directly or indirectly from the use of or reliance on such information.
All investments involve risk, and the past performance of a security, industry, sector, market, financial product, trading strategy, backtest, or individual's trading does not guarantee future results or returns. Investors are fully responsible for any investment decisions they make. Such decisions should be based solely on an evaluation of their financial circumstances, investment objectives, risk tolerance, and liquidity needs.
My Scripts/Indicators/Ideas/Algos/Systems are only for educational purposes!
Ictconcepts
ICT Session Opening FVG / Silver Bullet [MK]Students of ICT concepts will know that the first FVG found within particular session periods can identify an important price level for intraday traders.
"Find the first FVG at the start of the session and drag a box from it to the right"....ICT
The script finds the first FVG (either bull or bear) within the following periods:
London Killzone (0200 - 0500) EST
02:00 - 0259
03:00 - 0359
0400 - 0459
Dead Zone (05-00 - 0600) EST
05-00 - 0559
0600 - 0659
NY AM Killzone (0700 - 1100) EST
0700 - 0759
0830 - 0929
0929 - 0959
1000 - 1100 (Silver Bullet)
A chart higher timeframe can be chosen to detect the FVGs and they will be displayed on lower timeframe. Default is 5min for detection. I like to then following price reacting to 5mi FVGs on a 1 min chart.
FVG boxes can be extended to the end of the session, or to any time within the current days trading hours. Colors/Labels/ Session Periods can all be edited. A maximum timeframe for display is available and
timezone can be adjusted.
FVGs are only shown for the current days trading hours.
ICT Concepts [LuxAlgo]The ICT Concepts indicator regroups core concepts highlighted by trader and educator "The Inner Circle Trader" (ICT) into an all-in-one toolkit. Features include Market Structure (MSS & BOS), Order Blocks, Imbalances, Buyside/Sellside Liquidity, Displacements, ICT Killzones, and New Week/Day Opening Gaps.
🔶 SETTINGS
🔹 Mode
When Present is selected, only data of the latest 500 bars are used/visualized, except for NWOG/NDOG
🔹 Market Structure
Enable/disable Market Structure.
Length: will set the lookback period/sensitivity.
In Present Mode only the latest Market Structure trend will be shown, while in Historical Mode, previous trends will be shown as well:
You can toggle MSS/BOS separately and change the colors:
🔹 Displacement
Enable/disable Displacement.
🔹 Volume Imbalance
Enable/disable Volume Imbalance.
# Visible VI's: sets the amount of visible Volume Imbalances (max 100), color setting is placed at the side.
🔹 Order Blocks
Enable/disable Order Blocks.
Swing Lookback: Lookback period used for the detection of the swing points used to create order blocks.
Show Last Bullish OB: Number of the most recent bullish order/breaker blocks to display on the chart.
Show Last Bearish OB: Number of the most recent bearish order/breaker blocks to display on the chart.
Color settings.
Show Historical Polarity Changes: Allows users to see labels indicating where a swing high/low previously occurred within a breaker block.
Use Candle Body: Allows users to use candle bodies as order block areas instead of the full candle range.
Change in Order Blocks style:
🔹 Liquidity
Enable/disable Liquidity.
Margin: sets the sensitivity, 2 points are fairly equal when:
'point 1' < 'point 2' + (10 bar Average True Range / (10 / margin)) and
'point 1' > 'point 2' - (10 bar Average True Range / (10 / margin))
# Visible Liq. boxes: sets the amount of visible Liquidity boxes (max 50), this amount is for Sellside and Buyside boxes separately.
Colour settings.
Change in Liquidity style:
🔹 Fair Value Gaps
Enable/disable FVG's.
Balance Price Range: this is the overlap of latest bullish and bearish Fair Value Gaps.
By disabling Balance Price Range only FVGs will be shown.
Options: Choose whether you wish to see FVG or Implied Fair Value Gaps (this will impact Balance Price Range as well)
# Visible FVG's: sets the amount of visible FVG's (max 20, in the same direction).
Color settings.
