7trade Renko: bricks the size of the move per trade
Renko draws bricks over the candles. A brick appears only when the price has travelled its full size, and at the start the size equals the typical price move during your trade. While the price swings in place, no new bricks appear, however many candles pass. After this article you will understand the bricks, lines and marks, the three views, the events for strategies and all the settings. How to turn the indicator on is covered in "7trade bot: introduction".
Why it is useful
On a candle chart every minute draws a candle, even if the price went nowhere. Bricks show only the move: one brick is "how far the price usually travels while a trade is open". Bricks come one after another — there is a move. No bricks — the price is standing still.
The indicator is adapted for binary options:
- brick per expiry — the size is measured by the price move during a trade, not by a fixed amount;
- pace — the brick width tells how many candles it took, the brightness tells whether it appeared faster or slower than usual;
- next-brick levels — where a brick up and a brick down will appear and how many points away they are;
- expiry corridor — a dotted line one brick above and below the price;
- marks — reversal, spurt, breakout of a previous top, stagnation.
Below is a live chart on real candles. Click it to open it large; there a click on a brick, a line or a mark shows an explanation. The ⚙ icon opens the settings window.
What is on the chart
| Element | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Green or red brick | The close moved away from the edge of the previous brick by a full size — up or down |
| Brick width | How many candles the brick took |
| Brick brightness | Bright — it appeared faster than usual, pale — slower. Bright narrow bricks: the move is speeding up; pale wide ones: it is fading |
| Dotted brick | The brick of an unclosed candle at the current price. It is confirmed when the candle closes or disappears if the price comes back |
| Two stepped lines | Next-brick levels: where a brick up and a brick down will appear. Along the move one brick is needed, against it two |
| Expiry corridor — a dotted line on the right | One brick above and below the price. This is how far the price usually travels during a trade. Price at the edge of the corridor: the move for this trade is already done; in the middle: the outcome is still open |
| Orange line | The top of the previous move of bricks — where the price turned down |
| Light blue line | The bottom of the previous move — where the price turned up |
| green below a candle, red above | Reversal: the first brick against the previous move appeared |
| below a candle, above | Brick with the move: the move advanced by one more brick. Off at the start — such a brick appears often |
| Spurt: two or more bricks appeared on one candle | |
| Breakout: the close went beyond the top or bottom of the previous move. The colour is that of the broken line; the line ends on this bar | |
| grey above a candle | Stagnation: the brick has stood longer than several usual ones. Placed once, on the bar where stagnation began |
A reversal comes after the price has already gone back as many bricks as set for a reversal. Entering after a spurt means entering after the move.
Hints
Click a brick, a line or a mark to see a plate: what it is and what to do with it (a coloured dot and "CALL", "PUT", "Wait" or "Do not enter"). The plate stays until you click elsewhere. Under the line is the state of the last bar: how many bricks in a row, how long the brick has stood, how many points to the next one, what the brick is measured with, which mark was last. To make the plate appear on a mouse hover too, turn on "Show the explanation on hover" in the "Panel view" section — it is off at the start.
Three views
The "What to show" switch in the "Panel view" section.
| View | What you see |
|---|---|
| Bricks | The price move itself: bricks over the candles, next-brick levels and the expiry corridor. No marks. This is the starting setup |
| Signals | Marks above and below the bars, lines of previous tops and the corridor. Bricks as a pale background, so the marks read clearly on the candles |
| All | Bricks, levels, the corridor, the lines and all marks at once |
Events for strategies
In the "Strategies" window the events are listed with the prefix "Renko:".
| Event | When it fires | CALL / PUT |
|---|---|---|
| brick reversal | A brick against the previous move appeared — the mark | Up after bricks down / down after bricks up |
| new brick | A brick appeared on this bar — along the move or as a reversal. Silent while the price swings inside a brick | Brick up / down |
| brick direction | State: the direction of the last brick | Up / down |
| spurt | The price travelled two or more bricks in one bar — the mark | Up / down |
| pivot breakout | The close went beyond the top or bottom of the previous move — the mark. A broken level no longer counts | Top broken / bottom broken |
| stagnation | State: the brick has stood longer than usual, the price goes nowhere | None |
"Brick direction" is true for many bars in a row. Use it as a confirmation, and "stagnation" with the "invert" checkbox if you want to enter only on a moving market.
