📉 EUR/USD Trade Recap – May 22, 2025 | ICT Smart Money Concepts

Pair: EUR/USD
Style: Forex Day Trading using ICT Smart Money Concepts
Date: Thursday, May 22, 2025
Session: New York

🧠 Higher Timeframe Bias – London Session Preparation

On the 4-hour chart, EUR/USD was showing signs of bullish exhaustion. Multiple candles printed long upper wicks, indicating supply pressure and failed continuation attempts. Price was also reacting to a Daily Bearish Order Block, specifically rejecting from the CE (Consequent Encroachment) level — a key ICT concept that often signals strong reversal zones.

Meanwhile, the DXY (Dollar Index) was reacting off a Daily Rejection Block, suggesting continued USD strength. As DXY strength typically correlates with EUR/USD weakness, this added further confluence to form a bearish directional bias.

📊 London Session Price Action & News Reaction

A major event during the London session was the release of Manufacturing PMI. The market initially whipsawed — pushing lower, then briefly higher — before decisively breaking down with a bearish displacement move. This displacement confirmed the presence of institutional selling and aligned with our higher timeframe bias.

This type of price behavior — displacement after news — is a hallmark of smart money activity and often leads to clean continuation setups.

🗽 New York Session Execution Strategy

With bias firmly bearish, the focus shifted to execution during the New York session. Here’s how the setup developed:

• Price retraced to the 50% level of the London session’s bearish move — a key ICT retracement zone.

• At this level, there was confluence with a 15-minute Bearish Order Block and an overlapping Fair Value Gap (FVG).

• This stacked confluence gave high conviction to enter short.

🔹 Entry: Short from the OB + FVG zone
🎯 Target: Previous Day Low (PDL) — a common liquidity pool and logical take-profit zone

🎯 Outcome & Key Takeaways

This trade followed ICT Smart Money principles with precision:

✅ HTF Bias: Bearish order block + DXY strength
✅ Displacement: Bearish confirmation post-news
✅ Entry: Retracement into OB + FVG
✅ Target: Liquidity sweep of PDL

The trade played out beautifully, hitting the target with minimal drawdown. It’s a strong reminder of the power of confluence and how discipline in execution leads to consistent results.

📸 Trade Markup – EUR/USD Short Setup

Entry at OB + FVG | Target: Previous Day Low

📚 What I Learned

This trade reinforced key lessons:

• Let bias come from higher timeframe structure.

• Wait for displacement before execution.

• Always enter at levels of confluence, not emotion.

Patience and process paid off again — another textbook Smart Money trade.

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