This strategy identifies order blocks in price action to locate momentum bursts and enters the market when buy/sell signals emerge. Order blocks represent institutional participation and significant market forces. Thus order block signals have a higher probability of leading to trending price action.
There are two types of order blocks - bullish and bearish. A bullish order block is defined as the last red candle followed by consecutive green candles. A bearish order block is the last green candle followed by consecutive red candles.
To identify an order block, the following criteria must be met simultaneously:
Candle color change - The candle color changes from the previous candle to the current one (e.g. from red to green, or green to red). This suggests institutions may be ending the previous trend and initiating a new potential trend.
Consistent direction afterwards - The subsequent candles maintain the same color direction for the number of periods specified in the parameters (e.g. all green candles after a potential bullish block). This confirms the new trend.
Breakout exceeds threshold - The percentage price change from the open of the order block candle to the close of the final confirmation candle exceeds the threshold parameter (default 0). This ensures strong enough momentum.
When all three criteria are true, an order block signal is identified.
A buy signal is generated when detecting a bullish order block. A sell signal emerges when a bearish order block is identified.
Considering the uncertainty of order flow signals, the strategy does not immediately enter the market. It alerts the trader and allows price limit orders to be placed near the order block levels instead. This provides controlled entries and risk management.
Order blocks represent institutional money flow and substantial volume. They indicate shifts in market forces and provide early clues into potential breakout direction. This facilitates trend following with good timing.
The parameters controlling candle count, breakout percentage etc. can be adjusted to optimize for changing market conditions and trading style. This enhances adaptability.
By not auto-entering on signals and using limit orders instead, traders can define entry levels and control risk. Failed signals simply lead to unfilled limit orders. Risks are contained.
As order blocks signify zones, prices revisiting the level is common. Signals should not be viewed as direct entries. Further timing judgement is needed.
If parameters are not set properly, fake signals can emerge in range-bound markets. Traders need to exercise discretion in applying signals. Blind optimization should be avoided.
With each signal requiring further validation, significant manual effort is involved. Inconsistencies in human discretion on signal quality may lead to performance divergence.
Incorporate additional indicators like MACD and RSI when signals appear to gauge market conditions. This filters bad signals from poor parameter settings.
The parameters can be tested and tuned to suit different markets and instruments for better fit. Adaptive settings can also be implemented to auto-adjust based on volatility and risk tolerance.
Currently the strategy only serves as signal alerts. Logics can be added to automate limit order entries on signals and implement stops for exits. This increases automation and reduces reliance on human judgement.
By detecting order flow convergence, this strategy reveals hidden momentum moves brewing under the surface. Compared to simple trend following, it has predictive abilities in locating turning points. When combined with optimization and risk control techniques, it can become an effective trend trading system. Nonetheless, traders should be wary of bad signals and assess each signal’s quality. Further efforts should focus on enhancing automation to minimize biases from subjective discretion.
