STRUCTURE INDICATOR
Bill Williams Fractals
Marks local five-bar highs and lows after the pattern is complete.
Start with the input, not the story.
Confirmed local turning points in a fixed-width window.
Plain-language formula
A high fractal has two lower highs on each side; a low fractal has two higher lows.
Platform implementations can differ in price input, smoothing, indexing and rounding. Record the exact settings and provider before comparing results.
03 / USEFUL REGIME
Where it may help
Mechanical swing labels and trailing-reference research.
04 / WEAK REGIME
Where it struggles
Real-time turning calls because confirmation necessarily arrives late.
Add a different measurement.
Alligator or moving averageATRBreakout rules
A complementary tool should answer a different question, such as volatility, regime or position risk. Test the base rule before testing the combination.
The shortcut to avoid
Reading the marker as if it existed on the centre bar in real time.
A testable next step
Shift availability to the actual confirmation bar to eliminate look-ahead bias.