ICT Turtle Soup
Master ICT Turtle Soup — the strategy of fading false breakouts beyond key levels. Named after the famous Turtle Traders, this reversal setup targets liquidity sweeps for high-R:R entries.
What is Turtle Soup?
Turtle Soup is a reversal strategy that fades false breakouts beyond significant highs and lows. Named ironically after the Turtle Trading system (which traded breakouts), ICT's Turtle Soup does the OPPOSITE — it enters against the breakout after a liquidity sweep.
The Turtle Traders became famous for buying breakouts. ICT named this strategy "Turtle Soup" because it's designed to fade and profit from the very breakouts that trap Turtle-style traders.
How Turtle Soup Works
The Setup
- Price approaches a significant high or low (PDH/PDL, equal H/L, old swing point)
- Price breaks beyond the level — triggering breakout traders' entries and stop orders
- Price quickly reverses back below/above the level
- This reversal = your entry signal
- The breakout was FALSE — it was a liquidity sweep
Bullish Turtle Soup (Fading a false breakdown)
- Price breaks below a key low (sweeps SSL)
- Then reverses back above the low
- Enter LONG with stop below the sweep extreme
Bearish Turtle Soup (Fading a false breakout)
- Price breaks above a key high (sweeps BSL)
- Then reverses back below the high
- Enter SHORT with stop above the sweep extreme
Identification Rules
- Significant level — Must be a notable high/low (not random swings)
- Clean sweep — Price should trade at least a few pips beyond the level
- Quick reversal — Ideally within 1-3 candles on entry TF
- Displacement — Reversal should be aggressive (not gradual drift)
- Kill Zone timing — Turtle Soup during Kill Zones = highest probability
- HTF alignment — The false breakout should be against the HTF bias
Real Examples
Example 1: Bearish Turtle Soup — EUR/USD
- Key Level: Previous Week High at 1.0950
- Setup: During NY AM (6:30 PM BD), price spikes to 1.0958
- Breakout traders enter long, stops are triggered
- Reversal: Strong bearish candle closes back below 1.0945
- Entry: Sell at 1.0945
- Stop: 1.0960 (above the sweep)
- Target: 1.0880 (SSL below)
- R:R: 1:4.3
Example 2: Bullish Turtle Soup — Gold
- Key Level: Equal lows at 2,020 (three touches)
- Setup: London KZ (1:00 PM BD), price drops to 2,015
- Breakdown traders sell, stops hit
- Reversal: Bullish displacement, MSS on 5M
- Entry: Buy at 2,022
- Stop: 2,013
- Target: 2,055
- R:R: 1:3.7
Common Mistakes
❌ Fading every breakout — Only fade when HTF bias opposes the breakout direction
❌ Entering before reversal confirms — Wait for displacement back inside the range
❌ Tiny stops — Stop must be beyond the sweep extreme to survive
❌ Ignoring time — Turtle Soup outside Kill Zones is low probability
Related Topics
- Liquidity Sweep — The sweep is the entry trigger
- Judas Swing — Session-opening Turtle Soup patterns
- AMD — Turtle Soup captures the manipulation phase
- MSS — Confirmation after the false breakout