Optimal Trade Entry, or OTE, is an ICT retracement zone used to time entries within a confirmed move. It is drawn with a Fibonacci from the start to the end of an impulse and focuses on the 62% to 79% retracement band, a deep pullback that still sits within the trend.
Why the deep retracement
A deep pullback lets you enter at a discount within the trend, improving your reward-to-risk because the stop can sit just beyond the origin. The 70.5% level between 62% and 79% is often watched as the sweet spot. The logic works only when the impulse and structure genuinely favour continuation.
Entry, stop and target
- Draw the Fibonacci across a confirmed, structure-breaking impulse.
- Look for entries as price trades into the 62%–79% zone, ideally at an order block or FVG there.
- Stop goes just beyond the origin of the move (below the swing low for longs).
- Targets are typically the prior high/low or the next liquidity pool for strong reward-to-risk.
OTE is not a stand-alone signal. Combine it with market structure, a liquidity sweep and a confirmation like a CHoCH on a lower timeframe. Deep retracements sometimes turn into full reversals, so the stop beyond the origin is what keeps a wrong read small.
OTE is the 62%–79% retracement of a confirmed impulse — a discount entry with the stop just beyond the origin.