ICT stands for the Inner Circle Trader, the name used by trader and educator Michael J. Huddleston. He has published years of free material, best known for his YouTube mentorships, including the widely followed 2022 series. Much of what is now taught as "SMC" grew out of his concepts, repackaged by other educators.
What ICT shares with SMC
Liquidity, market structure shifts, order blocks, fair value gaps, premium and discount: all of Module 5 comes from, or overlaps with, ICT. If you understand SMC, you already understand much of ICT's price model.
What ICT adds
- Time. Killzones, the midnight open, the Silver Bullet window. ICT argues that when price reaches a level matters as much as the level.
- A ranking of zones. PD arrays order the different kinds of zone by how ICT expects price to respect them.
- Daily and weekly narratives. Power of 3, the Judas swing, and typical weekly profiles describe how a day or week tends to unfold.
- Named models. The Market Maker Buy and Sell Models and the Silver Bullet are complete, repeatable setups.
- Intermarket confirmation. SMT divergence compares correlated markets.
| Idea | SMC usually says | ICT usually says |
|---|---|---|
| Imbalance | Imbalance / FVG | FVG, BISI / SIBI, consequent encroachment |
| Liquidity | BSL / SSL, inducement | BSL / SSL, engineered liquidity |
| Zones | Order blocks, supply and demand | PD arrays, ranked |
| Timing | Optional | Central: killzones, macros, Silver Bullet |
| Daily context | Higher-timeframe bias | Daily bias, Power of 3, midnight open |
Key takeaways
- ICT is the framework taught by Michael J. Huddleston, the Inner Circle Trader; much of SMC grew out of it.
- ICT shares SMC's price model: liquidity, structure shifts, order blocks and fair value gaps.
- Its main additions are time (killzones, sessions), ranked PD arrays, daily and weekly narratives, and named models.
- Fix your own version of the rules in writing and test it before trusting it.