TUTORIAL 02 OF 04
Understanding the session windows
The ICT Silver Bullet strategy is built around specific moments of the trading day when institutional order flow is at its highest. Understanding why these windows exist — and what makes them different — is the foundation of trading this strategy correctly.
24-HOUR SESSION MAP (UK TIME)
00:00
06:00
12:00
18:00
24:00
EU
08:00
UK
09:00
NY
15:30
AU
23:50
EU/UK signal window
NY signal window
Each block = 1-hour opening range · Faded area = 5-hour signal window
Why session opens matter
At the open of each major market session, institutional traders — banks, funds and large operators — place their biggest orders. This surge of activity creates a defined opening range as price moves to find liquidity. Once that range is established, the breakout from it represents the direction that institutions have chosen for that session.
The four session windows
European Open — 08:00 UK
Frankfurt and other European exchanges open at 08:00 UK time. This is the start of the European trading day and often sets the directional tone for the morning. Range forms from 08:00–09:00 UK, with a signal window from 09:00–14:00 UK. Best for EUR and GBP pairs plus European indices.
London Open — 09:00 UK
London is the largest forex trading centre in the world. The 09:00 open brings the highest volume of the European session and often produces the cleanest breakout setups. Range forms from 09:00–10:00 UK, with a signal window from 10:00–15:00 UK.
Best session for beginners: The London Open at 09:00 is the most consistent and liquid session. If you are new to the strategy, start here before expanding to other sessions.
New York Open — 15:30 UK
The New York open overlaps with the London afternoon session, creating the highest liquidity period of the trading day. Range forms from 15:30–16:30 UK, with a signal window from 16:30–21:30 UK. Best for USD pairs, US indices, and gold.
High impact news: The NY open regularly coincides with major US economic releases — NFP, FOMC meetings, and CPI data. Avoid trading signals during scheduled high-impact news and check the economic calendar before each NY session.
Australia Open — 23:50 UK
The Australia session opens just before midnight UK time, marking the start of the Asian trading session. Volume is lower than the European and NY sessions, so signals tend to be smaller in magnitude — but they can be clean on AUD pairs, Asian indices, and gold during quieter periods.
The opening range — what to look for on the chart
When a session starts, APEX draws a coloured box on the chart covering that session’s one-hour opening window. The top of the box is the session high and the bottom is the session low. During the session hour, the box expands as price moves. When the hour closes, the box locks in and dotted extension lines project the high and low forward for 5 hours.
What makes a valid range
The cleanest signals come from sessions where the range is relatively tight, price respects both boundaries during the session hour, a directional bias is clearly building, and no major news event has distorted the range with a spike.
Practice tip: Spend a week watching the sessions in real time without trading. Observe how the range forms, which sessions produce the cleanest ranges, and how price behaves after the breakout.