Stop Hunt

Also: Stop Run · Liquidity Grab · Liquidity Raid · Sweep

Definition

A stop hunt (or stop run) is the deliberate algorithmic move to sweep price through a pool of resting stop orders — above a high to trigger buy stops, or below a low to trigger sell stops — in order to generate the liquidity institutions need to fill large positions. It's the mechanism behind nearly every ICT reversal setup: the raid creates the fuel, and the reversal delivers the move.

Key characteristics

• Directional sweep through an obvious high or low
• Typically quick — a wick or short leg, not a sustained move
• Often occurs at session opens, kill zones, or around news
• Price runs the stops, then reverses hard (reversal) or uses the liquidity to continue (continuation with fuel)
• Essential for any institutional buy/sell program to fill

How it forms

Retail traders cluster stops at predictable locations — just above old highs and just below old lows. Institutions need counterparty to fill size; a stop hunt forces that counterparty into existence. When price sweeps stops, market orders execute automatically, providing the liquidity needed. The algorithm then either reverses (if the raid was the terminus of a move) or continues (if the stops were fuel for the trend).

How to use

Reversal setup (most common high-probability trade):
1. HTF bias established (discount for longs, premium for shorts)
2. Price sweeps stops against HTF bias (raid of buyside in a bearish market)
3. [[Market Structure Shift]] back in the direction of HTF bias
4. Entry on [[Fair Value Gap (FVG)]] or [[Order Block]] created by the displacement

Always anticipate it: ICT says to note in your journal: "any time a significant price move lower is expected, always anticipate some measure of a stop hunt on buy-stops or a short-term high being taken out" — and vice versa.

Common mistakes

• Placing your own stops at the most obvious location (you are the liquidity)
• Fading every sweep without confirming [[Market Structure Shift]]
• Entering on the raid before displacement — knife-catching
• Misreading continuation raids as reversals

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