What are equal highs and equal lows (EQH/EQL)?

When the market makes a high, pulls back and makes another high at the same level, many traders see a “double top” and put their stops just above it. Breakout buyers place orders there too. That cluster of orders is buy-side liquidity, and equal lows hold the same thing on the sell side.

ICT reads equal highs and lows as targets rather than support or resistance: a clean, obvious level is more likely to be run than respected. The trade comes after the run — when price sweeps the level and fails to hold beyond it.

EURUSDEqual highs: buy stops aboveEqual lows
Two highs at the same level hold buy stops. One candle runs above them and closes back below; price then falls through the equal lows underneath.

The example in numbers

Entry (short)1.08740 — close of the sweep candle
Stop1.08900 — 2 pips above the sweep wick (16 pips)
Target1.08460 — below the equal lows (28 pips)
Reward to risk1.75R · breaks even at a 36% win rate

EURUSD prices from the chart above (Equal highs and lows), entry at 1.08740. At 1.75R, this setup needs to win more than 36% of the time to make money before costs. Try your own levels in the risk/reward calculator.

Equal highs and lows: how to spot it

  1. Look for two or more swing highs or lows within a few pips of each other.
  2. The more obvious the level — on higher timeframes, or touched several times — the more stops sit beyond it.
  3. Wait for price to trade through the level; a close back on the original side marks the sweep.
  4. Trade the other way, with the stop beyond the sweep’s wick and the target at the opposite liquidity.

Definitions differ

Traders allow different tolerances: exact to the pip on low timeframes, a few pips on the hourly chart. Some call relatively equal highs “REH” and lows “REL”. Others only count levels that formed in a session they watch, such as the Asian range.

Common mistakes

  • Selling the double top itself

    Equal highs are where stops are, not where sellers are. Shorting the second touch puts your stop exactly where the market is likely to go.

  • Calling any two highs equal

    Levels 15 pips apart on a 5-minute chart are not equal. The tighter and the more visible, the more liquidity they hold.

  • Expecting every sweep to reverse

    Sometimes price takes the level and keeps going. Without a close back inside and a shift in structure, it is a breakout.

Your win rate on EQH

A definition does not tell you whether your EQH trades pay. Your own record does: in the journal, open a trade from MT4 or MT5 and press the key of EQH under Entry criteria — the most used criteria get keys 1–9.

Reports then show EQH by itself: trades, win rate without breakeven trades, average R and P&L, and EQH in each ICT killzone, which is set on every trade by itself. Combinations such as EQH with another criterion appear once they have 15 trades, so a lucky streak does not look like an edge.

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Questions

›What is the difference between EQH and a double top?

The shape is the same. A double top is read as resistance to sell from; ICT reads equal highs as liquidity that is likely to be taken first.

›How close do equal highs need to be?

Close enough that most traders see one level: usually within a few pips, depending on the timeframe and the pair’s volatility.

›Which equal levels matter most?

Those on higher timeframes, the previous day’s high and low when they line up with earlier swings, and the Asian range before London.

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