New York Lunch Algorithmic Reversal
Also: NY Lunch Reversal PD Array, Lunch Window Inefficiency Carry-Forward, Previous Day Lunch Reversal Zone
Visual Context Required
This concept requires chart visuals for full understanding.
The New York Lunch Algorithmic Reversal is a PD array formed by identifying the inefficiency (FVG) that appears immediately before liquidity is taken during the previous day's New York lunch window (10:00 AM to 1:30 PM Eastern time). When buy side or sell side liquidity is raided during the lunch window, the FVG that formed right before that raid becomes a key reversal zone. This inefficiency is carried forward to the next trading day. If price trades back into that inefficiency on the following day, it sets the tone for a reversal in the opposite direction. The FVG initially presents as a standard BISI or SIBI, but after the liquidity raid, it transforms into an inversion fair value gap — its character changes from continuation to reversal. The concept relies on the algorithmic nature of price delivery during the lunch session: the run to liquidity is not random buying/selling pressure but a programmatic delivery. The inefficiency right before the raid is the algorithm's last staging point, and it will revisit that level as a reversal anchor.
Identification7
- On the previous day's chart, identify the New York lunch window: 10:00 AM to 1:30 PM Eastern time.
- Identify where buy side or sell side liquidity was raided during the lunch window (typically near the 1:30 PM close of lunch).
- Find the FVG (BISI or SIBI) that formed immediately before the liquidity raid — this is the key inefficiency.
- Note the high and low of this FVG, including its consequent encroachment (midpoint) and volume imbalance if present.
- Carry this FVG forward to the next trading day as a reversal zone.
- If {direction} buy side was raided: the FVG before it becomes a bearish inversion FVG on the next day — price trading up into it is a shorting opportunity.
- If {direction} sell side was raided: the FVG before it becomes a bullish inversion FVG on the next day — price trading down into it is a buying opportunity.
Entry3
- When price trades into the carried-forward FVG on the next day, look for the inversion: bodies respecting consequent encroachment or the high/low of the gap.
- Enter on the reversal side once price shows rejection within the FVG zone (e.g., down close candle at the top of a bearish inversion FVG).
- The volume imbalance at the base of the FVG, if present, provides additional precision for entry.
Stop1
- Place stop beyond the liquidity that was raided the previous day (the high/low that was taken during the lunch raid).
Target3
- Previous day's regular trading hours opening range gap.
- Sell side or buy side liquidity pools identified on the current day.
- Event horizon between proximate liquidity pools.
Invalidation3
- Price trades through the entire FVG range with bodies closing through it — the inversion thesis is void.
- The FVG was not the last inefficiency before the liquidity raid — incorrect identification.
- No liquidity was actually raided during the lunch window — there is no reversal context.
Inferred Conditions (Unvalidated)
- This concept is specific to the lunch window because ICT describes the lunch period as a time when the algorithm runs specific reversal scripts — the inefficiency before the raid is part of that scripted delivery.
- The carry-forward to the next day works because the algorithm treats these levels as unfinished business — the inversion quality emerges when the level is revisited in a new session context.
ICT Quotes
"When you're utilizing the two-hour lunch window previous day, if you have a reversal after liquidity has been taken, you take that inefficiency right before it takes the liquidity. Carry that forward into the next day. If it trades up into it, it can set the tone for a shorting opportunity. Reverse it for going long."
"this is an algorithmic price delivery. It's not buying pressure just as much as it's not selling pressure that drove it down."
Timeframes
Version History2 versions
05 - ICT 2026 New York Lunch Algorithmic Theory ⧹ March 11, 2026.en.srt
"I said I'd be releasing two of them this year. And one of them is this one here. When you're utilizing the two-hour lunch window previous day, if you have a reversal after liquidity has been taken, yo…"
First introduction of this concept. ICT identifies it as one of two new PD arrays he will release in 2026. Demonstrated with previous day's lunch window BISI that became an inversion FVG, carried forward to the next day as a shorting zone.
05 - ICT 2026 New York Lunch Algorithmic Theory ⧹ March 11, 2026.en.srt
"I already outlined in this lecture what this is, okay? It's yesterday's New York lunch when they ran buyside. When the buy side's taken, you look for the inefficiency right before the liquidity is tak…"
Clarifies the selection rule: pick the FVG immediately before the liquidity raid, not any FVG in the area. It must be the last inefficiency before the raid because it is part of the complex reversal during a macro time.
Notes
ICT introduces this as a genuinely new PD array in 2026 — one of two he said he would release this year. The concept combines multiple existing ICT elements (NY lunch window, FVG, inversion FVG, liquidity raid, carry-forward levels) into a specific, named setup. The lunch window referenced here is 10:00 AM to 1:30 PM Eastern time (the 2-hour New York lunch per ICT's definition). This is distinct from the London Lunch (5:00-7:00 AM ET). The concept demonstrates ICT's view that price delivery during the lunch window is algorithmic, not driven by buying/selling pressure. The inefficiency before the raid is the algorithm's staging point, and it retains significance into the next session. Related: fair-value-gap.yaml, time-macros.yaml (lunch macro), london-lunch.yaml, inversion FVG concepts within fair-value-gap.yaml