ICT Archivist

Year: 2026

  • February 27, 2026 | Trader Round Up – ICT Mastermind

    In a livestream discussion, Michael (ICT) and participants discuss growing confidence in his mentorship series, especially using lower timeframes to see market structure. A trader asks about market maker buy/sell model phases in high-resistance “barcoding” conditions; Michael explains these models belong to low-resistance liquidity runs, advising either dropping to sub‑minute charts where smaller-degree models appear or not trading/ranging markets.

    They cover managing Opening Range Gap (ORG) levels, with Michael recommending beginners keep only the last three days, but also keep the last two Mondays and two Fridays because their ORGs often act as liquidity magnets; he notes sweet-spot ORG sizes and that gradient levels apply to any inefficiency/wick.

    Michael advises novices to focus on one mechanical model to measure progress and build experience before broad discretion. He answers questions on V-shaped reversals using inversion/fair value gaps and cautions that detailed technical questions should be sent with charts on X.

    A trader shares that prop funding harmed psychology and encouraged shortcuts, emphasizing patience and process.

    Quiz (click to reveal)

    1. Market Maker Buy/Sell Models primarily occur during:
    A) High resistance liquidity conditions
    B) News events only
    C) Low resistance liquidity run conditions
    D) Consolidation after macro time

    C

    2. If price is in a high resistance “barcode” condition on a 5m or 15m chart, what is recommended?
    A) Force trades using the same model
    B) Drop to lower timeframes
    C) Add more indicators
    D) Only trade breakouts

    B

    3. In high resistance conditions, ICT suggests you should:
    A) Always look for accumulation & distribution phases
    B) Trade aggressively
    C) Either drop to very low timeframes, sit on your hands, or trade another market
    D) Only use macro time

    C

    4. A true Market Maker model includes which of the following components? (Select all that apply)
    ☐ Accumulation
    ☐ Two distribution stages
    ☐ Smart money reversal
    ☐ Low-risk sell
    ☐ Random breakout

    ☑ Accumulation

    ☑ Two distribution stages

    ☑ Smart money reversal

    ☑ Low-risk sell

    ⛔ Random breakout

    5. Opening Range Gaps have approximately what probability of trading to half-gap?
    A) 50%
    B) 60%
    C) 70%
    D) 90%

    C

    6. What is considered the “sweet spot” handle range for trading the opening range?
    A) 20–30 handles
    B) 40 handles
    C) 70–100 handles
    D) 150+ handles

    C

  • February 23, 2026 | Trader Round Up – ICT Mastermind

    ICT Mastermind “Trader Roundup” live discussion hosted by Kit with ICT (Michael Huddleston) and multiple participants reacting to a new mentorship lecture centered on defining “key levels” and how time and price align through a PD Array “matrix/grid.” Traders share personal takeaways: being patient, avoiding rushing entries, managing leverage and stops, and waiting for price to trade to PD arrays that overlap key levels (rather than trading breakout/retest).

    Michael explains that key levels and gaps are repeating, specific phenomena that create a grid for anticipating liquidity draws across sessions, emphasizing anticipating instead of reacting. He lists and discusses key levels such as new week opening gaps, new day opening gaps, RTH/opening range gaps (with gradient levels and consequent encroachment), and highlights how overlapping PD arrays (fair value gaps, order blocks, inefficiencies) at these levels improve precision; he contrasts this with generic “opening range breakout” approaches.

    Participants discuss inside-day definitions using candle bodies, SMT divergence being higher probability around liquidity runs and volatility injections (often around 9:30), and using midpoints/consequent encroachment to assess high-resistance conditions.

    Michael answers specific questions including: keeping a rolling five days of prior ranges/levels on charts; daily chart behavior around a noted wick and a fair value gap; how to prioritize PD arrays (wick takes precedence over imbalance; fair value gaps/imbalances are more salient than volume imbalance); order block marking rules (body is key for the initial/inception order block that shifts delivery; subsequent order blocks can be traded using wick ranges/consequent encroachment); and that body-based inside days function similarly to classic inside days as a volatility precursor.

    Several speakers share personal stories (e.g., a 66-year-old beginner trading the 9:50–10:10 macro with micros, a 23-year-old Nigerian student balancing engineering finals, and others trading 2024 mentorship models), while the session also notes technical audio issues on X and ends with plans for another space on Thursday.

  • February 20, 2026 | Trader Round Up – It’s Friday Yeah.

