Turtle Soup Calculator
Calculate parameters for ICT Turtle Soup setups — false breakouts of previous highs and lows. Enter values for instant results with step-by-step formulas.
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The sweep size measures how far price extended beyond the previous level. The sweep quality is evaluated as a percentage of ATR. Stop loss is placed beyond the sweep extreme with a buffer. Targets use risk multiples (2R, 3R, 5R) for systematic profit-taking.
Last reviewed: December 2025
Worked Examples
Example 1: Short Turtle Soup Above Previous High
Example 2: Long Turtle Soup Below Previous Low
Background & Theory
The Turtle Soup Calculator applies the following established principles and formulas. Foreign exchange markets facilitate the conversion of one currency into another and serve as the largest and most liquid financial markets in the world, with daily turnover exceeding seven trillion US dollars. Exchange rates are quoted as currency pairs, expressing the price of one unit of a base currency in terms of a quote currency. For example, a EUR/USD rate of 1.0850 means one euro buys 1.0850 US dollars. The smallest standardized price movement in most pairs is the pip, typically the fourth decimal place, with a value of 0.0001 per unit for USD-denominated pairs. The bid price is the rate at which a dealer will buy the base currency, while the ask price is the rate at which it will sell. The spread between bid and ask represents the dealer's compensation and varies with liquidity and volatility. Leverage amplifies both gains and losses by allowing traders to control positions larger than their deposited margin. A 100:1 leverage ratio means a one-percent adverse move eliminates the entire margin, making position sizing and risk management critical. Two parity conditions from international economics anchor exchange rate theory. Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) holds that exchange rates should adjust over time so that identical goods trade at equivalent prices across countries: S = P_d / P_f, where S is the spot rate and P_d and P_f are domestic and foreign price levels. PPP performs well over long horizons but poorly in the short run due to trade barriers, non-tradable goods, and capital flows. Covered Interest Rate Parity (CIRP) is a near-arbitrage condition stating that forward exchange rate premiums or discounts exactly offset interest rate differentials between two currencies: F/S = (1 + r_d) / (1 + r_f). Deviations from CIRP create riskless arbitrage opportunities that traders rapidly eliminate. Uncovered Interest Rate Parity posits that high-yielding currencies should depreciate to offset their interest advantage, though empirical evidence is mixed and the carry trade — borrowing in low-rate currencies to invest in high-rate ones — has generated persistent returns.
History
The history behind the Turtle Soup Calculator traces back through the following developments. For much of the nineteenth century and early twentieth century, the international monetary system operated under the classical gold standard, under which each participating currency was fixed to a defined weight of gold, making bilateral exchange rates effectively constant. The system provided price stability and facilitated global trade but constrained governments' ability to respond to economic downturns. World War One shattered the gold standard as nations suspended convertibility to finance wartime expenditures. The interwar period saw attempts to restore gold convertibility, most notably the British return to the gold standard in 1925 at the pre-war parity, a decision criticized by John Maynard Keynes as deflationary. The Great Depression forced widespread currency devaluations and the effective collapse of the international gold standard by the early 1930s. The Bretton Woods Conference of July 1944 established a new order in which member currencies were pegged to the US dollar, while the dollar alone was convertible into gold at 35 dollars per troy ounce. The International Monetary Fund and World Bank were created at the same conference to oversee the system. Bretton Woods delivered exchange rate stability during the postwar growth era but came under strain as US deficits and European dollar accumulation outpaced American gold reserves. On August 15, 1971, President Nixon announced the suspension of dollar-gold convertibility — the so-called Nixon Shock — effectively ending the Bretton Woods system. By 1973, major currencies had transitioned to floating exchange rates determined by market supply and demand, a regime that has persisted. On September 16, 1992, hedge fund manager George Soros shorted the British pound against the European Exchange Rate Mechanism constraints, forcing the UK's withdrawal in what became known as Black Wednesday. Electronic trading platforms emerged in the 1990s and 2000s, replacing voice-brokered interbank markets and dramatically reducing transaction costs for institutional and retail participants alike.
Frequently Asked Questions
Formula
Sweep Size = |Sweep Extreme - Previous Level|; Risk = |Entry - Stop Loss|; RR = P/L / Risk
The sweep size measures how far price extended beyond the previous level. The sweep quality is evaluated as a percentage of ATR. Stop loss is placed beyond the sweep extreme with a buffer. Targets use risk multiples (2R, 3R, 5R) for systematic profit-taking.
Worked Examples
Example 1: Short Turtle Soup Above Previous High
Problem: EUR/USD previous day high is 1.0900. Price sweeps to 1.0915 during London open and reverses. Entry at 1.0895 (below the old high). ATR is 60 pips. Current price is 1.0870.
Solution: Previous Level: 1.0900\nSweep Extreme: 1.0915 (15 pips above)\nSweep as % of ATR: 15/60 = 25% (Ideal range)\nEntry: 1.0895\nStop Loss: 1.0915 + (0.0015 x 0.5) = 1.092250\nRisk: 1.092250 - 1.0895 = 27.5 pips\nTP1 (2R): 1.0895 - 0.0055 = 1.0840\nTP2 (3R): 1.0895 - 0.00825 = 1.08125\nCurrent P/L: (1.0895 - 1.0870) x 10000 = 25 pips profit
Result: Quality: Ideal | Sweep: 15 pips (25% ATR) | Risk: 27.5 pips | Current: +25 pips (0.91R)
Example 2: Long Turtle Soup Below Previous Low
Problem: GBP/USD previous week low is 1.2600. Price sweeps to 1.2585 during NY open, then reverses. Entry at 1.2605. ATR is 80 pips.
