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London Close Reversal and London Protraction explained

Two ICT models built around London: the turn at the London close (M14) and the early raid after a small Asian range (M15). Rules, times and examples.

2026-10-22 · 4 min read · by the ICC Charts team (how we write)

London is where many daily moves are made. Two models in the ICC Charts scanner are built around it, but they look at opposite ends of the session: M15 London Protraction in the early morning, and M14 London Close Reversal when the session ends. This guide explains the idea, the rules the engine uses and what to watch for. All times are New York time, as on the chart.

M15 London Protraction: the early raid

"Protraction" means the Asian session was quiet and compact, so the market has built up stops on both sides of a small range. When London opens, price often makes a quick false move first, a Judas swing, takes those stops, and then runs the other way.

The preconditions

The model only looks for a trade on days when the early ranges are small. In the engine, both must be true:

Teaching material often quotes pip numbers for these ranges. Those suit forex pairs, so the engine uses a share of the average daily range, which works on any symbol, including gold and indices.

The sequence

  1. Between 00:00 and 05:00 price raids the high or low of those small ranges.
  2. Price shifts structure back the other way with displacement. See displacement and market structure shift.
  3. The entry is in the fair value gap that the shift leaves.
  4. Targets are projections of the range: the engine uses standard deviations -2, -3 and -4 of the CBDR, or of the Asian range when there is no CBDR.

An example

Say the Asian range on gold is 3,998 to 4,004 and the 20-day average daily range is $40, so the Asian range of $6 is well under 30 % of $40. At 02:10 price spikes to 4,007, above the range high, and then closes back inside. A bearish shift follows with a strong candle and a gap. A trader looking for a sell would plan to enter in that gap, with the stop above the spike high. The first projection would be 2 × $6 = $12 below the range high, near 3,992. The numbers are made up to show the method; real days are messier.

M14 London Close Reversal: the turn after the move

By late morning New York time, London traders are closing positions. If the day's main move has already finished its job, price often pulls back against it. M14 is built for that.

The rules in the engine

If the draw was not reached, M14 gives no setup that day. That is deliberate: a pullback in a trend that is still running is not the same as a reversal at the end of one.

Comparing the two

Both lean on the same building blocks, so learning sweeps, shifts and gaps first pays off. The killzones guide shows where each window sits in the day.

Limits to keep in mind

See it on a chart

Both models are on the models page and in the model scanner. Learn how to switch them on and read the results in the scanner guide, then open the terminal, pick gold or an index and scroll back through a few mornings to compare.

Education only. ICC Charts is not affiliated with Inner Circle Trader (Michael J. Huddleston); these ideas are explained in our own words. A model setup is not advice to trade. 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. Or practise on past charts in the free Chart Challenge game.

Open the terminal → Play the chart game

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