All Five ICT Entry Models Explained | JadeCap

The majority of traders lose money because they enter the market at the wrong time. In this breakdown, I will explain the exact entry models I utilized to generate over one million dollars in just two years, analyzing each one step by step. Although I have been trading for 14 years, it was only in the last few that I truly refined my strategy. It took nearly a decade for me to achieve consistency; consequently, I am sharing my experience and knowledge here to help you shortcut your own journey toward becoming a profitable trader. 

ICT Entry Models: Premium/Discount—Liquidity Raids—Fair Value Gaps—Order Blocks—Breaker Blocks. 

I. Premium and Discount

The first entry model is the fundamental concept of premium and discount. We utilize the Fibonacci retracement tool to define our specific trading range by anchoring it to a swing low and a swing high if we are bullish, or a swing high and a swing low if we are bearish. This allows us to identify the 50% equilibrium level, as well as the deep discount and premium zones.

Discount, Equilibrium, and Premium Zones: S&P 500 (1 hour candles).

 

After establishing these swing points, we wait for a retracement beyond the 50% threshold—into discount for buys or premium for sells—before hunting for an entry. Our objectives are typically a Fibonacci extension outside the range or the range high/low. In a bullish scenario, we wait for price to dip into the discount zone before targeting the previous high or a specific Fibonacci extension. Conversely, in a bearish scenario, we target the previous low or the extension.

 

Discount, Equilibrium, and Premium Zones: EURUSD (15 minute candles).

Regarding execution, candle confirmation is not strictly necessary. For instance, within a bullish range, any area below the 50% mark is considered a discount and serves as a favorable entry point. This model is particularly effective for limit orders, allowing traders to execute without being anchored to their screens. We enter long via a buy limit and place the stop loss outside the range. Because a setup is not technically invalidated until the initial swing point is breached, your stop loss should remain at that level to avoid being "chopped up" by price volatility.

II. Liquidity Raids 

This entry model identifies zones where "smart money" is likely accumulating positions: liquidity raids, commonly known as "Turtle Soup." First, we identify the specific liquidity pool we expect to be raided, such as a Previous Weekly High (PWH), Previous Daily Low (PDL), or session-specific levels like the Asian range.  

 

Liquidity Raids: EURUSD (5 minute candles).

A common mistake among novice traders is entering the market the moment a level is penetrated. Instead, we wait for a candle to close back inside the range. We look for a strong rejection followed by a close above or below the previous swing point. Only then do we enter, placing our stop loss beyond the newly created swing high or low. This ensures a superior risk-to-reward ratio, as it allows the market to signal an actual intent to reverse rather than forcing us to catch a "falling knife."

 

III. Fair Value Gap (FVG)

The Fair Value Gap (FVG) is a three-candle pattern where the second candle is so impulsive that the wicks of the first and third candles do not meet, leaving an imbalance, a "gap." We wait for the market to rebalance by trading back into this zone. 

 

Bullish Fair Value Gap: EURUSD (15 minute candles).

Ideally, the entry should be executed as price moves against the desired order flow. If we are looking to go long, we buy while price is actively dipping into the gap. While many traders demand extra confirmation, the most effective entries often occur when the market looks visually "weak," as this is where you secure the best pricing. 

 

Stop-loss placement can be aggressive (at the gap's edge) or conservative (at the high/low of the first candle). I recommend the conservative approach to give the trade sufficient room to breathe.

 

IV. Order Blocks

An order block is a down-closed candle prior to a move higher or an up-closed candle prior to a move lower. High-probability order blocks are those paired with an FVG. When an FVG rests immediately above or below an order block, it validates the level as a high-probability zone for institutional activity. 

 

Order Blocks and Breaker Blocks: Gold (5 minute candles).

We enter as the market retraces into that order block, anticipating a rejection. For instance, if several consecutive candles form an order block that aligns with an FVG, the bodies of the subsequent candles should respect that level.

