Core Concepts
ICT Liquidity: Buy-Side, Sell-Side and Liquidity Sweeps
Liquidity is one of the most-used terms in ICT and Smart Money Concepts. In the framework, traders mark areas around obvious highs and lows where orders may be concentrated and then study how price interacts with those areas.
Buy-side and sell-side liquidity
Buy-side liquidity (BSL) is commonly marked above prominent highs, while sell-side liquidity (SSL) is commonly marked below prominent lows. These labels describe locations on a chart; they do not prove who placed every order there.
Equal highs and equal lows
Repeated or closely matched highs can be treated as a visible area of potential buy-side liquidity, while repeated lows can be treated as potential sell-side liquidity. The important skill is defining a consistent rule for what counts as equal.
What is a liquidity sweep?
A liquidity sweep describes price moving through a previously marked high or low and then reacting. Traders often look for additional confirmation after the sweep rather than treating the sweep alone as an entry signal.
Avoiding the common mistake
Do not assume every wick is a stop hunt or that every sweep must reverse. Record the setup conditions before the outcome and test them over a meaningful sample.
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