Order Block
Last opposite-color candle before a strong displacement leg. Returns are treated as institutional re-entry zones — the bull OB acts as support, the bear OB as resistance.
updated 2026-04-28
The setup
An order block (OB) is the last bearish candle before a sharp bullish displacement, or the last bullish candle before a sharp bearish displacement. ICT theory holds that institutional orders concentrate in those bars; price returning to them gets defended.
Note: this is distinct from the Opening Range box (sometimes also called “OB” in older notes). For the opening-range model, see OB RANGE.
Line ships on our chart HUD as OB BULL / OB BEAR.
Entry rules
- Identify OB candle: last opposite-color candle before a 3+ bar displacement leg
- Mark zone: OB candle’s high → low (full body and wicks)
- Filter: displacement leg must be ≥ 1.0 × ATR14 to qualify
- Trigger: price returns to the OB zone — enter on first touch, stop just past the far edge
- Target: previous swing high (bull) or low (bear), or 2R fixed
- Best confluence: an OB that overlaps with an iFVG is the highest-quality setup we track
Why it matters
OB retests rarely fire as standalone trades — they show up as confluence to other signals. The biggest practical use is as a stop-placement reference: if your trade idea is invalidated by price closing past the relevant OB, you have a clean structural exit.
History
- 2026-04-28 — Page created. Sample size from automated detector run on the prediction-model dataset; live confluence wiring still in evaluation.