 

V. Breaker Blocks

The breaker block combines liquidity concepts with order blocks. It is an order block formed prior to a raid on liquidity that is subsequently broken by a decisive move. If price sweeps liquidity and then aggressively trades through the original order block, that level transitions into a "breaker." We enter on the retracement back into the breaker's range.

 

Breaker Block: EURUSD (5 minute candles).

Stop-loss placement can be complex; I tend to favor a conservative placement because breakers can produce deep wicks that may stop out aggressive traders before the trend resumes. Often, a breaker overlaps with a fair value gap; in such cases, you might utilize the 50% equilibrium of the gap or the high/low of the original order block to set your invalidation point.

 

Every ICT Entry Model in 23 Minutes.

 

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Ultimately, whether you are utilizing premium/discount, liquidity raids, or gaps, success depends on proper stop-loss placement and trade management. A stopped-out trade does not necessarily mean the setup failed—it often suggests the stop loss was too aggressive for the market's inherent volatility.

 

Reference:
JadeCap (2025) - Every ICT Entry Model in 23 Minutes. (video)

 

A Secret to Liquidity Sweeps.

 

See also:

JadeCap (2026) - One Trading Strategy for Life: The "Daily Sweep."

orderbloque (2025) - Market Logic Based on Liquidity, Volume, and Inefficiency. 

TPR - ICT Price Action. 

One Trading Strategy for Life: The "Daily Sweep" | JadeCap

The 'Daily Sweep' strategy changed my life forever, powering me to a world-record $2.5 million payout from Apex Trader Funding in April 2024. Before mastering this methodology, I was caught in the cycle of 'strategy hopping,' constantly jumping from one system to the next. That ended here. This approach is the last one I will ever need, and my goal today is to teach it to you in full. By the end of this, you’ll have a clear, mechanical system to help you escape the noise and finally achieve consistent profitability.

 

» Mark all hourly swing points that haven't yet been traded to from yesterday leading up to 8AM.

If we are trading beyond yesterday's price action, use the next most recent day. «

 

Step One: Identifying Hourly Swing Points

Step one is deceptively simple, yet its precise execution is mandatory for the rest of the system to work. Every morning at 8:00 a.m. EST—ninety minutes before the US equity open—I sit down to map out the field. I meticulously mark every hourly swing point from the previous day leading up to the current session. If price action has moved beyond yesterday's range, simply pull data from the next most recent day. This pre-market routine ensures that by 9:30 a.m., I have a crystal-clear map of where liquidity is resting.  

» By 9:30 a.m., I have a crystal-clear map of where liquidity is resting. «  

Higher highs and higher lows or lower highs and lower lows?

 

It is critical to perform this analysis exclusively on the one-hour timeframe. While intraday trading involves lower timeframes, we require the one-hour chart to serve as our higher timeframe anchor to guide our decision-making. In the context of the Daily Sweep model, the hourly chart provides the necessary indication of when we can begin hunting for specific setups. We do not descend into lower timeframes until we receive high-level confirmation on the hourly chart.

To understand this step, one must first master the technical definition of a swing point. A swing low is defined by a three-candle pattern where a specific candle’s low is flanked by two candles with higher lows. Once the third candle in the sequence closes at the top of the hour, the central low is officially validated as a bullish swing point. Conversely, a swing high occurs when a central candle is flanked by two candles with lower highs. Again, we must wait for the closure of the third hourly candle before that peak is confirmed as a bearish swing point.

These swing points are vital because they allow us to identify market structure. When the market creates higher highs and higher lows, it is objectively bullish; lower highs and lower lows indicate a bearish trend. In a trending market, opposing swing points will often fail as the trend continues. However, the market rarely moves in a linear fashion, and we frequently see short-term "runs" on these swing points—where the market raids a low to gather liquidity before continuing higher. As traders, we are not seeking 100% certainty; rather, we are making a high-probability educated guess, ideally with a 60% to 70% success rate, to align ourselves with the higher timeframe trend.

Step Two: The Swing Failure Pattern (SFP)

Once you have identified your major swing points, you must integrate the concept of the Swing Failure Pattern (SFP). Without this secondary layer, the identified swing points are merely arbitrary lines on a chart. An SFP occurs when the price briefly breaches a significant swing high or low but reverses rapidly, failing to sustain momentum and closing back within the previous range. This phenomenon indicates a liquidity grab or a potential trend reversal.

