How to Mark Liquidity Levels in ICT Trading (The Complete Guide)

Knowing that liquidity exists at swing highs and swing lows is not the same as knowing which levels actually matter this session. Most ICT traders have charts covered in horizontal lines that were relevant last week, or minor internal swings that price will never target, or every equal high from the last three months.

A cluttered chart is not a thorough chart. It is a chart that makes real-time decisions harder. This guide is the specific framework for marking liquidity levels that are actionable - the hierarchy, the exact technique, what to include and what to skip.

What to Mark: The Four Level Types

There are four categories of liquidity levels worth marking. Each has a different priority and a different role:

1. Equal Highs and Equal Lows

Equal highs (EQH) are two or more swing highs at approximately the same price level. Equal lows (EQL) are two or more swing lows at the same level. These are the highest-priority liquidity targets in ICT trading for one reason: every additional touch at the same level adds more stop orders. The density is higher than any single swing high or low.

• →Two equal highs = double the stop concentration of a single swing high.
• →Three equal highs (triple top) = an extremely high-probability sweep target.
• →Retail analysis calls these double tops and double bottoms - reversal signals. ICT treats them as liquidity pools that will be swept.

2. Previous Session Highs and Lows

These are the most consistently targeted levels in intraday ICT trading:

• →Previous day high (PDH) and previous day low (PDL): One of these is swept most trading days. Mark both at the start of each session.
• →Previous week high (PWH) and previous week low (PWL): Major institutional targets. If not swept during the week they formed, they remain active.
• →Asia session high and low: Frequently become liquidity targets during London open and New York open.

3. Obvious Swing Highs and Swing Lows

Any swing that is visually obvious to retail traders has stop orders sitting just beyond it. Obvious means: multiple candles on both sides, clearly the highest or lowest point in the surrounding range, easily identifiable without zooming in. If you have to squint to see it, it is probably not obvious enough to have significant liquidity.

4. Round Numbers

In futures and crypto especially, round numbers (00 and 50 price levels) carry dense liquidity from psychological stop placement. Traders who cannot decide exactly where to place their stop default to round numbers. Mark these when they align with nearby swing structure - they act as magnets that increase the probability of a sweep through a nearby structural level.

How to Mark: Exact Technique

Two technical decisions matter for accurate liquidity marking:

• →Mark the wick tip, not the candle body: Stop-loss orders sit at or just beyond the extreme of the candle. The wick tip is where the actual order cluster is. If you mark the body, you are drawing a line that price will pass through before hitting the real liquidity.
• →Use a clean horizontal line at the exact level: Not a zone, not a range - a specific line at the wick tip. Liquidity is a precise price level, not an area. You need to see exactly when price has or has not taken it.

The Priority Hierarchy

When multiple levels compete for attention, this is the hierarchy that determines which ones actually matter:

1. 1.HTF over LTF: A daily chart swing high is a higher-priority target than a 15-minute equal high. Always confirm direction from the higher timeframe first.
2. 2.Most recent over older: A previous day high beats a level from two weeks ago. The older a level, the more likely it has been partially swept or is no longer relevant.
3. 3.Equal highs/lows over single swings: Two or more touches at the same level beats a single swing high or low every time.
4. 4.Unswept over swept: Levels that have never been taken are higher priority than levels that have been swept. Once a level is swept and price trades significantly through it, remove it.
5. 5.Proximity: All else equal, the nearer level is the first target. Institutions work through levels systematically from nearest to furthest.

What NOT to Mark

This is where most ICT traders create problems for themselves. Remove or skip the following:

• →Every minor internal swing: Not every candle high or low is a liquidity level. Internal structure swings that are only visible on the 1-minute chart are not significant enough to build stop-order density.
• →Levels that have been swept and traded through significantly: Once price has swept a level and spent multiple candles beyond it, that level is consumed. Remove it.
• →Levels that are 10+ sessions old without being touched: Old levels that price has consistently respected without taking are lower priority than fresh levels from the last few sessions.
• →Levels in the middle of a range: Liquidity sits at the extremes - the highs and lows. Mid-range structure breaks are usually inducement, not targets.

Session Prep: The Liquidity Marking Routine

Before each trading session, the marking routine should take under five minutes:

1. 1.Clear expired levels: Remove any levels that were swept last session or are more than one week old.
2. 2.Mark PDH and PDL: The previous day high and low are always relevant until swept.
3. 3.Check for equal highs/lows: On the 15m and 1H, are there two or more touches at the same level? Mark them.
4. 4.Mark PWH and PWL if not already done: Previous week levels stay active until taken.
5. 5.Note Asia range: If trading London or New York, the Asia high and low are active targets.
6. 6.Check round numbers near current price: Any 00 or 50 level within a reasonable swing range from current price.

Frequently Asked Questions