The ICT Filling The Numbers concept, developed by Michael J. Huddleston, explains how traders can estimate the distance price may travel during an intraday trading session.
This concept is taught in the 2017 ICT Private Mentorship Core Content Month 09. It forms part of the ICT day-trading and scalping framework, where projected price levels are used to anticipate potential daily highs, daily lows, profit objectives, and range expansion.
The central idea is that the market frequently trades through a sequence of approximately four projected levels during the trading day.
As Michael J. Huddleston explains:
“The daily range will seek to fill or trade to four specific levels each trading day.”
These levels are not automatic buy or sell signals. They are measurements that help traders estimate how the daily range may develop after establishing a directional bias.
What Does Filling The Numbers Mean?
Filling the numbers refers to the tendency of price to trade toward a series of projected intraday levels.
ICT generally looks for price to fill approximately four levels in the direction of the expected daily move.
For example:
- In a bullish market, traders identify four projected levels above the entry.
- In a bearish market, traders identify four projected levels below the entry.
- Each completed level represents one number being filled.
- Large-range days may fill more than four levels.
- Low-volatility days may fail to complete all four levels.
The number four should therefore be treated as a general expectation, not a guaranteed outcome.
Michael J. Huddleston states:
“The tendency to move at least to four levels is a general rule of thumb.”
Directional Bias Comes First
The ICT Filling The Numbers concept should never be used without first establishing market direction.
Before projecting the numbers, the trader should determine whether price is likely to move higher or lower using:
- Daily institutional order flow
- Four-hour institutional order flow
- Premium and discount
- Higher-timeframe PD Arrays
- Liquidity objectives
- Time of day
- Current market environment
- Expected daily bias
If the market is bullish, the trader looks for projected levels above price.
If the market is bearish, the trader looks for projected levels below price.
The projections help answer the question of how far price may travel, while the directional bias helps answer which direction price may travel.
Previous-Day Highs and Lows
The previous day’s high and low are among the most important reference points for day traders.
Price frequently seeks liquidity resting above the previous day’s high or below the previous day’s low.
A trader should also monitor the highs and lows of the previous three trading days. The highest high and lowest low within that period may provide important liquidity objectives and daily-chart swing points.
These levels help provide context for determining where the daily range may expand.
However, price is not required to reach the previous day’s high or low every day. A smaller daily range may form before either level is reached.
Four Methods Used to Fill the Numbers
ICT teaches several methods for measuring the potential expansion of the daily range.
The four primary methods are:
- Floor Trader Pivot Points
- Central Bank Dealers Range projections
- Asian Range projections
- Flout Range projections
A trader should not blindly choose one method and ignore the others. The objective is to compare the projections and identify areas where multiple measurements overlap.
These overlapping areas can provide more precise potential targets.
Filling the Numbers With Pivot Points
Traditional Floor Trader Pivot Points contain a central pivot, support levels, resistance levels, and midpoint levels.
The main levels above the central pivot include:
- M3
- R1
- M4
- R2
- M5
- R3
The main levels below the central pivot include:
- M2
- S1
- M1
- S2
- M0
- S3
The midpoint levels represent approximately 50% of the distance between major pivot levels.
ICT does not primarily use pivot points as mechanical entry signals. Instead, they are used to measure potential range expansion and identify areas where staged orders may exist.
These levels can attract price because buyers and sellers often place orders around commonly observed support and resistance points.
Michael J. Huddleston explains:
“The pivots are no magic number. We use them for how far the range will expand.”
How to Count Four Pivot Levels
After establishing the entry and directional bias, count four sequential pivot levels in the expected direction of price.
Suppose a trader enters a short position near R2.
The four projected levels below the entry may be:
- M4
- R1
- M3
- Central Pivot
If price trades through all four levels, the market has filled four pivot numbers.
For a long position, the trader applies the same process in reverse and counts four pivot levels above the entry.
Filling the Numbers With the Central Bank Dealers Range
The Central Bank Dealers Range, commonly called the CBDR, can also be used to project daily expansion.
The range is extended through repeated standard-deviation projections.
In a bearish setup:
- The trader looks to sell above the CBDR low.
- The original CBDR low becomes the first projected level.
- Additional CBDR ranges are projected lower.
- Each new projected low represents another number.
- The trader counts approximately four levels lower.
In a bullish setup:
- The trader looks to buy below the CBDR high.
- The original CBDR high becomes the first projected level.