Change in FVG style:
🔹 NWOG/NDOG
Enable/disable NWOG; color settings; amount of NWOG shown (max 50).
Enable/disable NDOG ; color settings; amount of NDOG shown (max 50).
🔹 Fibonacci
This tool connects the 2 most recent bullish/bearish (if applicable) features of your choice, provided they are enabled.
3 examples (FVG, BPR, OB):
Extend lines -> Enabled (example OB):
🔹 Killzones
Enable/disable all or the ones you need.
Time settings are coded in the corresponding time zones.
🔶 USAGE
By default, the indicator displays each feature relevant to the most recent price variations in order to avoid clutter on the chart & to provide a very similar experience to how a user would contruct ICT Concepts by hand.
Users can use the historical mode in the settings to see historical market structure/imbalances. The ICT Concepts indicator has various use cases, below we outline many examples of how a trader could find usage of the features together.
In the above image we can see price took out Sellside liquidity, filled two bearish FVGs, a market structure shift, which then led to a clean retest of a bullish FVG as a clean setup to target the order block above.
Price then fills the OB which creates a breaker level as seen in yellow.
Broken OBs can be useful for a trader using the ICT Concepts indicator as it marks a level where orders have now been filled, indicating a solidified level that has proved itself as an area of liquidity. In the image above we can see a trade setup using a broken bearish OB as a potential entry level.
We can see the New Week Opening Gap (NWOG) above was an optimal level to target considering price may tend to fill / react off of these levels according to ICT.
In the next image above, we have another example of various use cases where the ICT Concepts indicator hypothetically allow traders to find key levels & find optimal entry points using market structure.
In the image above we can see a bearish Market Structure Shift (MSS) is confirmed, indicating a potential trade setup for targeting the Balanced Price Range imbalance (BPR) below with a stop loss above the buyside liquidity.
Although what we are demonstrating here is a hindsight example, it shows the potential usage this toolkit gives you for creating trading plans based on ICT Concepts.
Same chart but playing out the history further we can see directly after price came down to the Sellside liquidity & swept below it...
Then by enabling IFVGs in the settings, we can see the IFVG retests alongside the Sellside & Buyside liquidity acting in confluence.
Which allows us to see a great bullish structure in the market with various key levels for potential entries.
Here we can see a potential bullish setup as price has taken out a previous Sellside liquidity zone and is now retesting a NWOG + Volume Imbalance.
Users also have the option to display Fibonacci retracements based on market structure, order blocks, and imbalance areas, which can help place limit/stop orders more effectively as well as finding optimal points of interest beyond what the primary ICT Concepts features can generate for a trader.
In the above image we can see the Fibonacci extension was selected to be based on the NWOG giving us some upside levels above the buyside liquidity.
🔶 DETAILS
Each feature within the ICT Concepts indicator is described in the sub sections below.
🔹 Market Structure
Market structure labels are constructed from price breaking a prior swing point. This allows a user to determine the current market trend based on the price action.
There are two types of Market Structure labels included:
Market Structure Shift (MSS)
Break Of Structure (BOS)
A MSS occurs when price breaks a swing low in an uptrend or a swing high in a downtrend, highlighting a potential reversal. This is often labeled as "CHoCH", but ICT specifies it as MSS.
On the other hand, BOS labels occur when price breaks a swing high in an uptrend or a swing low in a downtrend. The occurrence of these particular swing points is caused by retracements (inducements) that highlights liquidity hunting in lower timeframes.
🔹 Order Blocks
More significant market participants (institutions) with the ability of placing large orders in the market will generally place a sequence of individual trades spread out in time. This is referred as executing what is called a "meta-order".
Order blocks highlight the area where potential meta-orders are executed. Bullish order blocks are located near local bottoms in an uptrend while bearish order blocks are located near local tops in a downtrend.
When price mitigates (breaks out) an order block, a breaker block is confirmed. We can eventually expect price to trade back to this breaker block offering a new trade opportunity.
