User Guide – Metatrader Candlestick Pattern Detector

User Guide – Metatrader Candlestick Pattern Detector

This user guide is for the Metatrader candlestick detector.

Quick Start

Load Metatrader and place the indicator onto the required chart. To do this either drag the icon from the navigator or click the icon.

The input settings box will appear. The indicator will need activating by following the instructions here.

Figure 1: Loading the candle detector onto a chart
Figure 1: Loading the candle detector onto a chart © forexop

To choose the pattern type, use the selector drop down box in the settings panel.

The indicator will scan the chart for the chosen candlestick patterns. Each pattern is marked with an arrow and a label. The arrow indicates if the pattern type is considered bullish, bearish or neutral. Important: This refers to the candlestick pattern type rather than the specific instance located on the chart. Individual patterns may have a different interpretation to the type depending on the context.

The indicator will scan the entire chart. For lower timeframes, this may involve processing large amounts of data. The number of candlesticks displayed in your charts (and processed by indicators) can be limited from the Metatrader settings box (CTRL+O) under the Chart tab.

Important: If the chart symbol changes, open the settings box again and click Ok. This will ensure all of the new chart data is recalculated and the results updated.

Breakout probabilities

The licensed version of the indicator has the option to display breakout probabilities each time a pattern is detected and for the entire chart.

Figure 2: Option to display breakout probabilities
Figure 2: Option to display breakout probabilities © forexop

To display the probabilities, choose the appropriate setting in the input panel (see Figure 2). On recalculating the indicator will then display the running breakout probabilities next to each pattern as shown on Figure 3.

Figure 3: Meaning of break probabilities
Figure 3: Meaning of break probabilities © forexop

The indicator displays the probabilities in the format :

pattern type (up/down p% / 1- p%)

This means, based on the analysis of this pattern, the probability of an upside break is p% and the probability of a downside break is 1-p%.

This analysis considers the breakout direction probability over the next N bars immediately following from where the pattern was detected. The default value for N is 30 bars. This can be adjusted in the settings box. This setting should be according to the expected duration of the trade.

The probabilities are dynamic and as more patterns are analyzed, the probability scores will be adjusted at later time points in the chart.

Data Outputs

The indicator will generate probability data for the entire chart and display it in the Expert’s journal. The table below shows an example for the Harami.

bear p(up)=0.4407 p(down)=0.5593
bull p(up)=0.6015 p(down)=0.3985
total classifications bullish=133 bearish=118
Total 252 patterns detected

This means 252 candlestick patterns were detected in this chart. Of those 113 were bullish, 118 were bearish, and 1 was not classified.

Bullish patterns had a 60.15% chance of developing into an upward breakout and a 39.85% chance of leading to a downside breakout. Bearish patterns had a 44.07% chance of developing into an upward breakout and a 55.93% chance of developing into a downside breakout.

This table is based on the analysis of the entire chart. Individual patterns will have different breakout probabilities.

Input Settings

Input setting Comment
Candle pattern type Select the candlestick pattern to highlight
Tolerance Pattern strength % - 1-100 increase to detect more patterns
Show probabilities Display the running probabilities of breakout directions
Bars for correction period Expected trade duration
Show text labels Yes/no
Position of text labels Relative distance from candlestick
Text color Color setting
Text orientation Angle of text (degrees)
Text size Font size setting
Buy arrow color Color for bullish arrow on chart
Sell arrow color Color for bearish arrow on chart
Neutral arrow color Color for neutral arrow on chart
Alert type None, terminal popup, email, SMS

Return to the indicator page.