CRT Education · November 9, 2026 · 8 min read

Time Theory for CRT: Power of 3, OHLC and Daily Bias

How time drives price in Candle Range Theory: quarterly cycles, weekly profiles, Power of 3 (AMD), OHLC vs OLHC days, daily and weekly bias, and IRL to ERL.

Price doesn't move at random times. Every candle, from the yearly down to the hourly, tends to follow the same sequence: it builds a range, makes a false move against its real direction, then delivers. That's the Power of 3, and once you know a candle's likely direction, it tells you which extreme should form first and where the move is going. Time theory is the study of that sequence. It's the reason Candle Range Theory works, and it's what turns a pattern into a plan.

This guide covers the pieces in order, from the biggest cycle to the smallest: quarters, weeks, days, and finally how bias and liquidity tell you where price is going next. If you're looking for the exact session times and killzones, they have their own guide: CRT timings and killzones.

Time is fractal

The same cycle shows up on every timeframe. A year can be split into four quarters. A month into four weeks. A week into five trading days. A day into three sessions: Asia, London and New York. On each level, the pattern is the same: the first part builds, the second part fakes, the third part delivers, and the last part either continues or reverses.

That's why the CRT model is the same on the weekly chart as on the H1 chart. Candle 1 is the building phase, Candle 2 is the fake, Candle 3 is the delivery. The timeframe changes. The logic doesn't.

Quarterly theory: the big picture

Quarterly theory splits a period into four quarters:

1. Q1, accumulation: the range forms.
2. Q2, manipulation: the false move, usually a sweep of Q1's high or low.
3. Q3, distribution: the real move.
4. Q4, continuation or reversal: either more of the same or a turn.

On the yearly calendar, people often describe Q1 as fresh money being positioned, Q3 as the quieter summer months with more false breaks, and Q4 as year-end rebalancing with bigger swings. Treat that as background colour, not a trading signal. Where quarterly theory really earns its keep is on the smaller cycles: the four weeks of a month, and the four "quarters" of a trading day.

My Quarterly Cycles indicator draws these quarters on the chart so you can see which part of the cycle you're in without counting candles.

The weekly profile

Weeks have personalities. These are the three I see most:

• Classic expansion week. The low of the week (on a bullish week) or the high (on a bearish week) forms Monday or Tuesday. Wednesday and Thursday expand toward the weekly draw.
• Midweek reversal. Monday and Tuesday push one way, Wednesday sweeps a key level and reverses for the rest of the week.
• Consolidation reversal. Monday to Wednesday is a range; Thursday breaks it, often around a news release, and the week's real move happens late.

Monday's range is the framework of the week. Mark its high and low; they become liquidity the rest of the week will often reach for. If no weekly manipulation has happened by Thursday, I take a lot less risk.

The Power of 3: accumulation, manipulation, distribution

On the daily candle, the Power of 3 (AMD) maps directly onto the sessions:

• Accumulation, Asia. Price builds a range in the quiet hours. Volume is light and the range is often tight.
• Manipulation, London. At the London open, price makes a false move, typically against the day's true direction. It sweeps the Asia high or low, triggers stops and traps breakout traders. This is the Judas swing.
• Distribution, New York. Price moves in the real direction, often hardest after the New York open.

That's the textbook day. Real days vary: sometimes New York makes the manipulation instead of London (a delayed protraction), and sometimes Asia itself reverses. That's why I profile the sessions instead of assuming.

Profiling with H7 candles

In my models, I split the day into three seven-hour (H7) candles in New York time: Asia at 6 pm, London at 1 am and New York at 8 am. Each one is a candle in its own right, with an open, high, low and close. Reading them as candles tells me which session made the manipulation, whether the day's low or high is likely in, and whether New York should continue or reverse. I wait for the 8 am H7 before committing on a reversal, and I want a sharp V turn with a CISD, not a slow grind.