🔹 Buyside & Sellside Liquidity
Buyside / Sellside liquidity levels highlight price levels where market participants might place limit/stop orders.
Buyside liquidity levels will regroup the stoploss orders of short traders as well as limit orders of long traders, while Sellside liquidity levels will regroup the stoploss orders of long traders as well as limit orders of short traders.
These levels can play different roles. More informed market participants might view these levels as source of liquidity, and once liquidity over a specific level is reduced it will be found in another area.
🔹 Imbalances
Imbalances highlight disparities between the bid/ask, these can also be defined as inefficiencies, which would suggest that not all available information is reflected by the price and would as such provide potential trading opportunities.
It is common for price to "rebalance" and seek to come back to a previous imbalance area.
ICT highlights multiple imbalance formations:
Fair Value Gaps: A three candle formation where the candle shadows adjacent to the central candle do not overlap, this highlights a gap area.
Implied Fair Value Gaps: Unlike the fair value gap the implied fair value gap has candle shadows adjacent to the central candle overlapping. The gap area is constructed from the average between the respective shadow and the nearest extremity of their candle body.
Balanced Price Range: Balanced price ranges occur when a fair value gap overlaps a previous fair value gap, with the overlapping area resulting in the imbalance area.
Volume Imbalance: Volume imbalances highlight gaps between the opening price and closing price with existing trading activity (the low/high overlap the previous high/low).
Opening Gap: Unlike volume imbalances opening gaps highlight areas with no trading activity. The low/high does not reach previous high/low, highlighting a "void" area.
🔹 Displacement
Displacements are scenarios where price forms successive candles of the same sentiment (bullish/bearish) with large bodies and short shadows.
These can more technically be identified by positive auto correlation (a close to open change is more likely to be followed by a change of the same sign) as well as volatility clustering (large changes are followed by large changes).
Displacements can be the cause for the formation of imbalances as well as market structure, these can be caused by the full execution of a meta order.
🔹 Kill Zones
Killzones represent different time intervals that aims at offering optimal trade entries. Killzones include:
- New York Killzone (7:9 ET)
- London Open Killzone (2:5 ET)
- London Close Killzone (10:12 ET)
- Asian Killzone (20:00 ET)
🔶 Conclusion & Supplementary Material
This script aims to emulate how a trader would draw each of the covered features on their chart in the most precise representation to how it's actually taught by ICT directly.
There are many parallels between ICT Concepts and Smart Money Concepts that we released in 2022 which has a more general & simpler usage:
ICT Concepts, however, is more specifically aligned toward the community's interpretation of how to analyze price 'based on ICT', rather than displaying features to have a more classic interpretation for a technical analyst.
ICT NWOG/NDOG & EHPDA [LuxAlgo]This indicator displays New Week/Day Opening Gaps alongside Event Horizon PD Arrays which were conceptualized by a trader, ICT.
🔶 SETTINGS
Show: Determines if new week opening gaps (NWOG) or new day opening gaps (NDOG) are shown.
Amount: Controls the amount of most recent NWOGs/NDOGs to display on the chart.
Show EHPDA: Displays Event Horizons PD arrays.
🔶 USAGE
New Week/Day Opening Gaps are generally used as potential support or resistance areas.
Trader ICT describes that under consolidating market conditions, price tends to revert towards the opening gap area. This is consistent with other analysis suggesting that price has a tendency to come back toward gaps, ultimately looking to fill them.
ICT also introduces a novel concept, the "Event Horizon PD Array" (EHPDA) which are intermediary levels constructed from the average between the neighboring NWOGs or NDOGs.
EHPDA's are described by ICT as levels that "will not allow price to escape to the NWOG that will create a surge towards the NWOG it got too "close" to but has not yet reached."
FVGs & CEs + Alerts: simple & efficient methodFair Value Gap indicator: Paints FVGs and their midlines (CEs). Stops painting when CE is hit, or when fully filled; user choice of threshold. This threshold is also used in the Alert conditions.
