Intraday Profile — London Delayed Protraction
Also: London Delayed Protraction, London Delay Profile, Delayed Protraction Profile
Visual Context Required
This concept requires chart visuals for full understanding.
A secondary London session intraday price delivery template used when the immediate (normal protraction) profile does not materialize. Instead of an immediate Judas swing after midnight, the market either drifts softly or moves without a clear protraction phase until approximately 2:00 AM New York time, at which point IPDA initiates a short Judas swing that creates an intraday premium (sell day) or discount (buy day) PD array for entry. The CBDR and Asian range criteria may be less strict for this profile, but the directional bias must still be clearly established on the daily chart. The key diagnostic is: if normal protraction has not occurred by midnight, draw a vertical line at 2:00 AM and wait for the Judas swing there.
Identification7
- Normal protraction profile criteria NOT met — price did not immediately move in the protraction direction after midnight
- Sell day delayed: price does not rally after midnight — it stays flat, drifts lower, or moves without a clear Judas swing up; at or just after 2:00 AM NY a small rally occurs into an intraday premium PD array
- Buy day delayed: price does not decline after midnight — at or just after 2:00 AM NY a small decline occurs into an intraday discount PD array
- The 2:00 AM retracement must NOT make a new high (sell day) or new low (buy day) beyond the existing Asian range or CBDR extremes
- The Judas swing at 2:00 AM is a smaller intraday move creating the entry PD array, not the full daily extreme
- CBDR may be greater than 40 pips or Asian range may be wider for this profile, but a favorable reading strengthens the setup
- Directional bias from daily chart must be clearly bullish (buy day) or bearish (sell day)
Entry3
- Sell day delayed: sell short at the intraday premium PD array (bearish order block, close a fair value gap, liquidity void) formed during the 2:00 AM Judas swing, before the London session high
- Buy day delayed: buy long at the intraday discount PD array (bullish order block, fair value gap, liquidity void) formed during the 2:00 AM Judas swing, before the London session low
- Execute on 15-minute chart
Stop1
- Same as London normal protraction stop rules apply
Target1
- Same as London normal protraction target rules apply
Invalidation3
- No Judas swing occurs at or after 2:00 AM NY — this profile does not exist for that day
- All general London session avoidance conditions still apply
- If CBDR is greater than 40 pips AND Asian range is also greater than 40 pips, the profile is highly suspect
Inferred Conditions (Unvalidated)
- The window for normal protraction observation is midnight to 2:00 AM NY (2 hours); if no protraction occurs, shift to watching 2:00 AM for the delayed version
- The delayed Judas swing at 2:00 AM is typically contained within the existing range rather than breaking out to a new extreme first
- Between 2:00 AM and 3:00 AM NY is the acceptable window for the delayed Judas swing to appear
- ICT states needing to be awake from midnight to approximately 2:30–3:00 AM NY to properly observe which profile is unfolding
- The profile gives traders who missed the initial midnight move a second opportunity to participate in London direction
ICT Quotes
"When do you look for that when the market does not create that 12am New York Time rally. In other words, the price does not go into a ProtoTrak Canary stage higher after midnight. It just rolls over go soft and makes a progressively lower move going into 2am Not a problem. Draw vertical Want to 2am Wait for a retracement higher."
"if we don't see that movement in favor of our up close day with a down move after 12am at Judas swing lower. If we don't see that, then we're gonna be looking for this scenario here. 2am. So here's the criteria, you have to be up if you're going to be a London trader, the ideal scenario is you're going to be up at 12am New York time. All we up to, at least in my opinion, 2:30am to 3am."
"So between two o'clock and 3am that Judas swing should occur. Now think about what just told you, I just loaded your 50 caliber beret ready to take down big game, you're able to find London Open setups now with very specific criteria and filters."
Timeframes
Version History1 version
77-ICT Mentorship Core Content - Month 8 - Intraday Profiles.srt
""okay intraday market profiles continuing to our cell profile with London delayed protraction. The market may or may not have a favorable central bank dealers range... the contractionary stage is goin…"
Initial formal definition of the delayed protraction profile as a named intraday template
Notes
Definition requires visual context: the critical determination — whether the midnight movement qualifies as "immediate normal protraction" or whether we are in "delayed" territory — requires watching price in real time and is inherently qualitative. ICT acknowledges this by stating the trader must be awake from midnight to 2:30–3:00 AM to properly classify which profile is in play. Together, the normal and delayed protraction profiles cover all high-probability London Open entry conditions ICT considers. No other London entry framework is described as valid beyond these two.
Asymmetry Notes
Symmetrical — same delayed-2AM structure applies for both sell days (rally at 2AM into bearish PD array) and buy days (decline at 2AM into bullish PD array).