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ICT Terms and Abbreviations
B[/B]
• Alphabetical terms and abbreviations — H through O
H&S (or HS, or H-S, or H/S) — (see head-and-shoulders top)
H1, H4, D1, etc. — chart time-frames (1-hour chart, 4-hour chart, Daily chart, etc.); expanded list: m1, m5, m15, m30, H1, H2, H3, H4, H6, H8, D1, W1, M1
hammer — a candlestick (of either color) having a short real body, a very short upper wick, and a long lower wick; it typically occurs following a down-move
handle — given a price of the form x.xxyy (or xxx.yy in the case of yen pairs), the part of the price denoted by x’s is referred to as the “handle”
hanging man — a candlestick identical to a hammer, except that it typically occurs following an up-move
head-and-shoulders top — an ITH (the “head”) preceded by, and followed by, a lower ITH; or a LTH (the “head”) preceded by, and followed by, a lower LTH
HH — higher high
hidden divergence — trend-following divergence (see type 2 divergence)
hidden OTE — an OTE found by pulling a fib (1) from a price point other than a SH or SL (e.g., a KSR, a fig, or mid-fig), or (2) from SH to SH, or from SL to SL
high probability price patterns — certain candlestick patterns and chart patterns which reliably signal price direction — see list on page 5
higher time frame — for most day traders and short-term traders, HTF means a time frame higher than 1-hour (e.g., 4-hour, Daily, Weekly, or Monthly)
HL — higher low
H-L — high-low (or high minus low) referring to a price range (e.g., Daily H-L range, Weekly H-L range, etc.)
holy grail (or ICT grail, or ICT holy grail) — an OTE (either buy or sell) confirmed by a type 2 (hidden, trend-following) oscillator divergence
HTF — (see higher time frame)
ICT — (see InnerCircleTrader)
indi — (see indicator)
indicator — a derivative of recent price data, computed in real time by algorithm, which purports to reveal certain trends or tendencies regarding future prices
InnerCircleTrader — may refer to Michael Huddleston, his methodology, his tools, his forum threads, or his videos
inside day — a daily candle with a lower high, and a higher low, than the previous daily candle; usually it signals a trend continuation
institutional level (or institutional price level) — price of the form x.xx20 (the 20 level), or x.xx80 (the 80 level)
interbank network — a group of top-tier banks, electronically linked through EBS or Reuters for currency trading among themselves and with major clients
inter-market analysis — analysis of correlations between interest rates, equities, commodities and currencies during conditions of inflation or deflation
intermediate-term high — a fractal high preceded by, and followed by, a lower fractal high
intermediate-term low — a fractal low preceded by, and followed by, a higher fractal low
inverted head and shoulders bottom — an ITL (the “head”) preceded by, and followed by, a higher ITL; or a LTL preceded by, and followed by, a higher LTL
ITH — (see intermediate-term high)
ITL — (see intermediate-term low)
JST — Japanese Standard Time (JST=GMT+9), the time zone, year-round, throughout Japan — see Tokyo time
Judas swing — a false price move (by smart money) to run stops and lure street money to the wrong side of the market, ahead of the real (opposite) move
Ken Roberts — trading and lifesyle guru, author, and lecturer; Michael credits Ken Roberts with the 62%-79% retracement concept (which Michael calls OTE)
key S/R — (see key support and resistance levels)
key support and resistance levels — S/R levels identified on HTF charts (H4, D1, W1), and then transferred to the LTF charts being analyzed or traded
kill zone — one of 4 high-probability time periods (typically 2 hours each) in which to find trade set-ups using ICT tools; see A-KZ, LO-KZ, NYO-KZ, and LC-KZ
kiwi — nickname of the NZD/USD pair
KSR — (see key support and resistance levels)
KZ — (see kill zone)
large range day — a day whose H-L price range (the day’s high minus the day’s low) substantially exceeds the day’s ADR
large specs — large futures and options speculators whose position sizes require reporting to the CFTC; their net (aggregate) position appears in the COT report
Larry Williams — well-known millionaire commodity trader, author, and lecturer; Michael refers to Larry Williams as one of his mentors
LC — (see London Close)
LC-KZ — (see London Close Kill Zone)
LH — lower high
LL — lower low
L/NY overlap — London/New York overlap (both markets open) 1pm-5pm London time, 8am-noon, New York time; see London session and New York session
LO — (see London Open)
LO-KZ — (see London Open Kill Zone)
London Close — 5pm London time, the end of the normal business day in London
London Close Kill Zone — nominally 4pm-6pm London time (this time period may be expanded at the discretion of the trader); this is one of 4 kill zones
London Open — 8am London time, the beginning of the normal business day in London
London Open Kill Zone — nominally 7am-9am London time (this time period may be expanded at the discretion of the trader); this is one of 4 kill zones
London pivots — daily pivot levels based on midnight London time as the start of each forex trading day
London session — 8am-5pm London time; the final 4 hours of this session (the L/NY overlap) typically constitute the highest-volume period of the trading day
London time — GMT (October-March), or BST=GMT+1 (March-October) — Note: Michael always refers to London time as GMT, regardless of time of year
long-term high — an intermediate-term high preceded by, and followed by, a lower intermediate-term high
long-term low — an intermediate-term low preceded by, and followed by, a higher intermediate-term low
loonie — one of the nicknames of the USD/CAD pair
