ICT Trade Journal: How I Really Trade

Last Update: September 25, 2024

My name is Edris, and I’ve been an ICT trader for the last couple of years. When I started learning ICT concepts, I had already tried several different strategies but still had no consistency. However, when I fully grasped the ICT trading strategy and created my own strategy based on ICT trading concepts, I finally cracked trading.

I’m not bashing any trading strategy. I believe you can be a profitable trader with almost any proper strategy if you are disciplined and have robust risk management. Either way, in this article, I will post my ICT trades to show you whether and how the strategy really works. This article will be updated frequently, so make sure to check every once in a while.

Check out our free ICT trading concepts guide and the Inner Circle Trader YouTube channel to learn how the concepts work.

ICT Trade #1 (July 1, 2024)

I started the day by having no daily bias at all. The price demonstrated a large bullish weekly opening gap last night. Yet, I still believe the overall trend for EUR/USD is bearish, and I expect a weekly high to form in the first couple of days this week.

Right at the beginning of the ICT London Killzone, the price has taken out the Asian range high and rallied higher into a large 4-hour Fair Value Gap. I waited for the market to show my Asian Range Hunt strategy’s entry criteria. When I got it, I entered the trade instantly.

As you can see, the price has already swept the Asian range high and demonstrated a market structure shift. Then, an ICT Bearish FVG formed. The price was rejected by the ICT Fair Value Gap, and I entered the position right after I saw the rejection. I set my stop loss above the previous swing high and set my take profit order near the latest swing low. My target Risk/Reward ratio was 2. It’s a classic ICT Mentorship 2022 model.

The image above shows what the 5-minute timeframe looked like. The price was inside a 4-hour fair value gap and trading above the NY Midnight Opening Price (daily premium). Moreover, while the momentum was bullish, I stuck to my trading plan and executed the trade as soon as the market ticked all my boxes.

Finally, here’s how the trade ended, and my take-profit order got hit as the screenshot above shows. It was a nice 2R trade. Note that the price gave another entry later, but I did not add to my position because of the uncertainty in my ICT daily bias.

The image above displays my MetaTrader 5 chart and clearly shows my entry and exit points. So, this wraps up the first of many ICT trades I will take and share with you on this blog.

Trade Result: +2R

Setup: Asian Range Hunt Strategy in ICT London Killzone

Read More: What Is an Order Block?

ICT Trade #2 (September 25, 2024)

Starting with the daily timeframe, I’ve witnessed that yesterday’s candle, while being very bullish, has failed to sweep the buyside liquidity pool around the 1.12 mark. So, I was completely convinced that today’s daily bias is bullish, and I was ready to look for setups supporting my bias.

It was a few minutes before the ICT New York Killzone (7 AM NY Time) that I detected a decent bullish market structure shift and a failed bearish fair value gap which indicated that the market is willing to begin a rally. Sell side liquidity has also been already taken out. So, I waited for the price to form a bullish fair value gap and bounce from it and entered a long position right at on the 7 AM 5-minute candle.

I put my stop loss below the recent low and set my take profit at the daily buy side liquidity. With the price also gradually declining below the midnight opening price (MOP) since the beginning of the day, my analysis was also in line with the ICT power of three, as the market has gone through both the accumulation and manipulation periods. Yet, I was carefully watching out for the price’s reaction to the MOP, as it can act as a resistance level.

The market initially pushed higher, then pulled back to the failed bearish fair value gap, which now acted as a bullish inverse fair value gap (IFVG) to hold the price. That’s when I added to my position, as the price has reached another entry point according to my ICT strategy.

Consequently, the market reacted to the IFVG and began a significant surge. As the price approached the midnight opening price (MOP), it began to consolidate, successfully tested and bounced back higher from the nearby bullish FVG. It was right at 8:30 AM when my TP got hit, wrapping up a nice ICT trade.

And here’s how I ended the day after this trade. The screenshot is from the TradeLocker platform.

Trade Result: +2.66R

Setup: Liquidity Run Before 8:30 AM New York Time

Conclusion

ICT trading strategy has changed my trading career for the better. If you are also an ICT student, make sure to check out this blog post every once in a while. I will put my ICT trades whenever I take one and offer some explanation. This way, you will see how the ICT strategy works and how I trade using ICT concepts. Make sure to go through the screenshots and explanations. If you have any questions, feel free to ask them in the comment section or send an email via the Contact page.

Disclaimer: All the information in this post is for educational purposes only and should not be considered investment advice. Trading in the financial markets is a high-risk endeavor. So, make sure to protect your capital at all times.