/*backtest start: 2024-01-01 00:00:00 end: 2024-01-31 23:59:59 period: 1h basePeriod: 15m exchanges: [{"eid":"Futures_Binance","currency":"BTC_USDT"}] */ // This source code is subject to the terms of the Mozilla Public License 2.0 at https://mozilla.org/MPL/2.0/ // © TradingSecrets and wugamlo // This experimental Indicator helps identifying instituational Order Blocks. // Often these blocks signal the beginning of a strong move, but there is a significant probability that these price levels will be revisited at a later point in time again. // Therefore these are interesting levels to place limit orders (Buy Orders for Bullish OB / Sell Orders for Bearish OB). // // A Bullish Order block is defined as the last down candle before a sequence of up candles. (Relevant price range "Open" to "Low" is marked) / Optionally full range "High" to "Low" // A Bearish Order Block is defined as the last up candle before a sequence of down candles. (Relevant price range "Open" to "High" is marked) / Optionally full range "High" to "Low" // // In the settings the number of required sequential candles can be adjusted. // Furthermore a %-threshold can be entered. It defines which %-change the sequential move needs to achieve in order to identify a relevant Order Block. // Channels for the last Bullish/Bearish Block can be shown/hidden. // // In addition to the upper/lower limits of each Order Block, also the equlibrium (average value) is marked as this is an interesting area for price interaction. // // Alerts added: Alerts fire when an Order Block is detected. The delay is based on the "Relevant Periods" input. Means with the default setting "5" the alert will trigger after the // number of consecutive candles is reached. //@version=4 strategy("[Backtest] Order Block Finder", overlay = true) colors = input(title = "Color Scheme", defval="DARK", options=["DARK", "BRIGHT"]) periods = input(5, "Relevant Periods to identify OB") // Required number of subsequent candles in the same direction to identify Order Block threshold = input(0.0, "Min. Percent move to identify OB", step = 0.1) // Required minimum % move (from potential OB close to last subsequent candle to identify Order Block) usewicks = input(false, "Use whole range [High/Low] for OB marking?" ) // Display High/Low range for each OB instead of Open/Low for Bullish / Open/High for Bearish showbull = input(false, "Show latest Bullish Channel?") // Show Channel for latest Bullish OB? showbear = input(false, "Show latest Bearish Channel?") // Show Channel for latest Bearish OB? showdocu = input(false, "Show Label for documentation tooltip?") // Show Label which shows documentation as tooltip? info_pan = input(false, "Show Latest OB Panel?") // Show Info Panel with latest OB Stats //strategy inputs plot_offset = input( type=input.bool,defval = false, title = 'Plot Offset?') stoploss_percent = input(type=input.float, defval = 1, title = 'Stop Loss [%]') takeprofit_percent = input(type=input.float, defval = 2, title = 'Take Profit [%]') pyramiding = input( type=input.bool,defval = true, title = 'Pyramiding') ob_period = periods + 1 // Identify location of relevant Order Block candle absmove = ((abs(close[ob_period] - close[1]))/close[ob_period]) * 100 // Calculate absolute percent move from potential OB to last candle of subsequent candles relmove = absmove >= threshold // Identify "Relevant move" by comparing the absolute move to the threshold // Color Scheme bullcolor = colors == "DARK"? color.white : color.green bearcolor = colors == "DARK"? color.blue : color.red // Bullish Order Block Identification bullishOB = close[ob_period] < open[ob_period] // Determine potential Bullish OB candle (red candle) int upcandles = 0 for i = 1 to periods upcandles := upcandles + (close[i] > open[i]? 1 : 0) // Determine color of subsequent candles (must all be green to identify a valid Bearish OB) OB_bull = bullishOB and (upcandles == (periods)) and relmove // Identification logic (red OB candle & subsequent green candles) OB_bull_high = OB_bull? usewicks? high[ob_period] : open[ob_period] : na // Determine OB upper limit (Open or High depending on input) OB_bull_low = OB_bull? low[ob_period] : na // Determine OB lower limit (Low) OB_bull_avg = (OB_bull_high + OB_bull_low)/2 // Determine OB middle line // Bearish Order Block Identification bearishOB = close[ob_period] > open[ob_period] // Determine potential Bearish OB candle (green candle) int downcandles = 0 for i = 1 to periods downcandles := downcandles + (close[i] < open[i]? 