    In a live Trader Roundup discussion, Michael explains that traders should start with one micro contract to minimize leverage, desensitize themselves to losses, and remove urgency around needing the first trade to win. He recommends deliberately taking an initial micro trade (even by flipping a coin) with a defined stop to experience that “baptism of fire,” then reflecting on emotions, accountability pressures (often toward spouses or others), and adopting the mindset of running one’s trading like a business (CEO/CFO/HR), focusing on risk control and process over outcomes. He compares small trading losses to everyday spending and emphasizes that controlling drawdown prevents account “hemorrhaging” and builds confidence.

    Multiple traders share experiences: Joe (22, Morocco) trades the opening range gap and first-presented fair value gaps (targeting 50%) with a claimed ~70% win rate but struggles with emotional control when seeing red P/L; a participant suggests hiding P/L on TradingView, and Joe says trading micros helped him stop rushing payouts and improved consistency. Alex (26) describes using first presentations, quadrants, inversions, and “footholds,” and says sizing down to micros helped him get funded after struggling and seeing others’ fast payouts. Zazu (19, Tunisia) recounts severe anxiety with prop firm pressure, blowing an account quickly, then reducing size, detaching from outcomes, using isolation, self-talk, walks/runs, and listening to ICT spaces to manage emotions; he expresses gratitude for ICT’s impact on his life.

    Other speakers reinforce themes: a trader from the Dominican Republic describes repeatedly blowing prop accounts with minis and improving by simplifying, detaching from money, discipline, gym activity, and faith; an Armenian-American from Los Angeles discusses journaling, backtesting, using market maker model context, first presentations, and grading wicks/imbalances; he asks about first presentations older than five days, and Michael explains the “5” lookback is to avoid clutter, but older first presentations can matter when aligned with session context and higher-timeframe dealing ranges and draw-on-liquidity logic. John asks why setups didn’t form cleanly this week; Michael cites a weekly doji near the weekly open, OPEX/theta burn, rangebound conditions, and reduced follow-through, advising fewer trades and waiting for higher-probability setups. He answers a question on the price delivery continuum as top-down alignment across timeframes using PD arrays. Papi Trades (33, in Paris) shares needing to return to work after prop firm struggles and asks about balancing work and trading; Michael advises building cash reserves (2–3 years), avoiding undercapitalization, and not rushing full-time trading. Another participant asks about “opposite” first presentations; Michael says he has not fully disclosed it and will cover it later.

    Austin (38, South Carolina) shares a three-year journey and asks about aligning monthly/weekly/daily timing for larger expansions; Michael says such alignment exists but depends on market conditions, noting current unprecedented compression and advising trading within ranges rather than demanding highs/lows. Chartist asks about volume imbalances; Michael frames them as common gaps/inefficiencies often revisited and discusses time-based delivery behavior consistent with AMD. Dom asks how displacement relates to buying/selling pressure; Michael says displacement is a signal of algorithmic delivery and institutional participation rather than simple auction pressure.

    Near the end, Michael rejects risking 20% of an account and addresses “six-figure months,” recommending building consistency by trading one micro for weeks (e.g., aiming for ~5% weekly), compounding over time, and warning that many claims of huge monthly income are exaggerated. He emphasizes discipline, repetition, and following a consistent model, and notes fundamentals are more useful as higher-timeframe context while intraday trading remains focused on inefficiencies and PD arrays. The session ends as Michael leaves for family time

  • TRU – ICT follow through | February 20, 2026

    In a live trading community conversation, a participant asks where the market-controlling “algorithm” is hosted (CME/NY4/NSA involvement). Michael (ICT) responds that no one can prove or tour a central location, says he personally doesn’t believe it’s in the United States, and argues the best “evidence” is repeated precision in price behavior at specific levels and times. He insists the algorithm is based on open/high/low/close, dismissing range bars, tick charts, Renko, and similar chart types, and says markets must be controlled to prevent collective speculation from destabilizing critical markets like treasuries.

    The discussion touches on silver’s recent volatility as an example of the algorithm “turning up the dial” where attention is highest, and mentions possible future shifts in volatility depending on metals contract expirations and geopolitical events such as a war with Iran affecting energy prices. A participant speculates Switzerland; ICT says that would be “close,” references major settlement institutions, and notes Switzerland as a place where “high seats” are.

    The conversation then shifts to community trade recap and mentorship topics: members discuss hitting bearish and bullish targets, unmitigated settlement prices, and ICT concepts across timeframes (including five-second and fifteen-second charts), with emphasis on higher-timeframe context like the weekly open and a weekly doji/compression on a Friday news/opex day.

    Another speaker praises ICT’s earlier remarks about prop firms, arguing many traders become dependent on prop rules and affiliate marketing, and warns firms can change rules and deny payouts. ICT reiterates that traders should invest in themselves using free material, avoid chasing shiny promises from props/gurus/courses, backtest simple ideas like time-of-day highs/lows, and focus on understanding the repeating logic behind his PD arrays rather than seeking gimmicks or social-media validation.

