ICT Mentorship 2023 - Market Maker Models by CKTRADEZONE

Understanding ICT Market Maker Models

This lesson covers ICT's most advanced trading framework - the Market Maker Buy/Sell Models. These represent institutional algorithmic price delivery in swing movements, where price moves from discount to premium (buy side) or premium to discount (sell side).

Key Distinction: Buy/Side Delivery is the directional movement, while Liquidity refers to the resting orders at specific levels.

Market Maker Sell Model: Step-by-Step

ICT focuses primarily on the Sell Model in this lesson - remember all concepts can be reversed for Buy Models.

1. Identify Relative Equal Highs: Look for two or more similar highs that price needs to overcome
2. Watch for Buy Side Delivery: Price will rally above these highs to take buy-side liquidity (stops above highs)
3. Spot the Fair Value Gap (FVG): Look for inefficiencies (single candle gaps) that price will return to fill
4. Observe the Reversal: After filling the FVG, price should reverse and break below the original rally low
5. Target Sell-Side Liquidity: The drop will target stops below recent lows (sell-side liquidity)

Key Phases of Market Maker Models

1. Accumulation Phase

• Smart money builds positions in consolidation
• Look for repetitive price levels that hold multiple times
• Original consolidation is your accumulation zone reference

2. Manipulation Phase

• Price breaks out to take liquidity above highs (buy stops)
• Often shows wicks piercing levels while bodies respect FVGs
• Creates traps for retail traders (false breakouts)

3. Distribution Phase

• Price reverses after taking liquidity
• First stage distribution: Initial breakdown below structure
• Second stage redistribution: Accelerated move (fastest part)

Trade Entry Examples

Buy Entries (Market Maker Buy Model - Reverse of Sell Model)

1. Original Consolidation Return: After initial breakout, wait for price to return to the accumulation zone
2. Bullish Order Block: Down-close candle during buy-side delivery that holds as support
3. FVG Fill: Entry when price returns to fill a buy-side imbalance (BISI)

Sell Entries (Market Maker Sell Model)

1. FVG Rejection: After price fills a sell-side imbalance (SIBI) FVG and shows rejection wicks
2. First Stage Distribution: Break below initial structure after liquidity grab
3. Second Stage Redistribution: Pullback to bearish order block (up-close candle) for pyramid entry

Example 1: US100Cash Market Maker Buy Model

[Visual: Price drops to 12,300, consolidates, dips to 12,250 (liquidity grab), then rallies back into consolidation]

1. Identify Relative Equal Lows: Two similar lows at 12,300.
2. Spot Original Consolidation: Range between 12,300–12,450.
3. Manipulation Phase: Price dips below to 12,250 (liquidity grab).
4. Find Buy-Side Imbalance (BISI):
   • Down candle to 12,250.
   • Up candle opens at 12,300.
   • BISI created between 12,250–12,300.
5. Entry Trigger: ↑ BUY @ 12,275
   • SL: 12,230
   • TP1: 12,450
   • TP2: 12,650 (FVG above)

Time Alignment: Ideal during London Open (2–5am EST) with continuation into NY Kill Zone (7–10am EST).

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Example 2: US100Cash Market Maker Sell Model

[Visual: Rally to 13,820 (equal highs), liquidity grab, FVG at 13,790–13,810, rejection drop]

1. Mark Relative Equal Highs: 13,800 & 13,820.
2. Identify Sell-Side Imbalance (SIBI):
   • Up candle to 13,820.
   • Down candle opens at 13,790.
   • SIBI: 13,790–13,810.
3. Short Entry: ↓ SELL @ 13,805
   • SL: 13,835
   • TP: 13,600
4. Second Stage:
   • Bounce to 13,720, bearish order block at 13,710–13,730.
   • ↓ SELL @ 13,715 (tighter stop).

Pro Tip: Second-stage moves (re-accumulation for buys, redistribution for sells) are often the strongest and cleanest.

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Key Buy vs Sell Model Differences

Element	Buy Model	Sell Model
Liquidity Target	Below equal lows	Above equal highs
Imbalance	BISI (Buy-Side)	SIBI (Sell-Side)
Power Move	Re-accumulation	Redistribution

Advanced Insight: The most powerful entries are "Smart Money Reversals" at the exact top/bottom, but ICT warns these take years of experience to identify consistently.

Risk Management Guidelines

• Stop losses go above recent swing high for sells (below swing low for buys)
• For FVG entries, stop can be placed beyond the opposite side of the gap
• Take 80% profit at initial target (original consolidation), let remainder run
• Never trade against the broader market narrative (don't pick tops in bull markets)

ICT emphasizes that 90% of traders fail because they use retail concepts like support/resistance, trendlines, and indicators instead of understanding liquidity and institutional order flow.

Market Maker Model Checklist

• ✅ Identified relative equal highs/lows
• ✅ Spotted FVGs/SIBIs/BISIs in the pathway
• ✅ Understood broader market narrative (bullish/bearish bias)
• ✅ Time alignment (London/NY Kill Zones)
• ✅ Original consolidation properly framed
• ✅ Liquidity pools above/below marked
• ✅ Multiple confluences present (not just 1 element)

Final Thoughts

ICT stresses that Market Maker Models require understanding all prior concepts (order blocks, breaker blocks, FVGs, etc.). Beginners should master simpler models first (Silver Bullet, Model 2022) before attempting these advanced frameworks.

Journal every example you find - even if you see it after the fact. This builds your "pseudo experience" to recognize setups faster in real-time.

Remember: The market moves to take liquidity and fill inefficiencies - nothing happens randomly in institutional price delivery.

📌 Core Principle: Market Maker Models require understanding all prior PD arrays (order blocks, breaker blocks, FVGs, etc.). You must see these elements in real-time price action.

⚠️ Warning: This is NOT a beginner model. If you're new to ICT concepts, master Silver Bullet or Model 2022 first. This represents how ICT actually trades - the most advanced framework.

🌱 Growth Tip: Journal every Market Maker example you find (even after the fact) to build "pseudo experience". Annotate charts with "how I should have seen this".

🔄 Reversal Logic: On the buy-side of the curve, bullish order blocks act as support. On the sell-side, those SAME levels become resistance. The context flips.

⏱️ Time Alignment: The GBPUSD example showed perfect alignment - accumulation during London session, reversal at NY open (7-9AM), targets hit by NY mid-day (10AM-12PM).

❌ Retail Trap: What retail calls "support/resistance breaks" are actually liquidity grabs. The market intentionally breaks levels to trigger stops before reversing.

📊 Order Flow Secret: During consolidation, the bodies (not wicks) tell the real story. Look for clustered body reactions at key levels.

🎯 Precision Entry: The "smart money reversal" (entering at exact tops/bottoms) requires seeing:

1. Body rejection at FVG extremes
2. Liquidity on both sides taken
3. Time-of-day confluence

🔄 Market Cycle: Every swing follows the same algorithm:

1. Accumulate at discount
2. Run to premium (liquidity grab)
3. Distribute while retail chases
4. Reverse to new discount