Strategies

A volatility measure of how much a contract typically moves per bar — the standard tool for sizing stops and positions to current conditions.

Trading executed by computer algorithms rather than manual orders — explicitly allowed at some prop firms (Lucid, Tradeify) and restricted at others.

In ICT/SMC trading, an order block that failed to hold and was broken through — often becoming resistance/support on the OPPOSITE side when retested. A flipped order block.

A momentum-based strategy that enters when price breaks decisively above resistance or below support — capturing the explosive moves that often follow extended consolidations.

A running total of aggressive buying minus aggressive selling — the session-long scoreboard of which side is initiating.

A trading style where all positions open and close within a single session — the default approach for most futures prop firm traders and the strategy every major firm is structured around.

A 3-candle pattern from ICT/SMC trading where a strong move leaves an unfilled gap between candle wicks — a price imbalance that often gets revisited as institutions rebalance order flow.

A chart type that displays executed bid and ask volume at every price inside each candle — the X-ray view of what happened within the bar.

A trading strategy that places multiple orders at predefined price intervals around a base price — generally restricted at prop firms when combined with martingale-style sizing.

Algorithmic strategies that place hundreds or thousands of trades per session, often with sub-second hold times — heavily restricted at most prop firms.

A discretionary trading framework popularized by Michael J. Huddleston (ICT) built around institutional order flow concepts: liquidity sweeps, fair value gaps, order blocks, killzones, and time-of-day structure.

In ICT trading, specific time windows where institutional order flow concentrates — primarily London Open (2-5 AM ET) and NY Open (8:30-11:00 ET) for futures markets. Trading inside killzones produces higher-quality setups than off-hours trading.

A price move that briefly takes out a swing high or swing low (where stop-loss orders cluster) before reversing — interpreted in ICT/SMC as institutional liquidity collection ahead of a structural move.

A strategy that doubles position size after each loss to recover prior losses with a single win — universally banned or heavily restricted at prop firms due to catastrophic risk.

A trading approach that bets on price returning to its average — fading extended moves at statistical extremes rather than trading with momentum. Popular in algo trading and futures range scalping.

A strategy that enters in the direction of strong recent price action — buying strength and selling weakness, riding the persistence of established moves rather than fading them.

A day trading strategy that defines the high and low of the first 5-30 minutes of a session, then trades the breakout above or below that range with structured stop and target placement.

In ICT/SMC trading, the last candle of opposite color before a strong directional move — interpreted as the institutional accumulation/distribution zone where smart money built positions before the breakout.

The study of executed trades and resting liquidity — who is buying, who is selling, and at what price — as the basis for trade decisions.

A short-timeframe strategy that profits from small price moves over seconds to minutes — ideally suited to intraday trailing drawdown accounts but high-friction with consistency-rule firms.

A trading style holding positions overnight to multiple days — capturing larger moves than day trading but requiring prop firm accounts that explicitly allow overnight holds (most don't).

A long-timeframe strategy that enters established trends and rides them — capturing large multi-day to multi-month moves while accepting many small losses on whipsaws.

A histogram of traded volume at each price level, revealing where the market found acceptance — and the high-volume and low-volume zones that act as future reference.

The average price of a session weighted by volume — the institutional benchmark for fair value and one of the most-watched intraday levels in index futures.