1 : 0) // Determine color of subsequent candles (must all be red to identify a valid Bearish OB) OB_bear = bearishOB and (downcandles == (periods)) and relmove // Identification logic (green OB candle & subsequent green candles) OB_bear_high = OB_bear? high[ob_period] : na // Determine OB upper limit (High) OB_bear_low = OB_bear? usewicks? low[ob_period] : open[ob_period] : na // Determine OB lower limit (Open or Low depending on input) OB_bear_avg = (OB_bear_low + OB_bear_high)/2 // Determine OB middle line //@TradingSecrets: Option to disable the offset in order to allign signals with Backtest if not plot_offset ob_period := 0 // Plotting plotshape(OB_bull, title="Bullish OB", style = shape.triangleup, color = bullcolor, textcolor = bullcolor, size = size.tiny, location = location.belowbar, offset = -ob_period, text = "Bullish OB") // Bullish OB Indicator bull1 = plot(OB_bull_high, title="Bullish OB High", style = plot.style_linebr, color = bullcolor, offset = -ob_period, linewidth = 3) // Bullish OB Upper Limit bull2 = plot(OB_bull_low, title="Bullish OB Low", style = plot.style_linebr, color = bullcolor, offset = -ob_period, linewidth = 3) // Bullish OB Lower Limit fill(bull1, bull2, color=bullcolor, transp = 0, title = "Bullish OB fill") // Fill Bullish OB plotshape(OB_bull_avg, title="Bullish OB Average", style = shape.cross, color = bullcolor, size = size.normal, location = location.absolute, offset = -ob_period) // Bullish OB Average plotshape(OB_bear, title="Bearish OB", style = shape.triangledown, color = bearcolor, textcolor = bearcolor, size = size.tiny, location = location.abovebar, offset = -ob_period, text = "Bearish OB") // Bearish OB Indicator bear1 = plot(OB_bear_low, title="Bearish OB Low", style = plot.style_linebr, color = bearcolor, offset = -ob_period, linewidth = 3) // Bearish OB Lower Limit bear2 = plot(OB_bear_high, title="Bearish OB High", style = plot.style_linebr, color = bearcolor, offset = -ob_period, linewidth = 3) // Bearish OB Upper Limit fill(bear1, bear2, color=bearcolor, transp = 0, title = "Bearish OB fill") // Fill Bearish OB plotshape(OB_bear_avg, title="Bearish OB Average", style = shape.cross, color = bearcolor, size = size.normal, location = location.absolute, offset = -ob_period) // Bullish OB Average var line linebull1 = na // Bullish OB average var line linebull2 = na // Bullish OB open var line linebull3 = na // Bullish OB low var line linebear1 = na // Bearish OB average var line linebear2 = na // Bearish OB high var line linebear3 = na // Bearish OB open if OB_bull and showbull line.delete(linebull1) linebull1 := line.new(x1 = bar_index, y1 = OB_bull_avg, x2 = bar_index - 1, y2 = OB_bull_avg, extend = extend.left, color = bullcolor, style = line.style_solid, width = 1) line.delete(linebull2) linebull2 := line.new(x1 = bar_index, y1 = OB_bull_high, x2 = bar_index - 1, y2 = OB_bull_high, extend = extend.left, color = bullcolor, style = line.style_dashed, width = 1) line.delete(linebull3) linebull3 := line.new(x1 = bar_index, y1 = OB_bull_low, x2 = bar_index - 1, y2 = OB_bull_low, extend = extend.left, color = bullcolor, style = line.style_dashed, width = 1) if OB_bear and showbear line.delete(linebear1) linebear1 := line.new(x1 = bar_index, y1 = OB_bear_avg, x2 = bar_index - 1, y2 = OB_bear_avg, extend = extend.left, color = bearcolor, style = line.style_solid, width = 1) line.delete(linebear2) linebear2 := line.new(x1 = bar_index, y1 = OB_bear_high, x2 = bar_index - 1, y2 = OB_bear_high, extend = extend.left, color = bearcolor, style = line.style_dashed, width = 1) line.delete(linebear3) linebear3 := line.new(x1 = bar_index, y1 = OB_bear_low, x2 = bar_index - 1, y2 = OB_bear_low, extend = extend.left, color = bearcolor, style = line.style_dashed, width = 1) // Alerts for Order Blocks Detection alertcondition(OB_bull, title='New Bullish OB detected', message='New Bullish OB detected - This is NOT a BUY signal!') alertcondition(OB_bear, title='New Bearish OB detected', message='New Bearish OB detected - This is NOT a SELL signal!') // Print latest Order Blocks in Data Window var latest_bull_high = 0.0 // Variable to keep latest Bull OB high var latest_bull_avg = 0.0 // Variable to keep latest Bull OB average var latest_bull_low = 0.0 // Variable to keep latest Bull OB low var latest_bear_high = 0.0 // Variable to keep latest Bear OB high var latest_bear_avg = 0.0 // Variable to keep latest Bear OB average var latest_bear_low = 0.0 // Variable to keep latest Bear OB low // Assign latest values to variables if OB_bull_high > 0 latest_bull_high := OB_bull_high if OB_bull_avg > 0 latest_bull_avg := OB_bull_avg if OB_bull_low > 0 latest_bull_low := OB_bull_low if OB_bear_high > 0 latest_bear_high := OB_bear_high if OB_bear_avg > 0 latest_bear_avg := OB_bear_avg if OB_bear_low > 0 latest_bear_low := OB_bear_low // Plot invisible characters to be able to show the values in the Data Window plotchar(latest_bull_high, char = ' ', location = location.abovebar, color = #777777, transp = 100, size = size.tiny, title = "Latest Bull High") plotchar(latest_bull_avg, char = ' ', location = location.abovebar, color = #777777, transp = 