Bullish and Bearish Swing Failure Patterns: When price briefly breaks a significant swing high or low but quickly reverses, 

failing to sustain the move and closing back within the previous range, indicating a potential trend reversal or liquidity grab. 

Why do they work? Instead of trying to anticipate the reversal, this provides confirmation that it is actually happening. 

In the marketplace, liquidity often clusters around these swing points. Traders entering "long" positions typically place their protective stop-loss orders just below a swing low, while "short" sellers place theirs above a swing high. The SFP allows us to capitalize on the moment these stop-losses are triggered. We are looking for the market to run through a swing point and then show a definitive rejection in the opposite direction.

A key distinction must be made: the mere breach of a level is not an SFP. We require a strong closure back within the range for confirmation. For instance, if the market raids a swing low, we do not simply buy the moment the level is touched; we wait for a bullish hourly candle to close back above that previous low. This provides confirmation that the "Smart Money" has entered the market, allowing us to ride their coattails rather than attempting to front-run the move.

 

"In professional trading, you do not want to be the first person rushing through the door. Those who rush in first are often the ones who get shot. Waiting for confirmation allows you to capture the 'meat' of the move rather than obsessing over 'top-ticking' or 'bottom-ticking' the market."

My mentors at a major Chicago trading firm emphasized that this filter saves significant capital. In my earlier years, I lost thousands of dollars attempting to trade "Turtle Soups" or liquidity raids by entering as soon as a level was breached. I would often watch the price drift slightly further, trigger my stop loss, and only then move in my intended direction. By waiting for the hourly SFP closure, we ensure that the lows or highs we are trading against are protected by confirmed institutional activity.

Intraday Execution and Case Studies

Once an SFP is confirmed on the one-hour chart, you can transition to lower timeframes—such as the one-minute, five-minute, or fifteen-minute charts—to refine your entry. The goal is to anticipate that the next several hourly candles will trade in the direction indicated by the SFP.

 NASDAQ (hourly charts): Setups and Trading Examples.

Looking at the NASDAQ (NQ) as an example (charts above), we can observe this pattern nearly every day. On a typical morning, if we identify a swing low and witness an SFP at the 8:00 a.m. candle closure, we can anticipate a bullish expansion during the New York session. In one specific instance, an SFP provided a move with a 3R (three times the risk) return on the hourly chart alone. If a trader were to refine that entry on a five-minute chart with a tighter stop-loss, the reward-to-risk ratio could be significantly higher.

All Five ICT Entry Models: Premium/Discount, Liquidity Raids, 

Fair Value Gaps, Order Blocks, and Breaker Blocks. 

 

It is important to note certain market conditions, such as holiday gaps. For example, during the period surrounding Thanksgiving and Black Friday, the lack of overnight data can make SFPs "sketchy" or unreliable. In such cases, it is often prudent to wait for the market to return to normal volume. However, on standard trading days, the pattern is remarkably consistent. Whether the market is trending or ranging, plotting the previous day's swing points and waiting for a session-open SFP—during either the London or New York sessions—provides a crystal-clear roadmap.  

 

The "Daily Sweep" Trading Strategy I Will Use for Life.

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I encourage you to perform your own "homework" by backtesting this on your charts. Plot your hourly swing points, identify the swing failure patterns, and observe how the subsequent hourly candles behave. This is the exact strategy I utilized to generate millions of dollars. While many traders have access to profitable strategies, they often fail due to a lack of discipline. I struggled for ten years before I was able to make this work, but by sticking to this one clear system, you can finally overcome the cycle of inconsistency.

Reference:
JadeCap (February 14, 2026) - The "Daily Sweep" Trading Strategy I Will Use for Life. (video)

 

 
See also:

JadeCap (2025) - The Only ICT Daily Bias Video You'll Ever Need. (video) 

JadeCap (2025) - Simple ICT Day Trading Strategy That Works Every Day. 

