Calub's Model
Also: Caleb's Model, calubs model, caleb model, ICT son model, simplified FVG entry model
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This concept requires chart visuals for full understanding.
Calub's Model (named for ICT's son Caleb) is a simplified, rule-based intraday execution framework designed for new or developing traders. It operates exclusively in the New York session between 7:00am and 11:00am Eastern Time, with the working window optionally restricted to 7:00–7:30, 8:00–8:30, or 9:00–9:30 (the first 30 minutes of each hour within that range), or the opening range 9:30–10:00. The structural sequence (bullish variant): 1. Market creates a pool of buy-side liquidity (a swing high) and then trades below a prior low, forming sell-side liquidity beneath it. 2. The market then runs the buy side above the swing high (stopping out breakout shorts), drops back and takes out the sell-side liquidity below (stopping out breakout longs). 3. At a key time interval, price retraces into a Fair Value Gap that formed during the displacement leg. This is the entry trigger. 4. Entry: buy limit at one tick above the FVG high. 5. Initial stop loss: one tick below the candle low that defines the FVG. 6. Stop management: once price travels halfway between the FVG high and the first partial target, roll stop to cover costs (breakeven on commission/fees). 7. First partial: the nearest Fibonacci swing projection (negative 0.5 extension from the FVG leg's low to high) that clusters with or is within close proximity of a New Day Opening Gap (NDOG) low or New Week Opening Gap (NWOG) low — whichever is the lowest hanging fruit at or near that fib level. 8. After partials are taken, the stop is not moved again. Hold for Terminus. 9. Terminus: a Fibonacci extension that overlaps with the nearest NDOG or NWOG level (again, lowest in proximity to the fib). Exit at the first confluence point; do not over-extend beyond it. 10. If stopped out at any point, stop trading for the day. Look for the same setup the next trading day. The bearish variant is a mirror image of all the above. The model is restricted to a maximum of one trade per day. It uses only one PD array (FVG) for entry, NDOG/NWOG levels plus Fibonacci projections for targets, and a rigid stop management protocol designed to protect capital above all else. ICT explicitly states this model is intended for Caleb as a beginner-to-intermediate trader but is fully applicable to any student wanting a simple, rule-set framework. It is presented as "Variant 1" with additional variants to be taught subsequently.
Identification5
- Operating hours: 7:00am–11:00am ET. Target setup windows: first 30 minutes of 7am, 8am, 9am hours, or the 9:30–10:00 opening range.
- Look for a swing high (buy-side liquidity) followed by a push to a swing low (sell-side liquidity) within the session.
- Bullish: market takes out the buy side (above swing high), then drops and takes out the sell side (below swing low) — both raids confirmed.
- After the sell-side raid, price displaces upward, leaving a Fair Value Gap.
- FVG must form within the operative time window to be valid for entry.
Entry3
- Buy limit: one tick above the FVG high (for bullish).
- Sell limit: one tick below the FVG low (for bearish).
- Entry is a passive limit order — never market order into the FVG.
Stop4
- Initial sell stop (for longs): one tick below the candle whose low defines the FVG inefficiency.
- Stop is not moved until price has traveled halfway between the entry (FVG high) and the first partial target level.
- At halfway point, roll stop to cover costs (commissions + minimal risk). After that, stop is not moved again until partials are achieved.
- After first partial is taken, leave stop at cost-cover level and hold for Terminus.
Target4
- First partial: Fibonacci -0.5 extension of the FVG entry leg (from low of displacement to high of entry candle), adjusted to the closest NDOG low or NWOG low in proximity to that fib.
- Choose the lowest of those two levels (NDOG low vs. NWOG low) near the fib extension.
- Terminus (final exit): next Fibonacci extension that clusters with a NDOG or NWOG low. Take the lowest hanging fruit — do not wait for a higher fib if a closer NDOG/NWOG level is available.
- If neither NDOG nor NWOG aligns near a fib, use the fib projection alone as target.
Invalidation4
- If the FVG is fully closed (price traverses the full FVG range before the entry leg), the setup is invalidated.
- If price does not return to the FVG after the displacement, no entry is available — do not chase.
- If price breaks through the initial stop loss level before triggering the entry limit, skip the setup for that day.