~~Plotted here on ES1! (CME), on the 15m timeframe~~
-A FVG represents a 'naked' body where the wicks/tails on either side do not meet. This can be seen as a type of 'gap', which price will have a tendency to want to re-fill (in part or in full).
-The midline (CE, or 'Consequent encroachment') of FVGs also tend to show price sensitivity.
-This indicator paints all FVGs until priced into, and should give an idea of which are more meaningful and which are best ignored (based on context: location, Time of day, market structure, etc).
-This is a simpler and more efficient method of painting Fair value gaps which auto-stop painting when price reaches them.
//Aims of Publishing:
-Education of ICT concepts of Fair Value Gaps and their midlines (CEs): To easily see via forward testing or backtesting, the sensitivity that price shows to these areas & levels.
-Demonstration of a much more efficient way of plotting FVGs which terminate at price, thanks to a modification of @Bjorgums's clever looping method referenced below.
//Settings:
-Toggle on/off upward and downward FVGs independently(blue and orange by default).
-Toggle on/off midline (CE).
-Standard color/line formatting options.
-Choose Threshold: CE of FVG or Full Fill of FVG: This will determine both the 'stop-painting' trigger and the 'Alert' trigger.
-Choose number of days lookback to control how many historical FVGs paint on chart.
//On alerts:
-Simple choice of 2 alerts:
~~One for price crossing into/above the nearest untouched 'premium' FVG above ( orange ). Trigger is user choice of CE or full fill.
~~Another for price crossing into/below the nearest untouched 'discount' FVG below (blue). Trigger is user choice of CE or full fill.
-Alerts set via the three dots in indicator status line.
//Cautionary notes:
-Do not use the alerts blindly to find trades. Wait until you have identified a good FVG above/below which you think price may show sensitivity to
-Usage on very low timeframes can cause unexpected results with alerts: due to new FVGs forming in realtime the Alert will always trigger at the most recent FVG above/ below having its threshold hit.
-Big thank you to @Bjorgum for his fantastic extendAndRemove method. Modified here for use with boxes and to integrate Alerts.
-Also Credit to ICT (inner circle trader) for the concepts used here: Fair value gaps and their Consequent Encroachment (CE).
ICT MTF FVG [MK]FVGs (Fair Value Gaps) are significant levels that may act as support or resistance to price. The script finds FVGs as per ICT trading system, then plots the full FVG to the right side of the chart. FVG boxes do not change size when they are semi-mitigated as its important to know where the original FVG midpoint lies. Plotting to the right side of price allows for a cleaner chart. The script is MTF and can display FVG boxes for the following timeframes. Chart, 5,10,15,30,1hr,4hr,8hr,12hr,D,W,M.
Below shows 1hr FVGs marked out. NOTE: this is not what the script does, this is for explanation only.
Below shows what the script will do. 1hr FVGs shown on 15min chart
ICT MTF Order Block Wicks [MK]Order Blocks are significant levels that may act as support or resistance to price. Often the wick area is where price may react. The script finds order blocks as per ICT trading system, then plots either the top or bottom wick area to the right side of price. Plotting to the right side of price allows for a cleaner chart. The script is MTF and can display order block boxes for the following timeframes. 5,10,15,30,1hr,4hr,8hr,12hr,D,W,M. Only order blocks of a higher timeframe than the current chart can be shown.
Below shows how order block wicks should be drawn on a 1hr chart NOTE: this is not what the indicator does, its only for explanation.
Below shows the same 1hr order blocks, but shown on a 15min chart NOTE: this is the function of this indicator.
Simple ICT Order Blocks and Fair Value Gaps by Gowtham KannakajeThis scripts identifies ICT Order Block and ICT Fair Value Gaps
Fair Value Gap:
- Fair Value Gap toggle is off by default
- Users can choose to color the bars having Fair Value Gaps or can select to define the Fair Value Gap using boxes.
- Bar color and box colors can be customized
Order Blocks:
- Order Block box and candle color toggle is on by default
- Users can choose to color the Order Block candles or can select to define the Order Blocks using boxes.