Solution: Previous Level: 1.2600\nSweep Extreme: 1.2585 (15 pips below)\nSweep as % of ATR: 15/80 = 18.75% (Ideal range)\nEntry: 1.2605\nStop Loss: 1.2585 - (0.0015 x 0.5) = 1.25775\nRisk: 1.2605 - 1.25775 = 27.5 pips\nTP1 (2R): 1.2605 + 0.0055 = 1.2660\nTP2 (3R): 1.2605 + 0.00825 = 1.26875
Result: Quality: Ideal | Sweep: 15 pips (18.75% ATR) | Risk: 27.5 pips | Entry: 1.2605
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the ICT Turtle Soup pattern and where does the name come from?
The ICT Turtle Soup pattern is a reversal setup based on false breakouts of previous highs and lows. The name originates from the famous Turtle Traders strategy of the 1980s, where Richard Dennis taught traders to buy breakouts above 20-day highs and sell breakouts below 20-day lows. The Turtle Soup concept, first described by Linda Bradford Raschke and Larry Connors, is essentially the counter-trade to the Turtle strategy. ICT adapted this concept within the Smart Money framework, explaining that institutions deliberately push price beyond obvious breakout levels to trigger Turtle-style stop orders and breakout entries, then reverse the market. The liquidity generated by stopped-out traders and new breakout entries provides the counterparty for institutional positions.
How does a Turtle Soup setup differ from a regular false breakout?
While both involve price moving beyond a key level and reversing, the ICT Turtle Soup has specific qualifying criteria that distinguish it from random false breakouts. First, the level being swept must be a clean, obvious high or low that retail traders would mark as support or resistance, typically at least two or more touches. Second, the sweep should occur with specific characteristics: the price moves just beyond the level (typically less than 25% of ATR) rather than making a large, genuine breakout. Third, the setup should occur during a killzone trading session with sufficient institutional participation. Fourth, there should be signs of displacement on the reversal, confirming institutional involvement rather than simple profit-taking or ranging behavior.
What types of liquidity levels are most commonly targeted for Turtle Soup sweeps?
The most commonly targeted levels for Turtle Soup sweeps include previous day high and low, previous week high and low, equal highs and equal lows formations (which create concentrated stop-loss clusters), swing highs and lows on 4-hour and daily charts, and Asian session range extremes during London and New York opens. Equal highs and equal lows are particularly attractive targets because they represent the most visible and obvious levels where retail traders place stop-loss orders. These clean, double-tapped levels create liquidity pools that institutional algorithms specifically target. The more obvious and clean the level appears on the chart, the more likely it is to be swept as a Turtle Soup setup.
How far should the sweep extend beyond the previous level for a valid Turtle Soup?
The ideal sweep extension for a Turtle Soup setup is typically 5-25% of the Average True Range (ATR) beyond the previous high or low. This range is enough to trigger stop-loss orders clustered behind the level without constituting a genuine breakout. Sweeps of less than 5% of ATR may not have captured sufficient liquidity to fuel the reversal. Sweeps exceeding 40% of ATR suggest the move may be a legitimate breakout rather than a stop hunt, reducing the probability of a reversal. The sweet spot for most currency pairs is a sweep of 10-20 pips beyond the previous level, though this varies with volatility. Higher timeframe levels may see larger sweeps while lower timeframe levels typically show tighter sweeps.
What are the optimal entry methods for trading a Turtle Soup reversal?
There are three primary entry methods for Turtle Soup reversals ranked by aggression. The aggressive entry involves placing a limit order at or slightly inside the previous level immediately after the sweep, anticipating the reversal without waiting for confirmation. The standard entry waits for a market structure shift on the 1-5 minute chart after the sweep, then enters on the first displacement candle in the reversal direction. The conservative entry waits for the MSS, then enters on a retrace to a Fair Value Gap or order block created during the reversal move. Stop loss for all methods should be placed beyond the sweep extreme with a buffer. The aggressive method offers the best risk-to-reward but lower win rate, while the conservative method has a higher win rate but reduced profit potential.
How do you set stop-loss and take-profit levels for a Turtle Soup trade?
Stop-loss placement for Turtle Soup trades should be beyond the sweep extreme, typically adding a buffer of 50-100% of the sweep size above the high (for shorts) or below the low (for longs). This accounts for possible secondary sweeps or wicks. For take-profit, use multiple targets based on risk multiples: TP1 at 2:1 risk-to-reward for partial profit (take 30-50% off), TP2 at 3:1 for another partial exit, and TP3 at 5:1 for the final runner position. Alternative targets include the opposite end of the daily range, the next significant opposing liquidity level, or the 2.618 Fibonacci extension of the sweep range. Move the stop loss to break-even after TP1 is reached to ensure the trade becomes risk-free.
References
Reviewed by Daniel Agrici, Founder & Lead Developer · Editorial policy