London Lunch
Also: London Lunch Hour, London Transition
The transitional period between the London Kill Zone and the New York Kill Zone, from 5:00 AM to 7:00 AM New York time. During this window the market typically goes quiet and enters a retracement or consolidation phase as London traders take lunch and prepare for the New York session. If a trade was taken in London, partial profits should be taken before or at 5:00 AM NY to protect against a potential reversal or deep retracement during London Lunch. The window can occasionally produce a reversal if price has reached a logical higher-timeframe level, but it is not a high-probability entry window for day trades.
Identification4
- Time window: 5:00 AM New York time (start) to 7:00 AM New York time (end)
- Market typically enters retracement or consolidation during this window
- On days without follow-through, the market may continue London's direction without a meaningful pullback
- Potential for deeper retracement or reversal — take partial profits before 5:00 AM if long from London
Invalidation1
- Not a tradeable pattern — definitional/management reference
Inferred Conditions (Unvalidated)
- Economic reports are sometimes released at 4:30 AM or 5:00 AM NY — factor these into London exit timing
- London Lunch retracements can be "brutal" — ICT warns specifically about this
- After 5:00 AM NY, anticipate a mode of transition, retracement, or consolidation regardless of prior London direction
ICT Quotes
"London after 5am New York time, you generally want to just anticipate a mode of transition retracement or consolidation. So if we're for instance, if we're looking for lower prices, and we've gone short in London, it's pretty good idea to take something at or just before 5am Just in case we get a reversal"
"This is generally between 5am to 7am. That time window is when the market goes pretty much quiet and prepares for the next leg either in the direction that London call creates or a reversal."
"In this area here between the London and New York kill zones. This is London lunch. This is generally when we're not looking for any major significant price moves it usually the market goes quiet."
Timeframes
Version History1 version
73-ICT Mentorship Core Content - Month 8 - Essentials To ICT Daytrading.srt
""This is generally between 5am to 7am. That time window is when the market goes pretty much quiet.""
Definitive mentorship time boundaries
Notes
London Lunch (5:00 AM–7:00 AM NY) is the gap between the end of the London Kill Zone (5:00 AM) and the start of the New York Kill Zone (7:00 AM). It is not a kill zone. ICT uses this specifically as a profit-taking trigger from London positions. Not to be confused with the London Close Kill Zone (10:00 AM–12:00 PM NY).