PDH/PDL liquidity sweep (Turtle Soup)

ICT · Timeframe: H1 / M15 · Sessions: London and NY AM

Price takes out the previous day's high/low to hunt stops, then reverses.

How it works

Above the previous day's high (PDH) sit sellers' stops and breakout buy orders (buy-side liquidity). ICT's 'Turtle Soup' means waiting for price to sweep that liquidity and close back inside the range: those who bought the breakout are trapped and fuel the reversal. It underpins almost every ICT model: 'liquidity first, then the real move'.

Step-by-step rules

1. Mark PDH and PDL (and equal highs/lows).
2. In London or NY wait for an H1 candle that trades beyond the level and CLOSES back inside.
3. Entry at the close of that candle (or on an M5 MSS).
4. Stop: beyond the sweep wick.
5. Target: 2R or the equilibrium of the prior range.

How Marketalyx tests it

Detector: H1 candle between 02:00 and 12:00 NY that sweeps PDH (PDL) and closes inside; entry at the close; stop at the wick; 2R target.

See real cases on gold and forex →

Related strategies

Power of Three (PO3 / AMD) · Fair Value Gap (FVG) – retest · Order Block (OB) · ICT Silver Bullet · ICT 2022 model (Sweep + MSS + FVG) · Optimal Trade Entry (OTE 62–79%) · Judas Swing · SMT Divergence

Educational content. No strategy guarantees profits and past performance does not guarantee future results.