Darya Filipenka (2024) - ICT Daily and Intraday Bias. 

Darya Filipenka (2024) - ICT Optimal Trade Entry (OTE). 

Max Singh (2019) - Turtle Soup—Day In, Day Out. 

 Richie Naso (2025) - How Algorithms Impact Market Direction: 80% of Breakouts Fail.

Larry Williams (2022) - How Markets Move: The Natural Cycle of Range Change. 

Larry Williams (2000) - Swing Points as Trend Change Indication. 

Larry Williams (1999) - Three Bar Patterns: The Smallest Fractals of Market Structure.  

Engulfing Bar Strategy | JadeCap

This one pattern helped me make over $4 million in the last three years and even break the world-record payout at Apex. Let me show you exactly how it works:

 

» For a true engulfing pattern, the new candle must break the previous candle’s low and the previous candle’s high. «

 

What Is an Engulfing Bar? We’re simply looking for two candles—along with proper context—to define the pattern: Imagine we have a down candle with its open, high, low, and close. The next candle is what determines whether we have an engulfing bar. For a true engulfing pattern, the new candle must break the previous candle’s low and the previous candle’s high. It completely “engulfs” the previous range (aka Outside Bar/Candle).

 

So picture the first down candle closing. The next candle runs below that low, takes it out, reverses, pushes above the prior high, and closes somewhere near the top half of its range. That two-candle formation gives us a tremendous amount of information about where the next candle—or even the next several candles—may go.

 

Understanding the Context: Inside a higher-timeframe candle (4-Hour or daily), there are dozens of smaller candles—1-minute, 5-minute, 15-minute—that form all the micro-structure. Within that lower-timeframe structure, the engulfing pattern represents:

 

▪ A Liquidity Raid

▪ A Shift in Market Structure

▪ A Smart Money Reversal

▪ A Market Maker Buy Model (for bullish engulfing)

So although it's only two candles on a higher timeframe, those two candles often reflect an entire lower-timeframe reversal model.

The key is the closure. Many beginners think a candle will close as an engulfing bar, only for it to close weakly or back inside the prior range. That invalidates the pattern. A proper engulfing bar should close with a strong, decisive body—typically in the upper 50% for bullish setups, or the lower 50% for bearish setups.

Bullish vs. Bearish Examples: For a bullish engulfing bar, the second candle runs below the prior low, reverses, and breaks the prior high (Outside Candle). For a bearish engulfing bar, it runs above the prior high, reverses, and breaks the prior low. Both reflect a higher-timeframe representation of a lower-timeframe Market Maker Model.

 

» Every setup has a failure rate. «

 

What Most Traders Don’t Realize: Every setup—Engulfing Bars, Fair Value Gaps (FVGs), Market Maker Models—has a failure rate. I learned this the hard way after blowing dozens of accounts trying to trade every engulfing bar I saw. Two things matter:

1. Every setup fails sometimes. If you backtest these candles, you'll see some of them lose. Your job is not to find the magical 100%-win-rate setup. It doesn’t exist. You may find these patterns work 60% of the time. Your winners must be managed well enough to pay for the losers.
2. Location matters. A lot. When I was new, I took every engulfing bar. That was a huge mistake.
   ▪ If you're bullish, you want the engulfing bar to form at a swing low, ideally after taking out sell-side liquidity.
   ▪ If it forms after taking out buy-side liquidity—at a high—it's often a sign of exhaustion and more likely to fail.
   ▪ The reverse is true for bearish setups.

Avoid:

▪ Bullish engulfing bars printed at or after taking out buy-side liquidity.

▪ Bearish engulfing bars printed at or after taking out sell-side liquidity.

 

These filters alone drastically improve your win rate.

 

The $98,000 Example: Let’s walk through the trade from last week. We printed a large bullish engulfing candle immediately after FOMC. The candle swept sell-side liquidity, reversed, broke the prior high, and closed strongly—exactly what we want at a swing low. We were also inside a daily Fair Value Gap (FVG), adding even more confluence.

