ICT Mentorship Core Content - Month 1 - How Market Makers Condition The Market

Summary

The speaker discusses how new traders are unaware of market dynamics dominated by 'smart money' - large institutional players and banks that quietly control price movement. Retail traders falsely believe their collective actions drive market trends, when in reality a small group of insiders dictate expansions, retracements, reversals and consolidations using an AI price delivery algorithm attuned to human behavior. The speaker urges not sharing this paradigm-shifting perspective, as it challenges the facade that markets operate on supply/demand. By tracking smart money maneuvers over time, retail traders can better predict price action based on understanding the deliberate, methodical stages through which markets cycle.

Takeaways

• 😀 The market has two main groups - the uninformed retail traders and the smart money institutions that actually drive price.
• 👥 Retail traders mistakenly think they drive the market with supply/demand, but it's actually the banks and institutions.
• 💼 Institutions quietly trade and profit while retail traders try to get attention on social media.
• 📈 There is a clear market structure and algorithm institutions use to manipulate price that retail doesn't see.
• 🤯 Understanding how institutions manipulate price is key to trading success instead of using indicators.
• ⏰ The daily range has clear manipulation events tied to London/NY session opens you can track.
• ➡️ Price delivery follows expansion->retracement/reversal not random consolidation and reversals.
• 📊 All timeframes have the same structure - consolidate, expand/impulse, retrace/reverse, repeat.
• 🤝 Keep this institutional knowledge private to preserve its edge rather than marketing it to everyone.
• 🎓 Studying intraday gives feedback to apply concepts long-term without needing years of data.

Q & A

What is the market efficiency paradigm depicting?

The market efficiency paradigm is depicting how new traders are collectively part of the larger uninformed money group, while there is a smaller smart money group of traders that actually influences and drives market prices.

Why do new traders tend to think they drive market prices?

New traders tend to think their sheer numbers and buying/selling interest pushes prices up and down based on supply/demand. This is a facade perpetuated in books, seminars, etc.

Who is actually driving market prices?

Banks and other institutional traders make up the 'smart money' group that actually drives market prices, not the larger retail trader group.

What is the daily range market structure?

The market starts with Asian range consolidation, then a manipulation/expansion, a London reversal, another expansion, New York consolidation, a retracement, more expansion/reversals, and ends with consolidation.

What is the market delivery algorithm sequence?

It starts with consolidation, then expansion, then either retracement or reversal, never consolidation to retracement or reversal directly.

How can you apply the concepts to longer timeframes?

The same sequences happen on daily, weekly, monthly timeframes - starting with consolidation, expansion, retrace/reverse. Intraday shows this best.

Why is order flow and structure context important?

To properly apply the expansion/retracement/reversal concepts, you need institutional order flow context - where are the blocks, stops, liquidity.

Why shouldn't this knowledge be shared publicly?

Sharing detailed institutional order flow and manipulation tactics publicly could undermine the edge and allow banks/firms to adapt their behavior.

What mindsets are most important for traders?

Patience, suppressing fear/greed emotions, and having no ego desires to make money quickly - consistency over profits.

How much detail is provided on tracking smart money?

Very specific tracking tactics will be taught to locate blocks, stops, and predict exact turning points based on the order flow concepts.