Kill zones are specific time windows during the trading day when institutional activity peaks and the most significant moves occur. ICT identifies four main kill zones: Asian session (20:00–00:00 ET), London Open (02:00–05:00 ET), New York Open (07:00–10:00 ET), and London Close (10:00–12:00 ET). Trading only during kill zones improves probability.
Asian session: establishes the range. London Open: high-volatility breakout of Asian range. New York Open: highest volume session, often reverses London. London Close: institutional positioning close, profit-taking. Macro timing: :00 and :30 minute marks for institutional entries.
Trade London Open breakout of the Asian range, NY Open reversal setups after London extension, London Close retracement entries, Focus on macro time entries (:00 and :30 marks within kill zones)
Close trades before the next kill zone transition, Time-based exits at the end of the kill zone, Move to break-even if price hasn't moved within the first 30 minutes of the kill zone
Kill zones themselves define the timeframes — primarily 1M-15M for entries within the KZ window
You don't need to trade every kill zone. Pick one (e.g., NY Open) and become an expert at it. Kill zones filter out the choppy, low-volume hours where most retail losses occur.
A Break of Structure occurs when price breaks a previous swing high (in an uptrend, confirming continuation) or swing low (in a downtrend, confirming continuation). BOS confirms the prevailing trend and is used to trail bias. Internal BOS occurs within a trend leg; external or structural BOS breaks the last significant swing.
A Change of Character is the first break of structure AGAINST the prevailing trend. In an uptrend, ChoCH is the first lower low. In a downtrend, ChoCH is the first higher high. ChoCH signals a potential trend reversal and is one of the most important SMC concepts for identifying turning points.
Inducement is a Smart Money Concept describing the deliberate engineering of liquidity pools by institutional traders to attract retail orders before reversing price. Inducement patterns occur when price creates minor highs or lows that entice retail traders to enter positions or place stops, providing the liquidity that smart money needs to fill large orders in the opposite direction.
A breaker block is a failed order block that becomes a powerful support or resistance level when price returns to it from the opposite side. When institutional buying or selling at an order block is overwhelmed and price breaks through, the original order block transforms into a breaker block. Smart money uses these levels to re-enter in the new trend direction as they represent an area where the previous thesis was invalidated.