 

Bullish Engulfing Bar Setup in the NZDUSD (4-Hour candles). 

My first target was buy-side liquidity above the highs. Since the market was near all-time highs, I was also looking for a move toward the psychological 25,000 level. As soon as the futures market reopened at 6 p.m., I entered with a 20-lot position. My stop was below the weekly open. I was looking for roughly a 1:3 risk-to-reward.

 

On the lower timeframes, the price action continued to confirm the model—bullish FVGs forming on the way up, continuation structure holding. Meanwhile, bearish engulfing candles printed at swing lows failed, exactly like we want to see.

 

I showed the live account login on the video: real balance, real fills, floating around $93,000 at one point. But the dollar amount doesn’t matter. If your account is small, making $200 or $400 using the same rules is identical—it’s just a matter of position size. Years ago, I was risking $500–$1,000. As my net worth grew, I increased my risk proportionally. Eventually, price hit my target and I closed the trade for roughly $98,000.

 

Final Thoughts: Engulfing bars are easy to spot—but only powerful when combined with

 

    ▪ Proper context

    ▪ Liquidity understanding

    ▪ Market structure

    ▪ Higher-timeframe narrative

    ▪ Disciplined trade management

 

Your homework is to backtest and forward-test these exact setups: where the engulfing bar forms, where the liquidity sits, where your stop should go, and how to trail it as price moves in your favor. Scaling in, adjusting stops, and managing the trade all revolve around that one pattern.

With this engulfing bar strategy and the rules I just shared, you now have everything you need to start identifying high-probability opportunities. Remember: profitable trading isn’t about talent or luck—it’s about discipline, patience, and following your rules every single time.

Reference:

JadeCap (Sep 27, 2025) - I made $98,741 Trading This Simple Candlestick Strategy. (video)

 

Stop using the wrong timeframes. Use H4 and M15.

 

See also:

JadeCap (July 18, 2025) - Simple ICT Day Trading Strategy That Works Every Day.
JadeCap (July 17, 2025) - ICT Intraday Liquidity & Volatility Trading Playbook.

Michael J. Huddleston (2022) - Trading the Outside Day Candle. (video) 

Michael J. Huddleston (2022) - The Two Fair Value Gaps: Profiting from Imbalance. (video) 

Larry Williams (1998) - Outside Bar Trading Setups. 

"Bull Hook" Toby Crabel Price Pattern in the S&P 500

The Toby Crabel Bull Hook pattern, present on July 18 (Fri), in the S&P 500 Cash Index, implies a potential short-term upward move for trading starting July 21, 2025. 

 

A Bull Hook happens when a bar has a lower range than the previous one, with its opening price

higher than the previous bar’s high and its closing price lower than the previous bar’s close.

 

Price action created the narrowest range of the last 8 days with a lower daily close. The daily bar has a "hook" shape (a bull flag on lower timeframes), hinting at a potential reversal to the upside due to consolidation and a shift in sentiment. The Bull Hook pattern is generally bullish, opening above the previous day's high and closing lower with a narrowing range. It's often followed by upward price moves in the days after. 

 

A recent analysis by Ali Casey provides additional insights. The Bull Hook pattern has limitations, including its better performance in trending or volatile markets, the potential for false signals and losses in some cases, and its reliance on precise execution, which can be influenced by news or macroeconomic events.
 

Reference:

Toby Crabel (1990) - Day Trading With Short Term Price Patterns And Opening Range Breakout. 

Ali Casey (2024)  - Toby Crabel’s Bull Hook Trading Strategy Tested. 

 MyPivots.com (2025) - Scanner for Toby Crabel Price Patterns.

"8 Bar Narrow Range" (8BNR) Toby Crabel Price Pattern in the NASDAQ

The 8 Bar Narrow Range (8BNR) is a technical trading pattern developed by Toby Crabel, introduced in his book "Day Trading with Short Term Price Patterns and Opening Range Breakout". 

