ICT Algorithmic Delivery Concepts
Understand the Interbank Price Delivery Algorithm (IPDA) — how price is algorithmically delivered to liquidity pools and imbalances in a predictable, repeatable manner.
What is Algorithmic Price Delivery?
ICT teaches that financial markets are NOT driven by random supply and demand but by an Interbank Price Delivery Algorithm (IPDA) that systematically delivers price between liquidity pools and imbalances.
"The market is a price delivery algorithm. It doesn't 'go up' or 'go down.' It delivers price from one liquidity pool to another, filling imbalances along the way." — ICT
How the Algorithm Works
The Algorithm's Objectives (in order)
- Seek liquidity — BSL or SSL (stop orders, pending orders)
- Fill imbalances — FVGs, liquidity voids, volume imbalances
- Deliver price efficiently — Move between premium and discount
- Create new liquidity — Form new swing points that attract new orders
The Price Delivery Sequence
Liquidity Pool A → Imbalance Fill → Liquidity Pool B → Imbalance Fill → ...
Price bounces between liquidity pools, filling FVGs along the way. This is NOT random — it follows the IPDA data ranges.
IPDA Data Ranges
The Lookback Periods
- 20 trading days — Short-term institutional reference
- 40 trading days — Medium-term reference
- 60 trading days — Quarterly institutional reference
How to Use
- Count back 20/40/60 candles on the Daily chart
- Mark the HIGH and LOW of each lookback period
- Any UNTOUCHED high or low = algorithm target
- The nearest untouched level = most likely next target
Example
- 20-day range: 1.0800 - 1.0950
- Current price: 1.0870
- 20-day low (1.0800) = untouched SSL → potential target
- 20-day high (1.0950) = untouched BSL → potential target
- Daily bias determines which one price seeks first
Algorithmic Patterns
Pattern 1: Liquidity → FVG → Liquidity
- Algorithm sweeps SSL → fills overhead FVG → continues to BSL
Pattern 2: FVG Mitigation
- Algorithm returns to previously created FVGs to fill them
- This is why "price always comes back to the gap"
Pattern 3: Time-Scheduled Delivery
- Algorithm activates at specific Kill Zone times
- Macro windows (:50-:10) show algorithmic displacement
- Sessions transition = algorithmic recalibration
Common Mistakes
❌ Thinking markets are random — The algorithm is predictable once you understand its objectives
❌ Ignoring IPDA ranges — These are the algorithm's reference levels
❌ Fighting the algorithm — Align with its objectives, don't counter-trade them
❌ Overcomplicating — The algorithm does TWO things: seek liquidity and fill imbalances
Related Topics
- Time & Price Theory — Time drives the algorithm
- FVG — Imbalances the algorithm fills
- Liquidity — Pools the algorithm targets
- 2022 Mentorship — Where IPDA was refined