- Additional CBDR ranges are projected higher.
- Each new projected high represents another number.
- The trader counts approximately four levels higher.
This method converts the CBDR into a structured framework for estimating the potential daily high or low.
Filling the Numbers With the Asian Range
The Asian Range provides another method for measuring potential intraday expansion.
In a bullish setup, the trader may look to buy below the Asian Range and use the Asian Range high as the first number to fill.
The process is:
- Identify the Asian Range.
- Establish a bullish directional bias.
- Look for price to trade below the range or into a discount area.
- Count the Asian Range high as level one.
- Project additional equal-range measurements higher.
- Monitor the fourth projected level as a potential objective.
For bearish conditions, reverse the process.
The trader may sell above the Asian Range and use the Asian Range low as the first number to fill.
Filling the Numbers With the Flout Range
The Flout Range is measured from 15:00 to 00:00 New York time.
First, identify:
- The highest price within the time window
- The lowest price within the time window
- The equilibrium or 50% level of the complete range
The full range is then divided into two equal halves.
Each half of the complete Flout Range represents one projection unit.
This is an important distinction. Traders do not project the entire Flout Range. They project 50% of the complete range.
Bearish Flout Projection
For a bearish setup:
- The trader should look to sell above the equilibrium of the complete Flout Range.
- The Flout Range low becomes the first number to fill.
- Half-range measurements are projected lower.
- Each new projected low represents another number.
- Four projected levels are monitored as the primary expectation.
Price may continue to a fifth level or beyond when volatility is unusually strong.
Bullish Flout Projection
For a bullish setup:
- The trader should look to buy below the equilibrium of the complete Flout Range.
- The Flout Range high becomes the first number to fill.
- Half-range measurements are projected higher.
- Each new projected high represents another number.
- Four projected levels are monitored as the initial objective.
This approach helps traders estimate how far price may expand after an intraday manipulation or retracement.
Which Projection Method Should You Use?
A trader cannot know with certainty which measurement the market will follow before the trading day develops.
Price may respond more accurately to:
- Pivot levels
- CBDR projections
- Asian Range projections
- Flout projections
- Previous-day liquidity
- Higher-timeframe PD Arrays
The correct approach is to measure all relevant projections and observe where they converge.
Michael J. Huddleston explains:
“We never know for certain before the day begins what it is going to use to fulfill its daily range.”
This means the trader should remain flexible rather than becoming attached to one measurement.
Look for Confluence Between Measurements
The strongest projections often appear where several independent tools identify approximately the same price level.
For example, a potential bullish target may contain:
- The fourth Asian Range projection
- A higher pivot level
- A Flout projection
- A CBDR standard deviation
- The previous day’s high
- A four-hour bearish PD Array
- An average daily range objective
When multiple measurements converge around the same area, the level may become a higher-probability objective for the daily range.
The projections do not create the trade setup by themselves. They strengthen a target that already agrees with market direction, liquidity, time, and PD Array analysis.
London and New York Provide More Information
It is difficult to know the exact daily objective before sufficient intraday price action has formed.
The London session may complete most of the daily range, or it may remain quiet and leave the main expansion for New York.
As London trading develops, the trader receives more information about:
- The direction of displacement
- The amount of range already completed
- The active projection model
- Remaining liquidity objectives
- Whether enough time remains to reach the projected target
By the New York session, it may become easier to identify which projection method price is respecting.
Combining Filling the Numbers With PD Arrays
Projected levels should align with a logical higher-timeframe destination.
In a bullish market, the trader may look for price to expand toward:
- A bearish order block
- A fair value gap
- A liquidity pool
- An old high
- A premium imbalance
- A previous-day high
In a bearish market, the trader may look for price to expand toward:
- A bullish order block
- A fair value gap
- A liquidity pool
- An old low
- A discount imbalance
- A previous-day low
The fourth projected number becomes more meaningful when it overlaps with one of these higher-timeframe objectives.
Trade Management After Four Levels
The four-level expectation can also help with profit-taking.
When price has filled four projected levels, the trader should consider securing most of the position.
ICT suggests taking approximately 75% to 80% of the position off after four levels have been reached.
The remaining portion can be held in case the market produces a larger-than-normal range.
A practical management structure may include:
- Secure partial profit as intermediate levels are filled.
- Close most of the position near the fourth projected level.
- Leave a smaller runner for additional expansion.
- Trail the remaining position using market structure or PD Arrays.
- Avoid assuming price must stop exactly at level four.
