ICT Market Maker Buy Model – MMBM Explained in Depth

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The first time I traced an MMBM from start to finish on a 4-hour chart, I realised most of my losing trades had been entries during the engineering-liquidity phase — exactly where Smart Money was harvesting stops. The Market Maker Buy Model is the map. Once you can read it, you stop entering during manipulation and start entering during distribution.

The ICT Market Maker Buy Model (MMBM) is a blueprint for how price will behave moving from a bullish PD Array to a bearish PD Array. It is very helpful because having a clear idea of the path lets you enter precise trades with tight stops.

If you are not familiar with PD Arrays, the whole concept of the Market Maker Model will be basically useless — so before going deep into MMBM, work through the foundational ICT PD Array guide first.

In this guide, I will walk you through the definition of the ICT MMBM, the three pre-conditions to confirm before you trust the model, the four components that make up the structure, and exactly how to trade it from confirmation through entry, stop loss, and profit target.

Do not worry — once you can identify the four phases on a chart, the model becomes mechanical.

Ready? Let us break it down.

What is the ICT Market Maker Buy Model (MMBM)?

The ICT Market Maker Buy Model is basically the blueprint of price delivery from a bullish PD Array to a bearish PD Array.

It is a longer-cycle pattern that captures the full institutional move — from the level where Smart Money accumulates long positions to the level where they distribute them. Reading the MMBM correctly tells you not just where to buy, but where the trade ends — which is the harder half of any setup.

You have to look for the following things before trusting an ICT Market Maker Buy Model setup:

1. The higher time frame market structure should be bullish.
2. The next draw on liquidity or Daily Bias should be pointing higher.
3. There should be a sell program on the lower time frame prior to the higher time frame PD Array.

If all three are true, you have a candidate MMBM. If any one fails, sit out.

The 4 Components of ICT Market Maker Buy Model

The Market Maker Buy Model is made up of four components, each of which corresponds to one phase of the institutional move:

(I) Original Consolidation

Original Consolidation refers to the consolidated range of price between two limits. This is the staging area — Smart Money has not yet committed direction, and price is coiling between an upper and a lower boundary.

(II) Engineering Liquidity

Engineering Liquidity refers to the sell-side move of price making lower highs which act as liquidity when price moves to the buy side.

This is the manipulation phase. Price drops out of the original consolidation, prints a series of lower highs, and stops from buyers stack on the way down. Those stops become the buy-side liquidity that Smart Money will later sweep.

(III) Smart Money Reversal

Smart Money Reversal refers to the reversal of sell side to buy side when price reaches the higher time frame PD Array.

The drop ends at a known institutional level — a higher-timeframe order block, fair value gap, or breaker. Price reverses there. This is the level where institutional buy orders fill.

(IV) Liquidity Hunt

Liquidity Hunt refers to the sweep of old highs which were made previously during engineering liquidity, and finally the original consolidation area.

The reversal eats back through every lower-high (the engineered liquidity), then continues into the original consolidation range and beyond. This is the distribution phase — and the part of the move where retail traders who entered late get carried along.

How to Trade the ICT Market Maker Buy Model

The trade flow follows the model phase by phase:

1. Confirm bullish higher-timeframe order flow and a next-draw-on-liquidity pointing higher.
2. Wait for a sell program on the lower time frame so that price moves down into the bullish PD Array on the higher timeframe.
3. When price reaches the bullish PD Array of the higher timeframe, watch for bullish confirmations — a Market Structure Shift and an SMT Divergence.
4. After both confirmations, execute a buy trade in any fair value gap when price retraces below the Market Structure Shift level.
5. Stop loss sits 10 to 20 pips below the last swing low — the low made before the Market Structure Shift.

Profit Target — Using Fibonacci on the Smart Money Reversal

For profit target, you may use the Fibonacci tool with the following settings:

Draw the Fibonacci from the low of the Smart Money Reversal to the high of the Market Structure Shift. Then, target the old highs (the engineered liquidity) as your profit-taking levels. The final target is the high of the original consolidation or the higher-timeframe draw on liquidity level.

Bonus Tip: Pairing With the Market Maker Sell Model

The MMBM has a mirror image — the Market Maker Sell Model (MMSM) — which describes how price moves from a bearish PD Array to a bullish PD Array. Same four phases, opposite direction:

• Original Consolidation
• Engineering Liquidity (this time on the buy side, making higher lows)
• Smart Money Reversal at a higher-timeframe bearish PD Array
• Liquidity Hunt sweeping the old lows downward

For the full sell-side walkthrough, see the ICT Market Maker Sell Model guide. Reading both sides together gives you a complete picture of how Smart Money cycles long and short positions across a session.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does MMBM mean in trading?

MMBM stands for Market Maker Buy Model. It is an ICT framework that describes how price delivers from a bullish PD Array to a bearish PD Array — through four phases: Original Consolidation, Engineering Liquidity, Smart Money Reversal, and Liquidity Hunt.

What is the difference between MMBM and MMXM?

MMBM (Market Maker Buy Model) is the buy-side cycle — bullish PD Array up to bearish PD Array. MMXM is sometimes used as an umbrella term covering both the buy model (MMBM) and the sell model (MMSM). When traders write “MMXM”, they usually mean the broader Market Maker Model concept rather than one specific direction.

What time frame should I use for the MMBM?

The model is built on the higher time frame (Daily or 4-hour for swing trading; 1-hour for intraday). Lower-timeframe charts (15-minute or 5-minute) are used to spot the Market Structure Shift and execute the entry inside the higher-timeframe PD Array.

What confirmations do I need before entering an MMBM trade?

Two confirmations once price reaches the higher-timeframe bullish PD Array — a Market Structure Shift and an SMT Divergence. Both should be visible on the lower timeframe before you take the buy entry.

Where do I place my stop loss on an MMBM trade?

10 to 20 pips below the last swing low — the low made before the Market Structure Shift. That swing low is your invalidation level: if price closes back through it, the MMBM thesis has failed.

What is the final profit target for an MMBM trade?

The high of the original consolidation, or the higher-timeframe draw on liquidity level — whichever is closer. Intermediate targets are the old highs from the engineering-liquidity phase, used as partial profit-taking levels.

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Wrapping Up

We hope this guide helped you understand the ICT Market Maker Buy Model and how to trade it from confirmation to profit target.

The MMBM is one of the few ICT frameworks that captures a complete cycle — accumulation, manipulation, reversal, distribution — instead of just one entry. Once you can identify which phase price is currently in, you stop entering during manipulation (where most retail traders lose) and start entering during distribution (where Smart Money is offloading).

This week, pull up a 4-hour chart on your favourite pair. Find the most recent obvious bullish move. Walk it backward through the four MMBM phases. The pattern will be there.