All settings
The window opens with the ⚙ icon — on the Renko card in the "Indicators" window or in the header of its panel below the chart. If the bricks are drawn over the candles — with the pencil in the line of the chart legend. While a strategy with Renko is running, the panel uses that strategy's settings, not the window's.
How to read
The first section is a reminder of the elements, the same as the table above. It has no settings.
Panel view
| Field | What it does |
|---|---|
| What to show | The view: "Bricks", "Signals" or "All" |
| Explain elements on click | The main switch for the plates |
| Show the explanation on hover | The plate follows the mouse. Off at the start so it does not cover the candles |
| Add the state to the plate | Lines about the last bar in a pinned plate |
Bricks
| Field | What it does |
|---|---|
| Show bricks | The bricks themselves |
| Brightness by pace | A fast brick is brighter, a slow one paler. Untick it for equal brightness |
| What to measure a brick with | "Per expiry" — the typical close move during a trade, the starting setup. "ATR" — the average candle range divided by the divisor. "Percent" — a share of the close price. "Fixed" — a size in price units, different for each instrument |
| Expiry, bars | Over how many bars to measure the move. On M1 a bar is a minute: 3 is a three-minute trade |
| Window, bars | Over how many recent bars the typical move is taken. Fewer — the brick adapts faster but jumps more |
| ATR period | Only for the ATR size |
| ATR divisor | Only for the ATR size: 2 — a brick of half an ATR, 4 — a quarter |
| Percent of the price | Only for the percent size |
| Size in price | Only for the fixed size: for example, 0.0005 on a five-digit pair is 50 points |
| Bricks for a reversal | How many bricks against the move the price must travel for a reversal brick to appear. 2 at the start |
| Pace over bricks | Over how many recent bricks the usual pace is calculated. Brightness and stagnation depend on it |
Levels and corridor
| Field | What it does |
|---|---|
| Next-brick levels | The stepped lines |
| Expiry corridor | The dotted line on the right |
| Tags on the right | Points to the levels and the corridor caption at the right edge |
Pivots
| Field | What it does |
|---|---|
| Show pivots | The orange and light blue lines of the tops and bottoms of previous moves |
| By candle wicks | Take the extreme point of the move from candle highs and lows rather than from the brick edge. The level sits farther away and is broken less often |
Marks
| Field | What it does |
|---|---|
| Reversal | Reversal dots |
| Brick with the move | A mark for every brick along the move. Off at the start |
| Spurt | Spurt crosses |
| Pivot breakout | Breakout rhombs |
| Stagnation | Grey dots |
| Stagnation — how many times longer than usual | A brick that stands longer than this many usual ones is marked as stagnation. 3 at the start |
Presets
| Preset | What it sets |
|---|---|
| 1-min trade | A brick is the typical move over one bar. Small, frequent bricks and a narrow corridor |
| 3-min trade | The move over three bars — the starting setup |
| 5-min trade | The move over five bars: larger, rarer bricks; ripples inside the move are not drawn |
Legend
All colours in one list; each can be changed. Here is also the button that returns all settings to the starting ones.
What Renko does not do
- It does not know the future. A brick means the price has already travelled its size, not that it will travel one more.
- It does not enter trades by itself. Trades are opened by a strategy from the "Strategies" window.
- It does not put a mark on an unclosed candle. The dotted brick is only preliminary; marks appear at the close.
- It does not replace the candles. Bricks are drawn over the candle chart; time on the axis is not compressed.
Frequently asked questions
Why are there no bricks for a long time? The price is swinging inside the last brick and has not travelled a full size. That is exactly "the market is standing still".
Why are the bricks of different widths? The width is how many candles a brick took. A fast move gives narrow bricks, a slow one wide bricks.
Why did the dotted brick disappear? The candle closed without reaching the brick size. A dotted brick is only preliminary.
Which brick size should I choose? The starting setting is "Per expiry": a brick equals the typical move during a trade. Set "Expiry, bars" to the same time as the trades in your strategy — or choose a preset for your trade length.
What's next
- Squeeze — market compression and the range after it.
- Line Break — another chart that ignores small swings.
- Strategies — the builder — how to build a rule from events.