r/InnerCircleTraders

Trying to understand how experienced traders form an intraday view. 6. Being most important.

If the S&P 500 is at 6,500, nothing says it has to hit 6,600 or 6,400. Same with EUR/USD or BTC. So how do you get from "could go anywhere" to an actual trade?

1. Do you start the day with a bias, or stay neutral and let price show you something first?

2. How much does the open matter? When there's a gap, how do you judge whether it fills or runs? Do you wait out the first 15 to 30 minutes?

3. What tells you there's enough evidence to go long or short? And what tells you "this isn't working, I'm out"?

4. Stop hunts are where I get lost. Price takes out an obvious low, triggers stops, then rips. How do you tell that apart from a real breakdown? Wider SL, waiting for a candle close, something else?

5. Do you set the view on the Daily or 4H and use lower timeframes only for entry? Or can an intraday setup flip your bigger picture?

**6. How do you read new highs? Say BTC rallies to a fresh high at 84,500 and pulls back to 84,000. Is that a dip to buy or the start of a reversal to short? What would you need to see before picking a side?**

Would love to hear how this actually works in your head, especially from people who've been at it for a while and profiting.

Hi everyone! So, after struggling with ICT concepts, I moved on to the GxT and TTrades models. I've been learning these models for around 8 months now, and things are pretty clear for me at this point. No guesswork, no random trades, etc.

However, I'm still struggling with some psychological issues. For example, I don't hold my trades. I move my trades to breakeven after just a few pips/ticks, and most of the time, the outcome is the same: price moves in my direction and hits the full TP, while I’ve already closed the trade at breakeven.

Can you guys please help me out with this phase of my trading ??? I'm feeling really depressed at this point because I know how to trade, but I'm still unable to trade properly because of my poor trading psychology.

I've been studying ICT concepts for a while, and one thing I still struggle with is telling a true liquidity sweep from a real breakout.

Here's my current checklist:

Price takes out an obvious high or low (equal highs/lows, previous day high/low)

Quick rejection with a displacement candle in the opposite direction

A fair value gap left behind

A market structure shift on the lower timeframe

The move happens during a killzone (London or New York open)

The problem is that sometimes all of this lines up and price still runs through the level.

Questions

What extra confirmation do you use before entering after a sweep?

Do you filter by higher-timeframe bias first, or only trust the lower-timeframe shift?

Do you wait for a retrace into the FVG or enter on the displacement itself?

Would love to hear how more experienced traders handle this. Thanks!