A swing needs a rule and a confirmation time.
A candle records an interval's open, high, low and close. The high is the highest price recorded in that bar; the low is the lowest. Your swing rule compares those finished bars. MetaTrader treats the selected timeframe as the time represented by one bar or candlestick, and TradingView likewise aggregates each interval into bar values. [1][2]
High[0] is strictly greater than High[-2], High[-1], High[+1] and High[+2].
Low[0] is strictly lower than Low[-2], Low[-1], Low[+1] and Low[+2].
- H
Candidate high is strictly above L2, L1, R1 and R2.
- L
Candidate low is strictly below L2, L1, R1 and R2.
- WAIT
The label appears only after the second bar on the right closes.
Here, N = 2 is a learning default, not a magic setting. It deliberately waits for two bars on the right, so a candidate can only become a confirmed swing when R2 closes. A strict rule rejects equal highs or equal lows; if you want ties handled differently, write that alternative down before the test.
Trend and range are properties of several swings.
A rising structure has confirmed swing highs and lows stepping higher. A falling structure has both stepping lower. A range has meaningful overlap: pushes repeatedly fail to establish a clean sequence and return towards working boundaries. One strong candle does not turn a range into a trend.
Both sides of the swing sequence step higher. Pullbacks still exist.
Swings overlap and price keeps rotating between two working boundaries.
HH + HL
The latest comparable high and low are both above the previous pair.
LL + LH
The latest comparable low and high are both below the previous pair.
OVERLAP
Neither directional sequence stays intact; boundary reactions dominate.
MIXED
One side changed, the other has not confirmed. “Unclear” is a valid label.
Internal and external only make sense relative to a chosen leg.
External structure is the pair of boundaries you chose to contain the active move being studied. Internal structure is the smaller swing sequence inside it. The same high can be external on H1 and internal on H4; the label is a job description, not a permanent property of the price.
- 1
External low: the boundary chosen to anchor the whole active leg.
- 2–5
Internal swings: useful for timing, but smaller than the leg being described.
- 6
External high: the opposite boundary of this defined leg.
Write the anchor down: “H4 external leg runs from confirmed low A to confirmed high B; H1 swings inside A–B are internal.” That one sentence prevents a small pullback from being promoted to a major reversal simply because it suits the latest candle.
BOS, CHOCH and MSS are labels you must define locally.
Traders commonly use BOS (break of structure) for a continuation break, and CHOCH (change of character) or MSS (market structure shift) for an early break against the prior direction. There is no single platform-wide definition. Educators disagree about whether the broken point must be internal or external, and whether a wick or completed close counts.
| Label | A workable local definition | What still needs specifying |
|---|---|---|
| BOS | Close beyond the last confirmed swing in the direction of the active external leg. | Timeframe, pivot N, buffer and which swing scale. |
| CHOCH | First close beyond the latest confirmed internal swing against the prior leg. | Whether this is an alert or an entry condition. |
| MSS | Against-trend internal break followed by acceptance beyond the broken area. | Exact acceptance window and invalidation. |
You do not have to use these terms at all. “H1 close below the last N=2 higher low” is longer, but far easier to test than a floating label.
A wick beyond a level and a close beyond it are different facts.
A wick says the market traded past a boundary during the candle. A completed close says the interval finished past it. On a live candle, high, low and close can still change; TradingView's realtime documentation explains that values on an unconfirmed bar fluctuate until the bar closes. [3]
The market traded beyond the boundary. A close-break rule still says “not yet”.
A completed candle finished beyond the boundary. Now the close-break condition is met.
High > boundary or Low < boundary. Fast, but more sensitive to brief probes.
Close > upper edge or Close < lower edge after the chosen timeframe completes.
Close must finish beyond the edge by a fixed buffer, such as 20% of zone height.
A break is the first step; what happens next decides whether it held.
“Acceptance” is useful only when it has a clock and a pass/fail rule. This guide's example asks for a retest within the next three completed candles, followed by a close on the breakout side of the full zone. A close through the far side of that zone marks failure instead.
The retest trades into the old boundary and finishes on the breakout side.
A close back through the zone invalidates this particular acceptance test.
The rule does not predict the next move. It simply stops the analyst from calling every poke a successful breakout in hindsight.
Support and resistance zones need two prices and an expiry rule.
A horizontal line is useful for one precise boundary. A rectangle is useful when several reactions cluster across a band. MetaTrader provides manual lines and shapes for marking support, resistance and areas; the analysis still comes from the rule you apply to them. [5][6]
- TOP
Resistance zone: record upper edge, lower edge and the candles used to draw it.
- BOTTOM
Support zone: the lower band contains reactions that did not share one exact price.
- EXPIRY
Decide what retires a zone: for example, two closes through it or a new external leg.
- 01Origin timeframe
- 02Upper price
- 03Lower price
- 04Candles used
- 05First-touch or reusable
- 06Expiry condition
Map on one timeframe, read on one, trigger on one.
