Every ICT intraday model starts with the same question: where is price likely to go today? That expectation is the daily bias, and it comes from the higher timeframes. Get the bias wrong and even a perfect setup is a trade against the market's flow.
Building the narrative, top down
- Weekly and daily structure: are the higher timeframes bullish or bearish (Module 3)?
- Draw on liquidity: where is the nearest obvious liquidity on the daily chart: an old high or low, the previous week's high or low, an unfilled FVG?
- Location: is price currently in premium or discount of the daily range, and has it just reacted from a daily PD array?
- Previous day: did yesterday sweep a level and reverse, or close strongly toward the draw?
A simple bias routine
- Bullish bias: higher-timeframe structure up, price reacting from a discount array, and buy-side liquidity above as the draw.
- Bearish bias: structure down, price reacting from a premium array, and sell-side liquidity below as the draw.
- No bias: conflicting signals, price in the middle of the range, or major news ahead. No bias means no trade, or much smaller size.
Using the previous day's range
The previous day's high (PDH) and low (PDL) are the most common daily targets. ICT often frames the day as: which one is price drawn to, and which one will it fake toward first? On a bullish day, a sweep of the PDL followed by a shift makes the PDH a natural target.
Key takeaways
- Daily bias is your expectation of where price is likely to go today, built from the higher timeframes.
- Combine higher-timeframe structure, the draw on liquidity, premium or discount location, and the previous day's behaviour.
- The previous day's high and low are the most common daily draws.
- No clear bias means no trade; and drop the bias if structure breaks against it.