ICT / Smart Money Concepts Glossary
The 35 key terms of the ICT / SMC methodology explained in plain English, without unnecessary jargon. Search or filter by category. Educational content only.
35 of 35 terms
Order Block · OB
Zones / POIThe last opposing candle before an expansive move (displacement). It marks the zone where institutional money originated the impulse; it typically acts as support/resistance when price returns to it.
Breaker Block
Zones / POIA failed Order Block: when price breaks the structure the OB was defending, that zone flips and begins to act in the opposite direction.
Mitigation Block
Zones / POIA zone where price returns to "mitigate" (close out) a prior institutional position. Similar to an Order Block, but originating after a liquidity grab.
Fair Value Gap · FVG
StructureA price imbalance formed by three candles where the wicks of the first and third do not overlap. It represents an inefficiency that price tends to return to fill.
Imbalance
StructureA disparity between buyers and sellers that leaves a price zone "untraded". BISI (Buy Side Imbalance Sell Side Inefficiency) and SIBI are its two forms.
Liquidity Void
StructureA price range covered with very little trading activity, typically following a strong displacement. Price tends to return to rebalance it.
Break of Structure · BOS
StructureA break of a relevant high or low in the direction of the prevailing trend. It confirms the continuation of the current directional bias.
Change of Character · ChoCH
StructureThe first signal of a potential reversal: price breaks structure against the prior trend. It anticipates a change in directional bias.
Market Structure Shift · MSS
StructureA confirmed structural shift accompanied by displacement, validating the new directional bias with greater conviction than a simple ChoCH.
Swing High / Swing Low
StructureA pivot high (swing high) or pivot low (swing low) that defines market structure and around which liquidity accumulates.
Buy Side Liquidity · BSL
LiquidityLiquidity resting above highs (sell-side stops and buy orders). Price tends to seek it out before reversing downward.
Sell Side Liquidity · SSL
LiquidityLiquidity resting below lows (buy-side stops and sell orders). Price tends to sweep it before reversing upward.
Liquidity Sweep
LiquidityA liquidity sweep: price temporarily exceeds a high/low to trigger stops and absorb orders, then reverses. Also known as a stop hunt.
Equal Highs / Equal Lows · EQH / EQL
LiquidityTwo or more highs or lows at the same level. They concentrate obvious liquidity and are frequent targets for a sweep.
Liquidity Pool
LiquidityA concentration of pending orders (stops) in a specific zone. It acts as a price magnet for institutional money.
Inducement · IDM
Liquidity"Bait" liquidity placed before a point of interest to entice premature entries, which are then swept before the real move begins.
Optimal Trade Entry · OTE
Zones / POIThe optimal entry zone within a retracement, typically between the 0.618 and 0.79 Fibonacci levels, within the corresponding discount or premium side.
Point of Interest · POI
Zones / POIAny relevant zone (OB, FVG, Breaker…) where a price reaction is anticipated and confluence is sought for trade execution.
Balanced Price Range · BPR
Zones / POIThe overlap of two opposing Fair Value Gaps. A zone of maximum efficiency where price tends to react with strength.
Consequent Encroachment · CE
Zones / POIThe midpoint (50%) of a Fair Value Gap. It is typically the precise level where price reacts within the gap.
Kill Zone
Time / SessionsA high-probability time window where institutional activity is concentrated (London KZ, New York AM/PM). Outside these windows, noise increases.
Silver Bullet
Time / SessionsA one-hour window within each session, defined by ICT, offering high-probability setups based on FVG.
Sessions (Asia / London / NY)
Time / SessionsThe three major market sessions. Asia typically accumulates a range; London and New York deliver volatility and directional displacement.
Judas Swing
Time / SessionsA false move at the open of a session that sweeps liquidity in one direction before reversing toward the actual move of the day.
Power of Three · PO3 / AMD
ConceptsThe Accumulation, Manipulation, and Distribution (AMD) model that describes how a candle or an institutional move is constructed.
IPDA
ConceptsInterbank Price Delivery Algorithm: the "algorithm" which, according to ICT, delivers price by seeking liquidity and rebalancing inefficiencies. Studied over 20/40/60-day ranges.
Displacement
StructureA strong, directional move with dominant bodies that typically leaves a Fair Value Gap behind. A signal of institutional intent.
Turtle Soup
LiquidityA reversal setup that trades the failure of a breakout: after sweeping a high/low, price returns inside the range.
Dealing Range
ConceptsThe trading range defined between the last swing that took liquidity and the opposite extreme. The basis for measuring premium/discount.
Smart Money
ConceptsInstitutional capital (banks, funds) whose footprint SMC methodology attempts to track, as opposed to "retail" money.
ICT (Inner Circle Trader)
ConceptsAn analytical methodology created by Michael J. Huddleston, centred on liquidity, inefficiencies, and timing (kill zones) to read price delivery.
Smart Money Concepts · SMC
ConceptsA set of concepts derived from ICT (Order Blocks, FVG, BOS/ChoCH, liquidity) for reading and following the footprints of institutional money.
Liquidity Run
LiquidityPrice travelling from one liquidity zone to another (BSL to SSL or vice versa), defining the probable target of the move.
Rejection Block
Zones / POIA zone defined by rejection wicks (not bodies) at an extreme. Useful when rejection leaves long shadows without a clear OB body.
Educational content only. This does not constitute financial advice and does not guarantee any results. Trading involves the risk of capital loss.