Methodology
What we look for, and what we leave out
If you trade ICT-style, you already know the vocabulary. This page tells you which conditions qualify, what context we attach to every signal, and the things we deliberately do not publish.
Not familiar with ICT terminology? Start with the glossary . Every term here is defined in plain English.
The recipe
A Class A setup, in one sentence
A liquidity sweep, followed by a market structure shift, with a fair value gap inside the displacement leg. When all three line up on a single chart, the setup is published, time-stamped, with context and a written analysis.
- Sweep: a take of nearby resting liquidity in the lead-up to the break.
- MSS: a qualified structural break in the opposite direction of the prior trend.
- FVG: a 3-bar inefficiency formed inside the displacement leg.
- Displacement: the leg from swept extreme to MSS confirmation; the move whose force gives the FVG its weight.
Each component on its own is common. The convergence is rare. That's the bar.
Context
What we attach to every signal
- Killzone: Asian, London Open, NY AM, NY PM, plus the three Silver Bullet sub-windows.
- Swept liquidity: which pools got taken. PDH/PDL, Asian and London range extremes, prior PM session high or low, weekly highs and lows.
- Swing sequence: the recent short-, intermediate-, and long-term structure leading into the setup.
- Order Block (OB): the institutional footprint preceding the displacement.
- Breaker Block (BB): a prior order block that price has since violated, now potentially flipped in role.
- Nearby gap levels: New Day Opening Gaps (NDOG), New Week Opening Gaps (NWOG), and the Opening Range Gap (ORG) when relevant.
Daily arc
Power of 3
Most futures sessions unfold in three phases: accumulation, manipulation, distribution. Accumulation is the consolidation that builds inside a range, often through the Asian session. Manipulation is the false move that sweeps liquidity outside that range, frequently at London or pre-NY open, trapping breakout traders on the wrong side. Distribution is the sustained move in the opposite direction, the day's real leg.
Where in this arc a setup appears matters. A sweep during the manipulation phase reads differently than a sweep deep into distribution. When the day is clearly tracking one of the three phases, the written analysis names it.
Two lenses
ICT and Traditional TA, side by side
Every signal page carries two written analyses, not one. The first is an ICT read of the setup (sweep, MSS, FVG, displacement, killzone, swing context). The second is a Traditional TA read of the same moment (VWAP, the EMA20/50/200 stack, RSI, MACD, ATR, and volume context).
The two vocabularies don't cancel each other out. They describe the same price action from different traditions. When the ICT and TA reads agree (sweep + MSS confluent with VWAP rejection and a turning RSI, say), that's the kind of confluence experienced traders look for. When they disagree, the disagreement itself is information worth seeing before you take a trade.
Both reads are written from the same chart and the same timestamp, so you can compare them directly rather than stitching together views from two different platforms.
Coverage
Symbols and timeframes
At launch, Zero Mind Signals covers fifteen futures markets across three asset classes on six timeframes (1m, 3m, 5m, 15m, 30m, 1H). Every signal carries the symbol and timeframe it fired on.
- Indices: MNQ, NQ, MES, ES, MYM, YM, M2K, RTY
- Metals: GC, MGC, SI, SIL
- Forex futures: 6E, 6B, 6J
Energy (CL, MCL) and treasury futures (ZN, ZB) are planned for a future release once cross-asset validation is complete. The methodology stays the same; the universe expands.
Setups are detected on continuous-contract symbols (e.g. MNQ1!, ES1!, NQ1!). That's the standard chart used by every futures trader for unbroken history across roll dates. Continuous symbols are analytical, not directly tradeable; trade the active monthly contract (currently MNQZ2025, ESZ2025, etc., rolling quarterly). The setup levels read identically on either chart.
Lineage
Credit where it's due
Every term on this page comes from Inner Circle Trader (ICT): MSS, FVG, displacement, killzone, Silver Bullet, BSL/SSL, NDOG, NWOG, ORG. ICT didn't invent the underlying mechanics. Institutional order flow, stop hunts, and untraded price levels predate any framework. But he gave them a vocabulary and an internally consistent system that traders could actually learn and apply. Most traders working with these concepts today are using his terminology.
Zero Mind Signals is not affiliated with ICT. We're a separate brand applying the public framework he built to a published, observable process. If you came here from his mentorship, you already know what we're describing. If you didn't, his content is the original primer. We're not going to rewrite it here.
Anti-positioning
What we don't do
No entry prices. No stop losses. No take-profit levels. No “move to break-even” instructions. No “scale at the partial” prompts. Every signal page describes the setup and the context around it. None describe a trade.
This is deliberate. A trade plan depends on your account size, your risk tolerance, your platform, and your read of the market. We can't write it for you, and we don't pretend to. Our work ends when we've identified the setup and captured its context. What you do with that information is your trade, your risk, and your decision.
Disclaimer
One more time, in plain language
Everything published here is an educational, time-stamped observation. Nothing here is financial advice. Trading futures involves substantial risk, including loss of principal. Past observations do not predict future outcomes.