This allows the trader to protect profits while maintaining exposure to an exceptional range day.
The Role of Volatility and Displacement
The ICT Filling The Numbers concept works best when the market has sufficient volatility.
Without displacement, price may not travel far enough to complete the projected levels.
Strong expansion is more likely when the market has:
- Clear institutional order flow
- A meaningful liquidity objective
- Session-based manipulation
- Economic news or increased volatility
- Strong displacement from a PD Array
- Sufficient time remaining in the trading day
A slow or consolidating market may not fill four numbers.
As Michael J. Huddleston notes:
“If the markets do not move and have volatility, you cannot get precision.”
Practical Bullish Example
Assume the daily and four-hour order flow are bullish.
Price trades below the Asian Range low after midnight and enters a discount PD Array.
The trader identifies a bullish entry model and marks:
- Asian Range high
- Four upward Asian Range projections
- Bullish pivot targets
- CBDR projections
- Flout projections
- Previous-day high
- Nearby bearish PD Arrays
The trader then compares the projections.
Suppose the fourth Asian Range projection, a pivot midpoint, and a fair value gap all overlap near the same price.
That area may become the projected daily high or primary profit objective.
Practical Bearish Example
Assume the daily and four-hour order flow are bearish.
Price rallies after midnight and trades above the Asian Range high into a premium PD Array.
The trader enters short after a bearish confirmation and marks:
- Asian Range low
- Four downward Asian Range projections
- Pivot support levels
- CBDR projections
- Flout projections
- Previous-day low
- Nearby bullish PD Arrays
If several fourth-level projections converge near a discount fair value gap, that area may become the projected daily low.
Common Mistakes
Using the Levels Without a Bias
Four projections do not indicate whether price will move higher or lower.
Directional bias must come first.
Treating Every Projection as an Entry
The levels are primarily measurements and potential objectives.
They should not be used as automatic support and resistance entries.
Using Only One Projection Tool
The market may respect the Asian Range one day and pivot levels on another.
Compare multiple projection methods.
Expecting Exactly Four Levels Every Day
Four levels are a general expectation.
Some days fill fewer levels, while strong expansion days may fill five or more.
Ignoring Time of Day
A distant target may be technically valid but unrealistic if little time remains before the daily range becomes inactive.
Ignoring Volatility
The market requires displacement to reach projected objectives.
Poor volatility reduces the probability of completing the expected range.
Following Too Many Markets
Calculating several projection models across many instruments can become overwhelming.
ICT encourages traders to specialize in one primary market and possibly one closely correlated secondary market.
ICT Filling The Numbers Trading Framework
A practical process for applying the concept is:
Step 1: Establish Higher-Timeframe Direction
Study the daily and four-hour charts.
Determine whether institutional order flow is bullish or bearish.
Step 2: Identify the Higher-Timeframe Objective
Mark liquidity, order blocks, fair value gaps, previous highs, previous lows, and other PD Arrays.
Step 3: Mark Important Intraday Ranges
Measure:
- Asian Range
- Central Bank Dealers Range
- Flout Range
- Daily pivot levels
Step 4: Project the Numbers
Project approximately four levels in the expected direction.
Step 5: Compare the Measurements
Look for levels where several projection methods overlap.
Step 6: Consider Time and Volatility
Determine whether enough time and movement remain for price to reach the target.
Step 7: Execute From a Valid Entry Model
Use an ICT entry model supported by liquidity, time, displacement, and market structure.
Step 8: Manage the Position
Take partial profits as levels are filled.
Secure most of the trade around the fourth level and retain a smaller runner when conditions support further expansion.
Final Thoughts
The ICT Filling The Numbers concept provides a structured method for estimating how the daily range may expand.
Its purpose is not to predict price through a single indicator. Instead, it combines several independent measurements with institutional order flow, time of day, liquidity, and the PD Array Matrix.
The trader first determines direction, then projects approximately four levels using pivot points, the Central Bank Dealers Range, the Asian Range, and the Flout Range.
The greatest precision often appears when several projections converge around the same liquidity objective or higher-timeframe PD Array.
The concept requires active measurement and analysis throughout the trading day. It cannot be applied effectively by placing indicators on a chart and waiting for automatic signals.
When correctly combined with volatility, displacement, timing, and directional bias, the ICT Filling The Numbers concept can help traders define more logical intraday targets, manage profits systematically, and estimate potential daily highs and lows with greater precision.