OHLC and OLHC days

Every candle draws its high and its low at some point. The order tells you everything:

• OLHC (bullish day): open, then the low first, then the high, then the close near the top. The low is the manipulation; the high is the delivery.
• OHLC (bearish day): open, then the high first, then the low, then the close near the bottom.

So if your bias is bullish, you expect the low of the day to form early, usually during London or the first part of New York, and below the day's opening price. That gives you three practical rules:

1. On a bullish day, look for longs below the open, not above it.
2. Once the low of the day is in, don't short it; the day's job is now to reach the high.
3. If price is still making new lows late in New York, the bullish read was wrong. Stand aside.

The same idea works for the week (Monday or Tuesday usually makes the opposite extreme) and for the H4 or H1 candles you trade inside the day.

Daily and weekly bias with CRT

Bias is simply your best read of which way the next candle closes. Here's the mechanical version I use, the same rules built into the DOL Map. Read yesterday's candle against the day before it:

Do the same with last week's candle for the weekly bias. The draw is the other side of the range: the previous day's high (PDH) or low (PDL) for the day, the previous week's high or low for the week. The first target is the 50% of yesterday's range; the second is the far side.

When daily and weekly agree, those are the cleanest days. When they disagree, the day usually trades toward its own draw first. If that draw gets swept before New York and rejected, it was often the week's Judas swing, and the day flips to follow the week.

IRL and ERL: where price goes next

Liquidity comes in two kinds:

• External range liquidity (ERL): the highs and lows of a range, where the stops sit.
• Internal range liquidity (IRL): the gaps and imbalances inside the range, such as fair value gaps, the 50% of the range and the midnight open.

Price alternates between them. After it takes external liquidity, it usually retraces into internal liquidity. After it rebalances internal liquidity, it reaches for the next external pool. ERL to IRL to ERL is the heartbeat of the market.

This gives every CRT trade a logical map. Candle 2 takes external liquidity on one side of Candle 1. The next stop is internal: a fair value gap or Candle 1's 50%. Then the move continues to the external liquidity on the other side, which is Candle 3's target. If you entered after an ERL sweep, IRL is your first target. If IRL has already been rebalanced, ERL is next.

Putting it together: a pre-session routine

1. Weekly: what's the weekly bias and the weekly draw? Has the weekly manipulation happened yet?
2. Daily: read yesterday's candle with the table above. Note PDH, PDL and the 50%.
3. Profile: which session made the manipulation so far? Is the low (or high) of the day likely in?
4. Map the liquidity: external pools on both sides, internal levels in between.
5. Wait for the trigger: the sweep in the right window, the turtle soup, then an entry requirement. The turtle soup guide covers that part.
6. Invalidation: write down the level that, if price closes beyond it, cancels the plan.

The lessons in CRT University go through each of these in order, and the CRT Handbook covers the full system.

FAQ

What is the Power of 3 in trading?

The idea that a candle forms in three phases: accumulation (a range), manipulation (a false move that sweeps liquidity) and distribution (the real move). On the daily candle, those phases usually line up with the Asia, London and New York sessions.

What do OHLC and OLHC mean?

The order in which a candle makes its extremes. OLHC means the low formed before the high (a bullish candle); OHLC means the high formed first (a bearish candle). If you know the bias, you know which extreme to expect first.

How do I find the daily bias?

Compare yesterday's candle with the day before. A close beyond the prior high or low is continuation; a sweep of one side that closes back inside is a CRT pointing the other way; an inside day defers to the weekly bias.

What's the difference between IRL and ERL?

ERL is the liquidity at a range's highs and lows. IRL is inside the range: fair value gaps, the 50% and the opens. Price tends to alternate between them.

Is quarterly theory reliable?

As a framework for reading cycles, yes. As a calendar rule ("Q3 always ranges"), no. Use it to know where you are in the cycle, and let the price action confirm it.

Education only, not financial advice. Trading involves substantial risk of loss.