Higher timeframes provide broader context; lower timeframes reveal more detail inside each larger bar. TradingView's multi-timeframe guide also distinguishes developing higher-timeframe values from values confirmed when that higher-timeframe bar completes.[1][4]
External high, external low and nearest opposing zone.
Active leg, internal swings and location inside the daily map.
Completed-close break, retest, entry and invalidation.
D1 maps the external range → H4 reads the active leg → H1 triggers the written break-and-retest condition.
Do not keep dropping timeframes until a trigger appears. If the H1 condition does not occur, the planned result is “no trade”, not a newly invented M15 setup.
Separate the work before, during and after the setup.
- Choose map, read and trigger timeframes.
- Set pivot rule: N = 2, strict inequality, completed bars.
- Mark external high/low and both edges of each nearby zone.
- Write wick, close or buffered-close break rule.
- Write acceptance window, entry, stop, target and no-trade filter.
- Save a “before” screenshot with the right side hidden.
- Wait for the right-side pivot bars to complete.
- Record wick-through separately from close-through.
- Start the three-candle acceptance clock only after a valid break.
- Skip if the next opposing zone leaves less than the planned 2R.
- Do not widen the stop or promote an internal swing mid-trade.
- Log “no signal” when the window expires.
- Save the finished chart without changing the original marks.
- Record which numbered condition passed or failed.
- Separate execution error, rule ambiguity and normal loss.
- Measure R result after spread, commission and slippage.
- Review rule changes only after the planned sample ends.
- Keep the untouched charts used for the final check.
A long, a short and a perfectly good no-trade.
Higher-timeframe support, H1 reclaim and room to the next boundary
The map is rising, the pullback reaches the planned support band, and the trigger closes back above its upper edge.
- 1
D1 external swings are rising; H4 support is pre-marked from 1.0820 to 1.0830.
- 2
H1 trades into the zone, then a completed candle closes above 1.0830.
- 3
The next H1 open is the test entry; the stop sits below the retest low plus the written spread allowance.
- 4
The next external resistance offers at least 2R after estimated costs, so the setup still passes the rule.
Falling leg, resistance retest and bearish acceptance
The higher-timeframe sequence is lower highs and lower lows. Price retests a broken support zone from underneath.
- 1
D1 and H4 have confirmed lower highs and lower lows; the H4 zone runs from 1.2690 to 1.2710.
- 2
H1 rallies into the zone and the trigger candle closes back below 1.2690 within the three-candle window.
- 3
Entry is the next H1 open; invalidation is above the retest high plus the written spread allowance.
- 4
The next external support is beyond 2R after estimated costs, so the short passes the space filter.
Overlapping swings and no clean opposing boundary
Several candles probe both sides of the same area. Neither a directional sequence nor a completed-close acceptance holds.
- 1
The latest confirmed highs and lows overlap; the map is a range, not a clean directional leg.
- 2
Wicks cross both edges, but completed closes return to the middle of the band.
- 3
There is no stable invalidation point and no clearly mapped 2R path to an opposing zone.
- 4
The planned acceptance window expires without a valid trigger.
Most structure mistakes happen when the rule moves after price.
Labelling pivots too early
A candidate appears, then the next bar takes it out.
Wait for both right-side bars to close.Changing N by chart
N=1 on the winner, N=3 on the loser makes the sample incomparable.
Keep one rule unchanged for the whole test.Mixing swing scales
An internal low is called external only when the later move looks important.
Name the anchor leg before replay.Calling every wick a BOS
The test quietly switches between intrabar extremes and closes.
Record wick and close as separate fields.Drawing zones around outcomes
The rectangle expands until it captures the reaction that already happened.
Save the untouched “before” chart.Skipping the no-trades
Only attractive examples survive, so the method looks cleaner than it is.
Log expired and rejected setups too.Start with this complete rule, then change one field at a time.
- MAP
- D1 external N=2 swings; nearest support and resistance zones.
- READ
- H4 rising only when last comparable high and low are both higher; falling is the mirror.
- TRIGGER
- H1, standard candlesticks, only after the bar is complete.
- BREAK
- H1 close at least 20% of zone height beyond the full zone edge.
- ACCEPT
- Within the next three H1 candles, trade into the zone and close back on the break side.
- ENTRY
- Next H1 open after the acceptance candle. No late entry.
- STOP
- Beyond the retest extreme plus the pre-recorded spread allowance.
- TARGET
- Next D1 external opposing zone; setup needs at least 2R after estimated costs.
- LONG
- D1/H4 rising, break above resistance, bullish acceptance. Short is the exact mirror.
- NO TRADE
- Mixed H4 structure, expired retest window, close back through zone, or less than 2R space.
- RECORD
- Before/after screenshots, every condition, net R and any execution error.
- SAMPLE
- Keep this version unchanged for 30 qualifying or rejected setups before reviewing it.