7trade Candle Geometry: candle shape for strategies
Candle Geometry breaks each candle into parts: what share of the range the body takes, how long each wick is, whether the bar is wider or narrower than usual, where inside the range the candle closed. Each part is a separate event for the strategy builder and for "My patterns". This indicator is not drawn on the chart: it works only inside a strategy. After this article you will understand all eighteen events, the thresholds they depend on, and how to build your own pattern from them right in a strategy rule.
Why it is useful
Candlestick patterns from the catalogue are ready-made combinations: hammer, engulfing, doji. Candle Geometry gives the building blocks such combinations are made of: "long lower wick", "body larger than usual", "close at the high". You build the pattern yourself — in a strategy rule or in "My patterns" — and you decide which thresholds count as a long wick or a full body.
Where it is in the bot
In the "Indicators" window the Candle Geometry card says "strategies only" instead of "Show". The "Use" checkbox adds it to new strategies, the ⚙ icon opens the thresholds window (the "All settings" section below).
How to build a pattern in a strategy
Candle parts are strategy builder events, like those of any indicator. One event is set as the entry, the others as confirmations, and the strategy enters only on a candle where all of them are true at once. This is how a pattern is built without "My patterns".
Example — a candle pushed back from its low on a bar of normal size:
- Open the "Strategies" window and create a strategy or open your own.
- In the "Entry (trigger)" block choose "Candle geometry: rejecting wick". The side comes from the long wick: a long lower wick — CALL, a long upper wick — PUT.
- In the "Confirmations (filters)" block add "Candle geometry: close pressed to the edge": the candle closed at its high or low.
- Add the confirmation "Candle geometry: range not narrower than usual", so as not to enter while the market is asleep.
- Click "Save".
The thresholds ("long wick", "range edge") are taken from the ⚙ window and stored in the strategy at the moment it is created.
What cannot be built this way. All events look at the last closed candle. A condition about several candles in a row ("the wick of this candle is longer than the body of the previous one") cannot be set by a strategy rule — use "My patterns" for it, where each candle of the pattern has its own features.
Events for strategies
In the "Strategies" window the events are listed with the prefix "Candle geometry:". All of them look at the last closed candle. Almost all are states: true while the candle is like that. Two are one-off: "body jumped" and "range jumped".
Body
| Event | When it fires | CALL / PUT |
|---|---|---|
| candle colour | The candle closed above or below its open. Equal open and close give no side | Rising / falling |
| full body | The body takes at least the set share of the range: the price went one way and hardly pulled back | Full-bodied rising / falling |
| almost no body | The body is at most the set share of the range: doji and spinning top. The market is hesitating | None |
| body larger than usual | The body is larger than the average body of recent bars by the set factor. A comparison with history, not with its own candle's range | Large rising / falling |
| body not larger than usual | The other side of the previous event: the market did not jump. True on most bars — good for not entering on a spike | None |
| body not smaller than usual | The body is larger than the set share of the average body: the bar reached a normal size | None |
| body jumped | The body crossed the large threshold on this bar, while on the previous one it was below. The moment the market started moving | Large rising / falling |
Wicks
| Event | When it fires | CALL / PUT |
|---|---|---|
| rejecting wick | One wick is long, the opposite one short: the price went to one side and was pushed back. The candle colour does not matter | Long lower / long upper |
| wick longer than the body | The bigger wick is longer than the body by the set factor and longer than the other wick. Softer than a rejecting wick: the other wick need not be short | Lower longer / upper longer |
| long wicks on both sides | Both wicks are at least the set share of the range: the price was pushed back from both sides, no winner | None |
| candle without wicks | Both wicks are shorter than the set share of the range: the candle opened at one edge and closed at the opposite one | Rising / falling |
Range
| Event | When it fires | CALL / PUT |
|---|---|---|
| range wider than usual | The range is larger than the average range by the set factor: a spike right on this candle | None |
| range narrower than usual | The range is at most the set share of the average: the market has calmed down | None |
| range not wider than usual | The other side of "wider than usual": no spike | None |
| range not narrower than usual | The other side of "narrower than usual": the bar reached a normal size | None |
| range jumped | The range crossed the wide threshold on this bar, while on the previous one it was below. The moment the quiet ended | None |
| narrowest bar of N | The range is smaller than the range of each of the previous bars in the window. Usually one such bar per compression | None |
Close
| Event | When it fires | CALL / PUT |
|---|---|---|
| close pressed to the edge | The close is in the upper share of the range or in the lower one. Counted from the low and the high, not from the open: a red candle can close at its high | At the high / at the low |
Event pairs instead of "invert"
The "invert" checkbox swaps CALL and PUT. Events without a side have nothing to swap, so they come in pairs: "body larger than usual" and "body not larger than usual", "range wider than usual" and "range not wider than usual", "range narrower than usual" and "range not narrower than usual". Each candle falls into exactly one event of a pair. To avoid entering while the market is asleep, use "range not narrower than usual" as a confirmation.
