SMC · Introduction

Smart Money Concepts for gold, taught from the first candle to a full execution system

Smart Money Concepts is simple to name and hard to apply, because most courses stop at vocabulary. This one teaches it in order, on gold, with every concept drawn as a candle chart and each entry model broken into a repeatable sequence. Work through it stage by stage; new modules are added regularly.

01

What this course is

A structured path from the basics of a candle to a complete, rules-based way to read and trade XAUUSD with Smart Money Concepts. It is not a glossary of terms. Each module builds on the one before, every idea is shown on a drawn chart, and the course ends with a single checklist you can run on any setup.

One idea, one drawing: a liquidity sweep then a shiftliquidity takenbroken supportsweep highCHoCH down
Vocabulary is step one; reading it on price is the whole point.
02

How it is organised

Four stages. Beginner builds the language: candles, structure and liquidity. Intermediate adds the tools: order blocks, fair value gaps, premium and discount, supply and demand, and multi-timeframe analysis. Advanced turns tools into setups: entry models, displacement, sessions, daily bias and the manipulation narrative. The Execution System makes it tradeable: risk, management, news, psychology, backtesting, a journal and the final checklist.

03

The full curriculum

Twenty modules. Available modules are linked; the rest are being written and added here regularly.

The course runs in four stages. Start at Module 1 even if you have traded for years; the vocabulary is what makes the method repeatable. New modules are added here regularly.

Beginner

  1. 01. Market Basics
    Candles, timeframes, spread, pips, lots, leverage, sessions and risk, the vocabulary everything else rests on.
  2. 02. Market Structure
    Swing points, HH/HL/LH/LL, BOS, CHoCH, MSS, strong vs weak highs and lows.
  3. 03. Liquidity coming soon
    Buy- and sell-side liquidity, equal highs/lows, sweeps, stop hunts and inducement.

Intermediate

  1. 04. Order Blocks coming soon
    Valid vs invalid, fresh vs mitigated, breaker and mitigation blocks, refinement.
  2. 05. Imbalances & FVG coming soon
    Fair value gaps, liquidity voids, consequent encroachment and inversion FVGs.
  3. 06. Premium & Discount coming soon
    Dealing range, equilibrium, OTE, buy in discount and sell in premium.
  4. 07. Supply & Demand coming soon
    Fresh vs tested zones, rally-base-drop, drop-base-rally and refinement.
  5. 08. Multi-Timeframe Analysis coming soon
    Weekly context down to M5 execution, top-down bias and HTF-LTF conflict.

Advanced

  1. 09. Entry Models coming soon
    Seven repeatable models: sweep to CHoCH to OB, MSS to FVG, breaker and more.
  2. 10. Displacement coming soon
    Momentum confirmation, real vs weak BOS, body-close over wick breaks.
  3. 11. Sessions & Kill Zones coming soon
    Asian range, London and New York opens, the overlap and session manipulation.
  4. 12. Daily Bias coming soon
    Previous day/week levels, daily open, liquidity targets and the daily narrative.
  5. 13. Manipulation & AMD coming soon
    Accumulation, manipulation, distribution, power of three and the Judas swing.

Execution System

  1. 14. Risk Management coming soon
    Risk per trade, structural stops, position sizing, R:R and drawdown control.
  2. 15. Trade Management coming soon
    What to do after entry: breakeven, partials, runners and liquidity targets.
  3. 16. News & Fundamentals coming soon
    NFP, CPI, PCE, FOMC, DXY, yields and how gold reacts around the data.
  4. 17. Trading Psychology coming soon
    FOMO, revenge trading, patience, discipline and following the plan.
  5. 18. Backtesting coming soon
    How to run a hundred honest backtests and read what they tell you.
  6. 19. Trading Journal coming soon
    The fields that matter and how a journal turns trades into a method.
  7. 20. Final Execution Model coming soon
    The signature checklist: W1/D1 context to M5 body-close entry, stop and target.
04

How to use it with the live chart

Read a module, then open the free live XAUUSD chart and find one real example of what you just read. One, not ten. The auto-drawn zones, structure and liquidity on the chart are the same concepts this course teaches by hand, so you can check your reading against them.

Q

FAQ

Is this course free?

Yes. Every module is a free article on this site. Read them in order and practise on the live chart.

Do I need any paid tools?

No. A chart with candles and the ability to mark levels is enough. The live chart here already plots structure, liquidity and zones if you want to check your own reading.

Which timeframe is this for?

All of them. Module 8 is entirely about combining weekly context down to M5 execution. Most examples use H1 and M15 because that is where the method is clearest on gold.

How long does it take?

The vocabulary takes a few evenings. Reading the concepts live without hunting for them takes a few weeks. Trading them with discipline is the longest part, which is why the last stage is risk, psychology and a journal.

Is SMC the same as ICT or Wyckoff?

They overlap. SMC organises much of the ICT material, and both grew from Wyckoff's accumulation and distribution work. This course keeps the parts that survive on a real gold chart and leaves the jargon out.