Central Bank Dealers Range
Also: CBDR, Central Bank Dealer Range
A defined price range formed between 2:00 PM and 8:00 PM New York time each trading day, representing the late New York session into the beginning of the Asian session. The CBDR is the consolidation range that precedes the Asian range and the London Kill Zone. Its high-to-low pip range is used as the standard deviation unit for projecting the daily high or low of the following trading day. The ideal CBDR is 20–30 pips (measured using candle bodies, not wicks) and must be less than 40 pips to be usable for projections. A CBDR greater than 40 pips invalidates the standard deviation methodology for that day. ICT prefers measuring the CBDR using candle bodies (highest open/close to lowest open/close) rather than wicks, as bodies better represent institutional accumulation/distribution ranges.
Identification7
- Time window: 2:00 PM New York time (start) to 8:00 PM New York time (end)
- Measure the highest high and lowest low within this window (wick-to-wick for context, body-to-body for projection use)
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- The range must visually appear as a consolidation: if the market is trending through 2:00–8:00 PM NY, the CBDR is not a consolidation and London setup probability drops
- A CBDR greater than 50 pips is a strong signal to avoid the London session entirely
Entry4
- Not a direct entry signal; used to project the projected daily high (sell days) or daily low (buy days)
- Sell day projection: add 1–2 standard deviations (multiples of the CBDR pip range) above the CBDR high to identify the projected London session high
- Buy day projection: subtract 1–2 standard deviations (multiples of the CBDR pip range) below the CBDR low to identify the projected London session low
- Enter the trade when price reaches the projected standard deviation level, confirming with a PD array overlap
Stop1
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Target2
- After identifying the high (sell day) or low (buy day) at the projected standard deviation level, the total standard deviations used for the protraction become the multiplier for the expansion target
- Specifically: count the total number of CBDR standard deviations used to reach the projected high/low — apply that same multiple below the high (sell day) or above the low (buy day) for the IP data projected daily range
Invalidation3
- CBDR greater than 40 pips — do not use for standard deviation projections
- CBDR greater than 50 pips — consider skipping London Open Kill Zone entirely
- If CBDR is larger than 40 pips but Asian range subsequently consolidates to 20–30 pips, the London delayed-protraction profile can still be considered
Inferred Conditions (Unvalidated)
- Most sell days create the daily high within 1–3 standard deviations above the CBDR
- Most buy days create the daily low within 1–3 standard deviations below the CBDR
- Four standard deviations are rare and typically occur on very high-impact news events or to create a New York session market reversal profile
- Ideal scenarios (highest probability) see the daily high/low form at 1–2 standard deviations
- The CBDR range measured in pips = one standard deviation unit; projections are multiples of this unit
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- ICT prefers using body measurements over wick measurements for CBDR because broker dealing spreads create artificial wick disparity
ICT Quotes
"The time period that frames the central bank dealers range is 2pm to 8pm New York time. The ideal range is less than 40 pips, preferably the range should be no more than 20 to 30 pips in total range."
"one standard deviation above and below would be the same range added to the high the central bank dealers range... and one standard deviation is the same range that makes the central bank dealers range in total range in terms of pips, and we subtract that range from the central bank dealers range low"
"Typically, most sell days will create the highs of the day. From the central bank dealers range up to three standard deviations. Most buy days, we'll create the low of the day from the central bank dealers range down to the third standard deviation. Ideally, sell days create the high of the day. No more than two standard deviations above central bank dealers range many times just one standard deviation."
"I like to use the bodies predominantly because the wicks are always going to show erroneous price because of your dealing spread through your broker... what I use is the bulk of the trading which is the body"
"the total range used of all the standard deviations, 123, counting central bank dealers range always. So we have three of them. So we get a mock up of that range, and then projected from the low one cell days, it's 123 and gives you the IP the projected daily range low."
Timeframes
Version History2 versions
75-ICT Mentorship Core Content - Month 8 - Central Bank Dealers Range.srt
""I'm going to assume you've already went through my youtube tutorial dealing with the central bank dealers range. But if you haven't gone through it, this one's going to pretty much teach you everythi…"
Prior YouTube tutorial existed; this mentorship version is the definitive/expanded teaching
75-ICT Mentorship Core Content - Month 8 - Central Bank Dealers Range.srt
""The time period that frames the central bank dealers range is 2pm to 8pm New York time. The ideal range is less than 40 pips, preferably the range should be no more than 20 to 30 pips in total range.…"
Definitive mentorship definition with explicit time window and pip criteria. Body-measurement preference clarified.
Notes
The CBDR is the cornerstone of ICT's daily high/low projection methodology. Its relationship with the Asian Range (8:00 PM–12:00 AM NY) is structural: CBDR sets up the baseline, Asian range continues the consolidation, and the London Kill Zone delivers the projectionay phase that creates the daily extreme. The projection methodology is: (1) count how many CBDR standard deviations were used in the protraction (Judas swing); (2) apply that same count as a multiplier below the sell-day high or above the buy-day low to derive the projected daily range target. ICT called the CBDR projection methodology "something that should not be out there on YouTube" indicating it was considered proprietary advanced content in 2017.
Asymmetry Notes
Symmetrical — same CBDR is used for both buy day and sell day projections. For sell days, projections are added above CBDR high. For buy days, projections are subtracted below CBDR low.