"Body not larger than usual" and "body not smaller than usual" together give an ordinary candle. The same goes for the range.
All settings
The window opens with the ⚙ icon on the Candle Geometry card in the "Indicators" window. There are only thresholds here: no colours or views, because the indicator is not drawn on the chart. The button that returns the starting thresholds is in the last section. While a strategy with Candle Geometry is running, it uses its own thresholds — the ones it was created with.
Candle body
| Field | What it does |
|---|---|
| Full body, share of the range | From what share of the range the body counts as full. 0.6 at the start. More — the event is rarer, but on a more decisive bar |
| No body, share of the range | Up to what share of the range there is effectively no body. 0.1 at the start |
Wicks
| Field | What it does |
|---|---|
| Long wick, share of the range | From what share a wick is long. 0.35 at the start. Used in "rejecting wick" and "long wicks on both sides" |
| Short wick, share of the range | Up to what share there is effectively no wick. 0.15 at the start. The second condition of a rejecting wick and the only one of a candle without wicks |
| Wick longer than the body by N times | How many times the bigger wick must exceed the body. 2 at the start |
Range
| Field | What it does |
|---|---|
| Average window, bars | Over how many recent bars the average range and the average body are calculated. 20 at the start. A short window makes "usual" too sensitive, a long one blind to a change in the market. The same number is the indicator's warm-up |
| Wide bar, N averages | How many times the range or body must exceed the average. 1.5 at the start. A common threshold for a wide bar, a large body and both "jumped" events |
| Narrow bar, share of the average | What share of the average the range must not exceed for the bar to count as narrow. 0.6 at the start |
| Narrowest bar window | Among how many recent bars to look for the narrowest one. 7 at the start |
Close
| Field | What it does |
|---|---|
| Range edge, share | From what share of the range the close is pressed to the upper edge. 0.75 at the start. The lower edge is the mirror: 1 minus this number |
What Candle Geometry does not do
- It does not know the future. An event describes a candle that has already closed.
- It does not enter trades by itself. Trades are opened by a strategy from the "Strategies" window.
- It is not drawn on the chart. It works only inside a strategy.
- It does not build patterns for you. The bot looks for ready-made patterns itself — the "Patterns" tab in the "Bot" panel. Your own patterns are built in "My patterns".
Frequently asked questions
How is "full body" different from "body larger than usual"? A full body is compared with the range of its own candle, a large body with the average body of recent bars. A bar can be full-bodied and tiny at the same time.
How is "rejecting wick" different from "wick longer than the body"? A rejecting wick needs a short opposite wick. "Wick longer than the body" is softer: the other wick can be anything, as long as it is shorter than the first.
Why does "range wider than usual" have no side? A wide bar can go up or down. Take the side from the candle colour or another event.
Where can I build my own pattern from these events? Right in a strategy rule — with an entry and confirmations (the "How to build a pattern in a strategy" section). A pattern of several candles — in "My patterns".
What's next
- Candlestick patterns — the ready-made patterns of the catalogue.
- Strategies — the builder — how to build a rule from events.
- Cipher A — the first article about our indicators.