- Bar color and box colors can be customized for bullish and bearish Order Block separately
Note:
- Order Blocks are considered valid only if the candle forming the Fair Value Gap closes away from the Order Block.
- Since Trading View limits the number of boxes to 500, it is advised to use the Color Candle option to identify the Order Blocks or Fair Value Gaps which are very old.
New concept Definitions:
Naked OB : An order block whose immediate next candle forms a Fair Value Gap. Here, the Order Block high or low contributes to the formation of Fair Value Gap.
Covered OB : An order block whose immediate next candle doesn't form a Fair Value Gap. Here, the Order Block high or low doesn't contribute to the formation of Fair Value Gap. Instead it will have other candles in between the Order Block and Fair Value Gap.
Disclaimer: The usage of this indicator might or might not contribute to your profits and losses and the author is not responsible for the same.
Happy Trading.
ICT Implied Fair Value Gap (IFVG) [LuxAlgo]An Implied Fair Value Gap (IFVG) is a three candles imbalance formation conceptualized by ICT that is based on detecting a larger candle body & then measuring the average between the two adjacent candle shadows.
This indicator automatically detects this imbalance formation on your charts and can be extended by a user set number of bars.
The IFVG average can also be extended until a new respective IFVG is detected, serving as a support/resistance line.
Alerts for the detection of bullish/bearish IFVG's are also included in this script.
🔶 SETTINGS
Shadow Threshold %: Threshold percentage used to filter out IFVG's with low adjacent candles shadows.
IFVG Extension: Number of bars used to extend highlighted IFVG's areas.
Extend Averages: Extend IFVG's averages up to a new detected respective IFVG.
🔶 USAGE
Users of this indicator can primarily find it useful for trading imbalances just as they would for trading regular Fair Value Gaps or other imbalances, which aims to highlight a disparity between supply & demand.
For trading a bullish IFVG, users can find this imbalance as an area where price is likely to fill or act as an area of support.
In the same way, a user could trade bearish IFVGs by seeing it as a potential area to be filled or act as resistance within a downtrend.
Users can also extend the IFVG averages and use them as longer-term support/resistances levels. This can highlight the ability of detected IFVG to provide longer term significant support and resistance levels.
🔶 DETAILS
Various methods have been proposed for the detection of regular FVG's, and as such it would not be uncommon to see various methods for the implied version.
We propose the following identification rules for the algorithmic detection of IFVG's:
🔹 Bullish
Central candle body is larger than the body of the adjacent candles.
Current price low is higher than high price two bars ago.
Current candle lower shadow makes up more than p percent of its total candle range.
Candle upper shadow two bars ago makes up more than p percent of its total candle range.
The average of the current candle lower shadow is greater than the average of the candle upper shadow two bars ago.
where p is the user set threshold.
🔹 Bearish
Central candle body is larger than the body of the adjacent candles.
Current price high is higher than low price two bars ago.
Current candle upper shadow makes up more than p percent of its total candle range.
Candle lower shadow two bars ago makes up more than p percent of its total candle range.
The average of the candle lower shadow 2 bars ago is greater than the average of the current candle higher shadow.
where p is the user set threshold.
🔶 SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL
You can see our previously posted script that detects various imbalances as well as regular Fair Value Gaps which have very similar usability to Implied Fair Value Gaps here:
ICT Liquidty H/L [MK]indicator shows liquidity levels at pivot highs and lows on the chart timeframe. Levels are drawn as a horizontal line up to the last active bar. Once a level has been passed through, the level is highlighted. The liquidity level will remain highlighted until a pre determined amount of bars have closed after the level was passed. These liquidity levels can be used as targets for trades, or as potential reversal points. Liquidity (or resting orders) at key pivot points form a key part of the ICT trading system. Users can configure the indicator to display the untapped liquidity levels, or they can be completely hidden until they are passed through.
ICT Opening Gaps [MK]
The indicator plots levels which can act as magnets to price. The levels are gap areas which are used within the ICT (The Inner Circle Trader) trading system.