100, size = size.tiny, title = "Latest Bull Avg") plotchar(latest_bull_low, char = ' ', location = location.abovebar, color = #777777, transp = 100, size = size.tiny, title = "Latest Bull Low") plotchar(latest_bear_high, char = ' ', location = location.abovebar, color = #777777, transp = 100, size = size.tiny, title = "Latest Bear High") plotchar(latest_bear_avg, char = ' ', location = location.abovebar, color = #777777, transp = 100, size = size.tiny, title = "Latest Bear Avg") plotchar(latest_bear_low, char = ' ', location = location.abovebar, color = #777777, transp = 100, size = size.tiny, title = "Latest Bear Low") //InfoPanel for latest Order Blocks draw_InfoPanel(_text, _x, _y, font_size)=> var label la_panel = na label.delete(la_panel) la_panel := label.new( x=_x, y=_y, text=_text, xloc=xloc.bar_time, yloc=yloc.price, color=color.new(#383838, 5), style=label.style_label_left, textcolor=color.white, size=font_size) info_panel_x = time_close + round(change(time) * 100) info_panel_y = close title = "LATEST ORDER BLOCKS" row0 = "-----------------------------------------------------" row1 = ' Bullish - High: ' + tostring(latest_bull_high, '#.##') row2 = ' Bullish - Avg: ' + tostring(latest_bull_avg, '#.##') row3 = ' Bullish - Low: ' + tostring(latest_bull_low, '#.##') row4 = "-----------------------------------------------------" row5 = ' Bearish - High: ' + tostring(latest_bear_high, '#.##') row6 = ' Bearish - Avg: ' + tostring(latest_bear_avg, '#.##') row7 = ' Bearish - Low: ' + tostring(latest_bear_low, '#.##') panel_text = '\n' + title + '\n' + row0 + '\n' + row1 + '\n' + row2 + '\n' + row3 + '\n' + row4 + '\n\n' + row5 + '\n' + row6 + '\n' + row7 + '\n' if info_pan draw_InfoPanel(panel_text, info_panel_x, info_panel_y, size.normal) // === Label for Documentation/Tooltip === chper = time - time[1] chper := change(chper) > 0 ? chper[1] : chper // === Tooltip text === var vartooltip = "Indicator to help identifying instituational Order Blocks. Often these blocks signal the beginning of a strong move, but there is a high probability, that these prices will be revisited at a later point in time again and therefore are interesting levels to place limit orders. \nBullish Order block is the last down candle before a sequence of up candles. \nBearish Order Block is the last up candle before a sequence of down candles. \nIn the settings the number of required sequential candles can be adjusted. \nFurthermore a %-threshold can be entered which the sequential move needs to achieve in order to validate a relevant Order Block. \nChannels for the last Bullish/Bearish Block can be shown/hidden." // === Print Label === var label l_docu = na label.delete(l_docu) if showdocu l_docu := label.new(x = time + chper * 35, y = close, text = "DOCU OB", color=color.gray, textcolor=color.white, style=label.style_label_center, xloc = xloc.bar_time, yloc=yloc.price, size=size.tiny, textalign = text.align_left, tooltip = vartooltip) // @TradingSecrets: Generate entry and exit orders based on the signals entryLongSignal = OB_bull entryShortSignal = OB_bear if not pyramiding entryLongSignal := entryLongSignal and not strategy.position_size entryShortSignal := entryShortSignal and not strategy.position_size if entryLongSignal strategy.entry("Long Entry", strategy.long) //strategy.exit("Long Exit Loss", "Long Entry", stop = close * (1 - stoploss_percent*0.01)) if entryShortSignal strategy.entry("Short Entry", strategy.short) //strategy.exit("Short Exit Loss", "Short Entry", stop = close * (1 + stoploss_percent*0.01)) strategy.initial_capital = 50000 //Close Position by market order if strategy.position_size > 0 and strategy.openprofit/nz(strategy.initial_capital + strategy.netprofit) >= takeprofit_percent*0.01 //If I m in a long position and my take profit got hit close it by market order strategy.close("Long Entry", comment = "Long Exit Profit") if strategy.position_size < 0 and strategy.openprofit/nz(strategy.initial_capital + strategy.netprofit) >= takeprofit_percent*0.01 strategy.close("Short Entry", comment = "Short Exit Profit") if strategy.position_size > 0 and strategy.openprofit/nz(strategy.initial_capital + strategy.netprofit) <= -stoploss_percent*0.01 //If I m in a long position and my take profit got hit close it by market order strategy.close("Long Entry", comment = "Long Exit Loss") if strategy.position_size < 0 and strategy.openprofit/nz(strategy.initial_capital + strategy.netprofit) <= -stoploss_percent*0.01 strategy.close("Short Entry", comment = "Short Exit Loss")