Draw on liquidity: how to find where price is likely heading

Price does not move at random from one place to another. ICT traders say it is drawn toward certain levels, and they call such a level the draw on liquidity. If you can name where price is probably heading, your trades have a target, and your stop and entry make more sense.

What is a draw on liquidity?

A draw on liquidity (DOL) is a level where many orders are waiting. Stop orders from traders who bought or sold earlier sit just beyond obvious highs and lows. Those orders are fuel for a fast move. In the buy-side and sell-side liquidity guide, we saw that highs hold buy-side liquidity (BSL) and lows hold sell-side liquidity (SSL). The DOL is the one of these that price seems to be heading for.

Common targets

Previous day high and low (PDH / PDL). The most watched levels on any chart.
Previous week high and low (PWH / PWL). Bigger and slower targets.
Equal highs and equal lows. Several swing points at nearly the same price are easy to see, so many stops sit there.
Old swing highs and lows that have not been taken yet.
The 20, 40 and 60-day highs and lows. Longer-term ranges used by ICT's interbank price delivery idea.
Gaps and imbalances. An unfilled fair value gap or an opening gap can also pull price back.

How to find it

Start with your daily bias. A bullish bias points to liquidity above; a bearish bias points to liquidity below.
Look in that direction for the nearest untouched high or low.
Check for a level that stands out, such as equal highs or the previous day's high.
Choose the closest one that is worth the trade. A target too far away may not be reached in your session.

The ICC Charts engine follows the same logic: its draw is the nearest resting daily or 4-hour liquidity pool, or the previous day's high or low, in the direction of the bias.

Internal and external liquidity

It helps to think in two layers. External liquidity is the high or low of a bigger range, such as the day or week. Internal liquidity sits inside the range, for example a small gap or a short-term swing. Price often moves from one to the other: it takes an internal level on the way, then goes to the external one. When you are in a trade, an internal level is a good place to take part of your profit, and the external level is the final target.

Using the draw in a trade

Suppose the bias is bullish and the nearest target is the previous day's high. Price first dips below a recent low, which sweeps sell-side liquidity. Then it shifts structure upward and leaves a gap. You look for an entry in that gap, put the stop below the sweep and aim for the previous day's high. The target gives you a clear reward-to-risk ratio before you enter. If the ratio is poor, you skip the trade.

What can go wrong

Price may reach the target and keep going, or reverse long before it. A target is a likely area, not a guarantee.
If price takes the opposite liquidity first and does not come back, your draw was probably wrong.
Many levels can look obvious on a busy chart. Pick only a few that fit the bias and the time of day.
A target outside your killzone may need more time than you have.

A small checklist

What is my bias?
Which untouched high or low lies in that direction?
Is there a nearer level where I should take partial profit?
Does the setup give me a sensible risk-to-reward?
What would show me the draw is wrong?

In ICC Charts

The Daily Bias panel in the terminal shows a "Draw on liquidity" price and where it comes from. The Liquidity layer draws BSL / SSL, equal highs and lows and swept levels, and the Key Levels layer shows the previous day and week highs and lows. You can also draw your own Liquidity line (BSL / SSL) with the drawing tools. Look at the models page to see which setups use these levels.

Education only. A draw on liquidity is a likely target, not a promise. Trading involves risk; practise on a demo account first.

Try it on a live chart

Open ICC Charts in your browser, free, with the ICT and VSA layers and the model scanner.

Open the terminal →