The indicator plots 5 areas of interest:
1: Daily Volume Imbalances - Referencing the Daily chart, boxes are calculated from close to open between all candles. Candles which have only 'wicks' between the close and open prices are considered 'volume imbalances. The boxes can then be shown on LTFs to aid in decision making for intraday traders. Imbalances can be limited to a maximum amount shown and mitigated imbalances can be removed from the chart. All colors can be customised.
Volume Imbalance example:
2: NWOG - New Week Opening Gap - Plotted from Friday Close at 1659 to Sunday Opening at 1800 (EST). The current NWOG can be displayed on its own, or previous weeks can also be shown (ICT recommends the previous 4 weeks also). Boxes are plotted with a midline and all colors can be customised.
New Week Opening Gaps example:
3. NDOG - New Day Opening Gaps - Plotted from day close at 1659 (EST) to restart at 1800 (EST). All colors can be customised. These gaps can be very small so line widths of 3+ are recommended if the lines are to be seen on HTFs
New Day Opening Gap example:
4. New Opening Gap - Plotted from close at 1659 to Session open at 0930 (EST). These areas can possibly be closed/filled after opening at some time. The indicator will draw box to the right of price which shows if the Opening Gap is UP or DOWN. The box will change color to show up or down, or text alone can be used instead of the box. All colors can be customised.
New Opening Gap Box example:
5. 0930 Opening Line - Draws a horizontal line from the opening price at 0930 (EST) to the last bar on the chart. This is the level used to calculate the New Opening Gap. All colors can be customised.
0930 Opening Line example:
ICT - GAPs and Volume Imbalance
GAPs
Gaps are areas on chart where the price have moved sharply up or down, with no trading in between. Gaps often fill, but they don't have to.
Volume Imbalance
Volume imbalance - determined using 2 candles
Bullish Volume Imbalance - area between the close of 1st candle and the open of 2nd candle
Bearish Volume Imbalance - area between the close of 1st candle and the open of 2nd candle
How to use the indicator:-
When you find imbalance in volume or a GAP in the chart, you may expect price to rebalance it before continuation.
Importantly, GAPs/Imbalances do not always fill. Traders should never assume that a gap/imbalance will fill without understanding the reasons for the gap and monitoring trading activity around the gap.
Pair it with your current bias for better results.
Automatic Order Block + Imbalance by D. BrigagliaThis script combines automatic orderblock and imbalance tracking.
Bullish OB - Blue
Bullish Imbalance - Green
Bearish OB - Red
Bearish Imbalance - Orange
Please note that the actual definitions of orderblock and imbalance are not respected in this script for the sake of simplicity. Scripts that are too complex may overfit some particular chart. Since there is no way to translate the actual ob and imb definitions into pinescript language, I decided to keep it simple.
Ideally, you want to see a bullish OB followed by buy side imbalance, or viceversa. OBs that are broken weakly are generally invalidated, ones that are broken strongly generally become breakers, and you can use them as good support/resistance levels.
Also, a good thing you can do when an OB and an imbalance match, is going in the lower timeframes and catching the structure reversal in the OB or imbalance zone. That may provide excellent RR trades. Always trade with OB that confirm the HTF trend.
Nothing in my content on tradingview is considerable investment advice.
ICT Sessions (Kill Zones)Inspired by the work of ICT (Inner Circle Trader - @ICT_MHuddleston)
What are ICT KillZones:
All ICT students know that certain moments of the day are more indicated to search for good frameworks. These moments are indicated like "Kill Zones".
The best kill zones to search for profittable tradings are during the London session and during the New York session.
How This Indicator Can Help You:
With this indicator you'll see plotted in the charts the London Kill Zone and the New York Kill Zone, you'll see exactly when they start and finish, so you'll be able to understand better the price action and recognize if there are ICT framework to trade. You'll also will see when the New York lunch hour happen (this moment is not favorable for searching frameworks) and you'll see also 2 very important moments of the day, the 8.30 New York Time and the 9.30 New York Time, infact in these 2 particular moments it is most likely that some very profittable framework will appear as there are alway important economic news released in these 2 hours.