 

8 Bar Narrow Range (8BNR) pattern in the NASDAQ on July 11, 2025.

 

It is part of his framework of price action patterns that focus on periods of volatility contraction (narrow price ranges) as precursors to potential volatility expansion (significant price movements). Here's an explanation of what the 8BNR pattern suggests and its implications for traders:

The 8BNR pattern occurs when the 8-day range (the difference between the highest high and the lowest low over an 8-day period) is the narrowest range compared to any other 8-day period within the last 40 trading sessions. This indicates a period of low volatility or price consolidation, where the market has been trading in a relatively tight range over the past eight days compared to recent history.

The 8BNR signals a potential breakout, but it does not specify the direction. Traders often use the pattern in conjunction with Crabel’s ORB strategy:

 

Long Trade: Place a buy stop order at the open price plus the "stretch" (a calculated value based on the 10-day simple moving average of the smaller difference between the open and high/low).
Short Trade: Place a sell stop order at the open price minus the stretch.

 

Crabel’s research suggests that breakouts are more likely to be profitable if they occur early in the trading session. Trades triggered later in the day carry higher risk and may warrant smaller position sizes or avoidance of overnight holds. The 8BNR is more reliable when it occurs after a clear trend or during a pullback in a trending market. Multiple narrow range patterns in close proximity (e.g., consecutive NR7 or 3BNR, 4BNR, 8BNR days) may indicate congestion, reducing the reliability of the breakout.

Price always moves from Consolidation to Expansion,

never from Consolidation to Reversal or from Consolidation to Retracement. 

Like all technical patterns, the 8BNR is not foolproof. False breakouts, market noise, or unexpected events can lead to losses. Traders should avoid mechanical application and incorporate additional technical or fundamental analysis to confirm signals. Always combine the pattern with other market analysis for best results.

  

Reference:
Toby Crabel (1990) - Day Trading With Short Term Price Patterns And Opening Range Breakout. 

orderbloque (March 1, 2025)  - Market Logic Based on Liquidity, Volume, and Inefficiency. 

Larry Williams (January 20, 2025)  - How Markets Move: The Natural Cycle of Range Change. 

 TPR (August 23, 2024)  - Recent Toby Crabel Price Pattern Setups in the E-mini S&P 500 Futures.

Toby Crabel (June 14, 2024)  - The Principle of Contraction/Expansion.

TPR (December 13, 2018)  - From Contraction to Breakout to Expansion.

V-Shaped Reversal vs Choppy Re-Test Bottoming Pattern | Subu Trade

Market bottoms are usually a process. They often involve choppy price action and possibly a re-test of the lows, instead of a V-shaped recovery back to all-time highs. Crash and re-test Patterns happened during the 2016, 2015, 2011, 1998, and 1987 crashes. In contrast, V-shaped recoveries to new highs—like those in early 2019 and post-COVID 2020—are less common. 

 

[...] Let’s review some 15–30% market declines from the past 40 years:

S&P in 2015.

S&P in 2011.

S&P in 2010.

S&P in 1998.

S&P in 1990.

S&P in 1987.

Markets don’t often rally straight back to all-time highs without pause. V-shaped bottoms typically require significant policy support. If Trump makes a deal and reduces tariffs on China, that could help trigger a V-shaped recovery.

S&P in 2018.

  

S&P in 2020. 

 

SPY in 2025.

V-shaped reversal or choppy bottom?

Overall, I lean toward a “choppy bottom” instead of a V-shaped recovery. Trump’s primary focus is on fighting China, the US’ top economic rival. As part of his trade negotiations with countries in Asia, Europe, and North and South America, he may push for the US’ allies to impose tariffs on China as well. If successful, this could effectively isolate China from the global trade system, forcing other nations to choose sides. Given that the US is the world’s largest consumer market (a major net importer) and China is the biggest net exporter, most countries would likely align with the US because it is in their economic interest to do so.

Bottomline: the current rally should continue, but with significant volatility. While a V-shaped recovery is possible, it is not the most likely scenario.

Quoted from:
Subu Trade (April 12, 2025) - Markets Report: Is the Bottom in? Here’s what history says. Volatile vs. V-shaped bottom.