No claims, no guarantees. These are my personal study notes, written for education. I am not claiming that this model works, that it is profitable or that it will work for you. Nothing here is financial advice, a signal or a recommendation to trade. Trading carries a substantial risk of loss, and most retail traders lose money. See the full disclaimer.
What is an ICT order block?
An order block is the last opposite-colour candle before a strong move. The theory is that this candle marks where larger orders were placed, and that price may react when it returns. It is model twelve in my ICT research notes, and the one I find easiest to draw and hardest to justify.
How do I find a valid one?
- Find a displacement: a strong move that closes through a swing (see market structure).
- Look back for the last opposite candle before that move.
- Check for a fair value gap left by the move.
- Check whether it took liquidity beforehand.
How do I draw it?
- Full candle: high to low; widest zone and widest stop.
- Body only: open to close; narrower.
- Mean threshold: down to the 50% level; the tightest.
The method changes the entry and the risk, so I would pick one and not change it between trades.
How would I plan the trade?
- Entry: a limit order inside the block, or after a lower-timeframe shift.
- Stop: beyond the far edge of the block.
- Target: the next liquidity pool.
- Size: from the stop distance (risk management).
What if the block fails?
If price closes through it, the block may become a breaker. That is the other half of the same idea, and where the Unicorn comes from. Inside a pullback, a block can also sit in the OTE band.
What are the weak points?
- Hindsight: every strong move has a last opposite candle.
- Drawing differences: the same block gives different entries and stops.
- No guarantee of a reaction: price can run through it.
- No independent evidence: I only found educator material.
How would I journal it?
Record the drawing method, the displacement, any gap, the entry, stop and result in R, with a screenshot taken before entry. After a meaningful sample I could compare blocks with a gap and a sweep against blocks without. See the journal guide.
Reminder: I make no claim or guarantee of profit or success from anything described here. Examples are invented or illustrative and real results will differ. If you choose to trade, you are responsible for your own decisions and risk.
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