Also you'll see the New York Midnight Open, that always forms a very important level for the day trading, you could see the New York Midnight open as a real opening for markets.
Why This Indicator:
I looked for indicators working with these concepts and I could not find one that offered the kill zones sections in the way are showed in my indicator, also they just had the kill zones without showing the 8.30 and 9.30 hours and without the Ney York midnight opening, and these are very important time frames for who works with ICT concepts.
About The Indicator:
In this indicator you'll have displayed:
The regular trading sessions displayed, that is: Asian Session, London Session, New York Session.
The London Kill Zone
The New York Kill Zone
The New York Midnight Open
The New York Lunch Hour
The 8:30 News Release Hour
The 9:30 News Release Hour
All these level can be adjusted and changed as you prefer.
ICT NEW YORK MIDNIGHT OPEN AND 8.30 AM OPENTHIS SCRPT SHOWS NEW YORK MIDNIGHT OPEN PRICE AND 8.30 AM OPEN PRICE (AM SESSION)
you can use this script in forex, indices and your platform timezone should be exchange market time or new york time
ICT EverythingVersion 1.0
Global Settings
• Timezone Selection
• Hide Indicator Above Specified Time
Thematic Override
• Override Colors For Dark Theme ( Colors Set for White Theme by Default )
• Override Session Highlighting Color
Session Options
• Show Historical Sessions
• Enable/Disable Session Highlighting
• Session Specific Visibility
• Session's Crucial Time Vertical Lines w/ Options
NY Midnight Line Options
• Show Historical NY Midnight Vertical Lines
• Midnight Verticle Line Options
• Show Historical NY Midnight Price Lines
• Midnight Price Line Options
Opening Price Line Options
• New York 8:30 AM Price Line Settings
• Equities Open 9:30 AM Price Line Settings
• Option to Display Historical Price Lines
HTF Levels
• Weekly Open
• Monthly Open
label Settings
• Show/Hide Label Text
• Show/Hide Label
Day of Week
• Show Day of Week at the bottom of chart w/ Time Co-ordinates Selection
••• Message Me For Link to Frequently Updated Version of This Indicator •••
ICT Session Killzone Boxes & DeviationsICT Killzone Sessions Boxes & Deviations is a convenience indicator that marks out past and future ICT killzones for Asia, London, and New York, London Close and CBDR.
The boxes highlights the highest and lowest candle opens of that session/killzone, which is what the deviations are based on. Two lines mark out the highest high and lowest low of that session.
This indicator also includes New York midnight opening price and a vertical divider showing you that time.
Future killzones are also marked out.
All times are set to GMT-4 so these boxes should work across most exchanges. Times and code can be changed if a few don't match up.
Included are week of day labels for your convenience.
For those who are unfamiliar, ICT Killzones are optimal times to look for trades during or before a session, often providing entry for trades with orderblock tests, FVG fills or stophunts.
Please note: This indicator only works well on 1HR timeframe and below. The default max timeframe setting is set to 15min, which can be changed in the menu.
There may be some bugs so please highlight anything you find in the comments below :)
Shout out to @Ryazn for all the ideas!
ICT index correlated market indicatorThis is not a real indicator, but is what ICT use as indicator for trading futures indexes.
it can only display SP500, Dow Jon Industrial Average and Nasdaq, if someone want other market can copy the code and change some parameters (is more easy than it can appear)
A good idea is using this other market on backtest to confirm the divergence idea of Linda Raske, than use it to spot quickly in real market.
Another idea published by ICT is the "hidden entry pattern", the entry signal appear in ES or YM but I trade NQ for volatility, so I use the trigger of SP500 or Dow to enter in Nasdaq.
Rember always don't trust anybody, do your own backtest and research!
ICT KillZone [Index futures edition] Guided by new ICT Mentorship I create this versatile timezone or strikezone indicator to identify this without changing timezone (is based on America/New_York timezone, not your current timezone or GMT)
