Active since the 1990s · Forex and index futures · Trading educator

ICT Concepts Explained: Inner Circle Trader Basics

The educator behind much of today's "smart money" vocabulary: liquidity, fair value gaps, order blocks and killzones.

Who they were

Michael J. Huddleston teaches under the name Inner Circle Trader (ICT), mostly through free online videos. Much of the vocabulary now called smart money concepts, such as fair value gaps, order blocks, liquidity and killzones, was popularised by his teaching.

His ideas are popular and also debated: some concepts restate classic price action, and claims about market makers and algorithms are hard to verify. Treat them as models to test, not as facts.

Principles and rules

1. Liquidity

Price is drawn to where stops and orders rest: equal highs and lows, previous day and session extremes.

2. Fair value gaps and order blocks

Imbalances and the origin of strong moves are zones where price often reacts on its return.

3. Premium and discount

Buy in the lower half of a dealing range, sell in the upper half.

4. Time of day

Killzones such as the London and New York opens concentrate the moves; setups like the Silver Bullet are time-based.

5. Market structure

Breaks of structure and shifts in market structure define direction.

Key lessons

Know where the obvious stops are.
Time and price together define good setups.
Test every concept on data before trusting it.

Strategies from this method

ICT Silver BulletDuring a specific one-hour window, look for price to reach toward liquidity and enter on the first fair value gap in that direction.Optimal trade entry (OTE)After an impulse breaks structure, the deep 62–79% retracement offers a discounted entry with a tight stop.Liquidity sweep + CHoCH reversalWait for price to take out obvious stops, then for a break of structure the other way, and enter on the pullback into the imbalance.

How to practise it

Candlemind's concept library explains each ICT term on real charts, and the Market Lens draws liquidity, sweeps, CHoCH, FVGs and order blocks on every trade. Try the liquidity sweep, OTE and Silver Bullet strategies and compare their statistics.

Frequently asked questions

What does ICT stand for in trading?

Inner Circle Trader, the name under which Michael J. Huddleston teaches.

Is ICT the same as smart money concepts?

Smart money concepts (SMC) is the broader name used by many educators for ideas largely popularised by ICT.

Summaries and paraphrases of public books and interviews, for education. Not investment advice.