The CISD Entry Model That Fixes Your Entries

Most traders in the SMC and ICT space have heard of CISD. They know it stands for Change in State of Delivery. They know it involves a displacement candle. And they still lose trades on it consistently - not because CISD is a bad concept, but because they apply it with gaps in the process. One step skipped, one confirmation missed, and a valid-looking CISD entry turns into a stop out.

The fix is not more theory. The fix is a model - a specific, ordered checklist of conditions that must all be met before you enter. When every step is present, you have a valid CISD entry. When any step is missing, you pass on the trade. No judgment calls. No exceptions.

Why Inconsistency Is the Real Problem

The traders who struggle with CISD are not struggling because the concept is wrong. They are struggling because they apply it differently on each trade. One day they enter at the displacement candle close. The next day they enter mid-candle because it looks clean. One day they wait for the retest. The next day they skip the retest because price is moving fast.

Inconsistent application produces inconsistent results. You cannot improve a process you follow differently every time. The checklist below solves this. One sequence, applied the same way on every setup, every session.

Step 1 - Confirm the Sweep Has Taken the Liquidity

Before anything else, you need a confirmed sweep. Price must have taken liquidity above a significant high (for a short setup) or below a significant low (for a long setup). This means price printed above equal highs, above a session high, above a swing high, or above buy-side liquidity sitting at a clean level. The sweep must be complete - price went there, took the stops, and reversed back inside the range.

If the sweep has not happened, you are looking at a potential setup - not an actual one. The sweep confirms that smart money has already acted at that level. Everything that follows is the delivery sequence after their position was built. That is what you are entering.

Step 2 - Wait for the Displacement Candle to CLOSE

After the sweep, you are watching for a displacement candle on the lower timeframe - typically the 5-minute chart. A displacement candle is a full-bodied, fast-moving candle in the new direction that closes beyond the most recent LTF structural swing. For a short setup after an upside sweep, the displacement candle must close below the most recent LTF swing low.

The single most important word in this step is CLOSE. Not touch. Not wick. Not move. Close. The candle must finish printing and its closing price must be beyond the structural level. If the candle wicks through the level but closes back inside, you do not have CISD - you have a failed attempt that is still in the prior delivery state. Wait for the next candle.

Step 3 - Mark the High or Low of That Displacement Candle as the CISD Level

Once the displacement candle has closed and confirmed CISD, mark the high of that candle (for a short) or the low of that candle (for a long) on your chart. This becomes the CISD level - the specific price point that defines where the change in delivery was confirmed.

This level matters because it is the area price will return to before continuing in the new direction. Institutions delivered aggressively through this level once. When price pulls back to test it, that level acts as resistance (short setups) or support (long setups) because the delivery state has already been confirmed on the other side of it.

Step 4 - Enter on the Retest of the CISD Level on the Next Candle

After the displacement candle closes and marks the CISD level, price typically does not continue immediately. It pulls back to retest the level you marked in step 3. This retest is your entry.

When price returns to the CISD level on the following candles, you enter in the direction of the confirmed CISD. For a short setup, price comes back up to the displacement candle high and you enter short at that level. For a long setup, price pulls back down to the displacement candle low and you enter long. The retest gives you a tighter risk-to-reward than entering at the displacement candle close.

Step 5 - Stop Below the Sweep Candle Low

Your stop goes below the low of the sweep candle for long setups or above the high of the sweep candle for short setups. The sweep candle is the candle from step 1 - the candle that took the liquidity. If price returns to that level, the entire premise of the trade is invalidated. The sweep did not produce a real reversal, and you should not be in the trade.

This stop placement is structurally justified. You are not placing a stop at an arbitrary number of points. You are placing it at the exact level where your thesis gets proven wrong. For the full logic on why this stop placement matters, see <a href='/blog/your-stop-loss-is-their-entry'>your stop loss is their entry</a>.

The Complete Five-Step Checklist

1. 1.The sweep is confirmed - price has taken liquidity above a significant high or below a significant low and reversed back inside the range.
2. 2.The displacement candle has CLOSED beyond the most recent LTF structural swing in the new direction - not wicked, not touched, closed.
3. 3.The CISD level is marked - the high of the displacement candle for shorts, the low for longs, drawn as a horizontal line.
4. 4.Entry is placed on the retest of the CISD level on the following candles - not at the displacement candle close.
5. 5.Stop is placed below the sweep candle low for longs or above the sweep candle high for shorts.

What Skipping Steps Actually Costs You

• →Skip step 1 (no sweep confirmed): you are trading CISD without the context that makes it valid. You are entering a random displacement without knowing institutions have acted at that level.
• →Skip step 2 (enter before the close): you enter during the institutional absorption phase. Your stop is positioned where smart money is still collecting opposing liquidity.
• →Skip step 3 (no level marked): your retest entry has no specific target. You guess when to enter on the pullback and typically enter too early or too late.
• →Skip step 4 (enter at displacement close, not retest): your risk-to-reward is worse and your entry is less precise. The retest entry is the correct execution.
• →Skip step 5 (wrong stop): your stop is either too tight and gets hit by normal noise, or too wide and your risk is undefined. The sweep candle low is the only structurally correct stop.

For the full breakdown of why the candle close is non-negotiable in step 2, read <a href='/blog/your-cisd-entry-is-wrong'>your CISD entry is wrong</a>. For stop placement logic in detail, see <a href='/blog/your-stop-loss-is-their-entry'>your stop loss is their entry</a>.