lower time frame — for most day traders and short-term traders, LTF means a time frame lower than 1-hour (e.g., 30-minute, 15-minute, or 5-minute)
LTF — (see lower time frame)
LTH — (see long-term high)
LTL — (see long-term low)
MA (or SMA) — (see moving average)
MACD — (see moving average convergence/divergence indicator)
major market analysis (MMA) — (see inter-market analysis)
market flow — market direction (trend) indicated by the most recent break of a fractal high or low on a HTF chart (H1, H4, D1, W1); compare to market structure
market-maker — a top-tier bank, a member of the interbank network (where the currency market is literally “made”); see banks, and smart money
market-maker profile —
market profile — one of 4 current market environments: consolidation range profile, breakout (real or false) profile, trending profile, and reversal profile
market structure —an analysis method based on patterns of STH’s, STL’s, ITH’s, ITL’s, LTH’s and LTL’s on higher time frame (HTF) charts (H4, D1, and W1)
MF — (see market flow)
Michael — Michael Huddleston (screen-names: InnerCircleTrader and ICT), American stock/commodity/currency trader, and former contributor on the Babypips site
mid fig — (see mid figure)
mid figure — price of the form x.xx50 (the 50 level)
Millionaire Traders’ Guild — Michael’s thread (closed) on the “Show Me the Money - Daytrading” forum, emphasizing a plan-based approach to using the ICT tools
MM — def.1 (see market-maker)
MM — def.2 (see money management)
MMA — major market analysis (see inter-market analysis)
MMP — (see market-maker profile)
momentum indicator — a technical indicator (e.g., MACD) which measures the strength of a prevailing trend; it can be used instead of a price oscillator
money management — the proper use (in planning a trade) of position size, stop-loss, and R/R (reward/risk) ratio in order to limit losses and preserve capital
moving average (or simple moving average) — the average of the data from the most recent n-number of periods, not weighted (compare to EMA)
moving average convergence/divergence indicator I[/I] — a momentum indicator which uses 3 EMA’s to compute a histogram depicting price momentum
MR1, MR2, etc. — intermediate resistance levels (computed from pivot-point formulas) — see ICT Pivot-Point Formulas on page 5
MS — (see market structure)
MS1, MS2, etc. — intermediate support levels (computed from pivot-point formulas) — see ICT Pivot-Point Formulas on page 5
MT4 — a retail trading platform, licensed worldwide to brokers, popular for its MQL4 scripting language allowing creation of EA’s, custom indicators, and scripts
MTG — (see Millionaire Traders’ Guild)
negatively correlated pairs — two currency pairs whose prices move (roughly) in opposite directions (example: EUR/USD and USD/CHF)
nested OTE — an OTE within an OTE — a smaller I[/I] price swing with an OTE retracement, nested within a larger I[/I] price swing with its (larger) OTE
New York Open — 8am New York time, the beginning of the normal business day in New York
New York Open Kill Zone — nominally 7am-9am New York time (this time period may be expanded at the discretion of the trader); this is one of 4 kill zones
New York pivots — daily pivot levels based on midnight New York time as the start of each forex trading day
New York session — 8am-5pm New York time; the first 4 hours of this session (the L/NY overlap) typically constitute the highest-volume period of the trading day
New York time — EST=GMT-5 (Nov-March), or EDT=GMT-4 (March-Nov) — Note: Michael always refers to New York time as EST, regardless of time of year
news — shorthand for scheduled economic data releases, whose release dates and times are known in advance, and whose metrics are forecast in advance
NFP — (see Non-Farm Payroll report)
Nick Van Nice — originator of the concept of hidden divergence (which Michael refers to as type 2 divergence)
no man’s land — on a Trader’s Trinity chart, no-man’s land is the middle 25% of the (previous) H-L price range; the center of this zone is the fair-value price
Non-Farm Payroll (report) — U.S. employment report released on the first Friday of each month by the U.S. Department of Labor; NFP is often a market mover
NYO — (see New York Open)
NYO-KZ — (see New York Open Kill Zone)
OB/OS — overbought or oversold (this term usually refers to readings generated by a price oscillator)
OHLC (or O-H-L-C) — Open, High, Low and Close — the 4 prices which are displayed graphically on each candle, or each price bar
OI — (see open interest)
One-shot-one-kill — ICT sniper tactic: Lie in wait (for a set-up), take aim (at the set-up), pull the trigger (enter the trade), nail the target (collect pips)
open interest — the number of open contracts (those not yet offset or delivered) in a specific commodity/delivery month; one of the metrics in a COT report
optimal trade entry — entry zone between the 62% and 79% retracement levels — note that 62% and 79% are not standard fib retracement levels
ORO pattern (or ICT ORO pattern) — Overlapping Reflection and OTE — a smaller reflection pattern within a larger OTE pattern
OTE — (see optimal trade entry)
oscillator — a technical indicator (e.g., RSI, stochastics, or W%-R) which plots price as a percentage (from 0% to 100%) of some variable
outside day with a down close — an engulfing Daily candle with a lower close; if confirmed by an oversold indicator, it signals a reversal to the upside
overbought — a price which appears to have moved too far counter to a bearish bias (as indicated by pivots, Trader’s Trinity, or any of various oscillators)
oversold — a price which appears to have moved too far counter to a bullish bias (as indicated by pivots, Trader’s Trinity, or any of various oscillators)
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