The Judas swing is ICT's name for a false move early in a session, against the day's real direction. It is named after the betrayal: price appears to commit one way, takes the liquidity of the traders who believe it, then turns. It is the manipulation stage of Power of 3, timed.
What it looks like
- It usually happens between midnight and the London open, or at the start of the New York session.
- On a bullish day it moves down, below the midnight open, often sweeping the Asian low or the previous day's low.
- On a bearish day it moves up, above the midnight open, often sweeping the Asian high or the previous day's high.
- It reverses with displacement and a change of character, then the day trends the other way.
Trading it
- Decide your daily bias first (chapter 11). Without it, you can't tell a Judas swing from a real move.
- Mark the midnight open and the Asian high and low.
- Wait for price to move the "wrong" way, through the midnight open, and sweep the Asian extreme.
- Wait for a change of character back in your bias direction on a lower timeframe.
- Enter on the FVG or order block that caused the shift, stop beyond the Judas extreme, and target the opposing liquidity.
Worked example
Daily bias on GBP/USD is bullish. Midnight New York open: 1.2700. Asian low: 1.2688.
At 02:40 New York time, price drops to 1.2679, sweeping the Asian low, then rallies and closes above a 5-minute lower high at 1.2696.
A long on the retrace into the new FVG at 1.2690, stop at 1.2675, aims for the previous day's high at 1.2745: 15 pips of risk for 55.
Key takeaways
- A Judas swing is a false move early in the session, against the day's real direction.
- On bullish days it drops below the midnight open and sweeps a low; on bearish days it rises above and sweeps a high.
- It is the manipulation stage of Power of 3.
- Trade it only with a daily bias, a liquidity sweep and a change of character back in your direction.