Trader Craig Percoco details a sweep-order block-FVG model he says made him $280,000 in 2026

A four-part sequencing model for entries

Craig Percoco presents what he calls a repeatable smart-money framework built from four mechanics: a liquidity sweep, an order block, a fair value gap, and a liquidity inflection level (essentially a trend line). He argues the market is "constantly trying to seek equilibrium," sweeping through key levels to absorb liquidity before institutional buyers step in and cause displacement. He says this framework applies to "every single market" because it describes basic market mechanics rather than a market-specific indicator.

He defines an order block as the last candle in the original direction before an engulfing, displacing candle, used to locate where large players may have entered. The fair value gap is a three-candle imbalance where the first candle's wick high doesn't overlap the third candle's wick low; he focuses on the gap's midpoint, which he calls the "consequential encroachment level," watching how price reacts there. The liquidity inflection level marks a previously respected support/resistance area that, once broken, can flip into reacting from the other side.

"The sweep is the manipulation where the market is seeking equilibrium in absorbing liquidity and manipulating under key levels." — Craig Percoco

On-chart examples across crypto and futures

Percoco walks through chart examples timed to the New York Stock Exchange open at 9:30 a.m., citing volume increases that boost liquidity and create trading opportunities. In a crypto example, he identifies a sweep below a key low followed by displacement higher, an order block from the sweep candle, a market structure shift once price closes above a prior high, and a fair value gap. He places entries at the gap's midpoint, stops below the fair-value-gap-producing candle or order block, and an initial 1:4 take-profit target, moving the stop to breakeven once price closes above the last swing low in an uptrend.

He repeats the process on a futures example he calls "MEES," again finding a sweep, order block, displacement, and fair value gap, plus a proprietary private-team indicator he describes as a "green diamond" marking statistically derived buy zones. He also shows a bearish version of the same sequence, noting that not every trade displays "100% of the confluences" and that one setup "honestly wasn't the cleanest," landing a 1:3 result instead of 1:4.

"I'm trying to find a key area where the market can't break below." — Craig Percoco

Managing positions and common mistakes

For trade management, Percoco says he lets winners run toward "key points of interest," including previous swing highs/lows and higher-timeframe levels such as the previous day's high, sometimes confirming entries with a 15-minute fair value gap reaction. He says following these trailing methods let him capture "seven units of risk" on one trade, and cites unnamed private team members reporting "12 R" on ETH and "17R" on Bitcoin ("Ponzer"), though he says he "can't share every single thing on YouTube."

He warns that traders commonly fail by trading random fair value gaps without a confirmed market structure shift or without the gap being a "high impact" candle with real volume behind it, leading to being "chewed up" by chop. He stresses the need for a confirmed liquidity inflection level, genuine market structure confirmation, and tracking repetitions through journaling to validate the system over time.