- Model is inoperative after 11:00am ET for the morning session.
Inferred Conditions (Unvalidated)
- The dual liquidity raid (buy side then sell side, or vice versa) before the FVG formation is the structural prerequisite — without both raids, the setup is incomplete.
- The NDOG and NWOG clustering with Fibonacci extensions is the target methodology — it reduces overextension and keeps targets realistic for a morning-only model.
- ICT describes the shield (stop management) as more important than the sword (target pursuit) — capital preservation is the model's primary directive.
- This model restricts Caleb to 7am–11am working hours and one trade per day — these constraints are structural, not optional.
- Later variants of the model will expand on the framework, but Variant 1 uses only FVG as the entry PD array.
ICT Quotes
"The market should create a pool of liquidity by making a high and trading lower, making a low, inform liquidity below it. So above oh high is buy side, below and on low is sell side. We want to see a run above it when we're bullish, take that buy side in first. So now traders that would be looking to go long on a breakout they are in, their stop loss would naturally go down here... Then the real move comes at a time of day. That's key."
"Between seven o'clock in the morning, Eastern Standard Time to 11 o'clock in the morning, that's his working hours. Then I gave you seven o'clock, eight o'clock and nine o'clock, using those intervals, the first 30 minutes of each one of those hours. He's looking for this type of framework."
"The first thing you're trying to use is the shield, not the sword. Partial number one would be a swing projection coupled with a new day opening gap and or new week opening gap lowest level. So whichever is the lowest in close proximity to that Fibonacci extension, that's what you're going to be using for your first partial."
"Your Terminus would be, again, some Fibonacci extension that overlaps with a new day opening gap and or new week opening gap. Lowest level, that means it's low."
"If you do, you stop for the day. You go in the next day looking for the same type of setup. You're going to reverse everything that's shown here when you're bearish."
"Caleb's model, New Day opening gaps or new week opening gaps that are clustered... You only need one level overlapping. It doesn't need to sit inside of like it does here, if you have two levels that are over top of one another but it causes the range of the highest high and the lowest low of any one New Day opening gap or new week opening gap to encroach on the range of another. That's clustering."
Timeframes
Version History2 versions
ICT YT - 2024-09-02 - Calubs Model - Conceptually - Variant 1.srt
"This is the very first lecture on my son Caleb's YouTube channel... This is conceptually what I'm doing for Caleb, so he's going to learn this model. Now there's going to be a few different variants t…"
Initial introduction of Calub's Model Variant 1. Defined operating hours (7am–11am ET), dual liquidity raid prerequisite, FVG entry, NDOG/NWOG target methodology, Fibonacci projection for partials and terminus, and shield-first stop management protocol.
ICT YT - 2024-10-28 - ICT 2024 Mentorship - Lecture 47.srt
"For Caleb's model, New Day opening gaps or new week opening gaps that are clustered, that means they're overlapping one another. You only need one level overlapping... That's clustering. That means th…"
October 2024 expansion: introduced NDOG/NWOG clustering concept as a confluence amplifier for target precision in Calub's Model. Also clarified model operates on 15s/30s/45s/1m charts for entry refinement.
Notes
Named "Calub's Model" (spelled phonetically in the source file title) for ICT's son Caleb. ICT frames this as a parent teaching a child — it is intentionally simplified and constrained to protect a beginner trader from overtrading and bad habits. The one-trade-per-day rule and 11am hard stop are foundational constraints, not optional filters. This is Variant 1 — ICT explicitly states additional variants will follow. The core FVG entry mechanism is shared with the ICT Silver Bullet model, but Calub's Model is narrower in scope: it restricts entry PD arrays to FVG only (no OB, no breaker), restricts targets to NDOG/NWOG + Fibonacci confluence, and has a strict daily loss limit (one stop = done for the day). The model is referenced in Lectures 11, 13, 17, 18 (August 2024) and Lectures 42, 47 (October 2024), indicating it was a recurring teaching thread throughout the 2024 mentorship. See also: fair-value-gap, new-day-opening-gap, new-week-opening-gap, ict-silver-bullet, fibonacci-projections (if filed), time-macros.
Asymmetry Notes
The model is fully symmetrical — bullish and bearish setups are mirrors of each other with all conditions, entries, stops, and targets inverted.