    He describes teaching as a legacy for his children, references trading with his son Cameron observing levels being hit in real time, and frames the community space as a supportive forum where traders share struggles and learn paths toward consistency.

  • February 20, 2026 | That Which Props Up Ponzi Schemes

    ICT delivers an explicit, confrontational monologue arguing that online prop firms are untrustworthy, operate like Ponzi schemes, and routinely change rules to avoid payouts while encouraging financially stressed people to keep paying for evaluations with credit cards. He criticizes traders and educators— including some of his own students—who promote prop firms via affiliate codes, comparing them to enabling bartenders and “friendly neighborhood drug dealers,” and claims monetized opinions become compromised. He says he has no affiliations with brokers or firms and refuses sponsorships so he can speak freely, calling all brokers and prop firms dishonest.

    Citing his sons’ experiences, he says Caleb repeatedly failed to “beat” prop rules and Cameron only received a small payout after the speaker intervened; he urged Cameron to stop using prop firms, get a job, and trade a regulated live account instead. He describes forcing Cameron to work (including DoorDash) to build a $10,000 regulated brokerage account and reports Cameron grew it to about $12,600 in under two weeks and plans to wire out $2,500, emphasizing small, disciplined trading (one micro contract, no trading on some days) over chasing large payouts.

    He advises viewers to avoid prop firms, save at least $5,000, practice a repeatable model on demo properly, then transition gradually to live trading with minimal size, especially given he says current markets are unusually difficult and manipulated. He predicts coming litigation against prop firms, recounts a past Ponzi scheme example and other frauds to illustrate the mechanism, and closes by urging prop firms to treat customers fairly and viewers to stop funding them and stop gambling.

  • The Inner Circle Trader’s Space 10:55PM | February 13, 2026

    ICT explains how winning streaks can create overconfidence (“Midas Touch”) that leads traders to increase leverage and then suffer demoralizing losses, so he recommends building “plateaus” by scaling down after a set number of wins (e.g., after five winning trades, drop to the smallest size) to reduce drawdowns and emotional damage. He promotes an income-based approach using one micro contract, targeting consistent weekly percentage gains (e.g., 7.5%) and illustrates with a live, real-money example of making over $400 on a small account using liquidity targets and inversion fair value gap entries. He advises using circuit-breaker rules after losses, accepting imperfection, avoiding rushing into larger markets, and preventing “scar tissue.” The discussion briefly shifts to disaster preparedness (hurricanes, power/internet loss) and how such stress would likely halt trading, then broadens into concerns about societal instability and control, urging practical readiness.

  • Feburary 13, 2026 | TRU part 2

    Kitt says an X Space was repeatedly disconnected (“rug pull”) despite attempts to add co-hosts, and apologizes to Michael and listeners for the connection issues.

    After reconnecting, the conversation recalls Michael’s earlier points about trusting oneself, manifestation, and faith in the Lord, including the phrase “the Lord inhabits the praise.”

    A listener asks whether current conditions resemble the Great Depression, referencing grandparents’ lessons on canning, gardening, hunting, sewing, and self-sufficiency; Michael says history often leads to disorder and war, argues crises are planned with solutions pre-made (citing COVID as an example), and urges preparation, humility, and using money as a tool to fortify family and help others rather than flaunting wealth online.

    Michael shares a personal story of becoming briefly homeless and sleeping in his car with his child due to financial decisions made under pressure, using it to warn that desperation and life circumstances can disrupt trading even when the skill exists, and that people should be able to sustain themselves without trading for long periods.

    A caller from Detroit, Raffi, says he is unemployed, doing DoorDash, using prop firms, and facing tax foreclosure; others challenge his “victim mindset” and emphasize that trading from desperation leads to gambling and losses, advising him to prioritize stable work, focus on accumulating knowledge, and use demo/drills rather than trying to save his situation with trades. Michael asks details and learns Raffi has owned his home seven years, owes about $5,000–$6,000 in taxes, earns about $150–$180 on a good DoorDash night, has five children total (four at home), and his wife does not work; Michael advises getting additional income, resting, and securing housing first because “trading won’t go away, but your house can go away.”

    Another speaker offers help and suggests a personal loan plan for the tax amount, and multiple speakers recommend showing up to construction job sites with tools, finding a second/night-shift job (e.g., concierge/front desk), and delaying live trading until life pressure is reduced. The group reiterates Michael’s approach of keeping trading simple with very small size (e.g., one micro and modest daily targets) and compounding over time. The host notes ongoing connection problems, thanks everyone, ends the Space, and says they will do another next Friday and welcomes thoughtful screenshots with questions for follow-up.