GOLD SENTINEL - A CANDLE-COLORING INDICATOR THAT FILTERS SIDEWAYS MARKETS FOR GOLD

v1.0

1. WHAT IT DOES

• Colors candles by market state
• Green candle: uptrend that is strong enough
• Red candle: downtrend that is strong enough
• Gray candle: sideways or weak trend, stay out
• It doesn't predict price, it only classifies the market

2. HOW IT DECIDES

Direction, all 3 must be true:

• Fast EMA is above (or below) the slow EMA
• Price is on the same side of the slow EMA
• DI+ and DI- agree

Quality, 6 filters, 1 point each:

• ADX high enough
• Efficiency Ratio high enough (price moves straight, little chop)
• Choppiness Index low (not choppy)
• Slow EMA slopes enough, in the right direction
• Fast and slow EMA far enough apart
• ATR not too low versus its average (removes dead markets)

Enough points and the candle turns green or red. Not enough and it stays gray.

3. NO FLICKERING

• To enter a trend: needs 4/6 or more
• Once in a trend: 3/6 is enough to keep the color
• So candles don't flip color constantly around the threshold

4. TWO MANDATORY FILTERS (can be switched off)

• Higher timeframe: direction must match the higher timeframe EMA, uses the closed bar so it doesn't repaint
• Session (UTC): outside the chosen hours it counts as sideways

5. WHAT YOU SEE ON THE CHART

• Candles change color, colors are adjustable
• Arrow when a new trend starts (drawn on the closed candle, no repaint, 1 candle late)
• Info panel in the top-left: state, score, which filters pass and which fail
• 2 thin EMA lines for reference

6. SUGGESTED SETUP FOR GOLD ON M1

• Fast EMA 21, slow EMA 89
• ADX: period 14, min 25
• Efficiency Ratio: period 30, min 0.25
• Choppiness: period 30, max 50
• Slope: 15 bars, min 0.30
• Separation: min 0.5 ATR
• Volatility: ATR average 200, min 0.9
• Entry score 5, hold score 3
• Higher timeframe M15, EMA 50
• Session: 7 to 20 UTC (London + New York)
• This is just a starting point, backtest and tune it for your own broker

• SUGGESTED SETUP FOR GOLD ON M5
• Fast EMA 21, slow EMA 55
• ADX: period 14, min 22
• Efficiency Ratio: period 20, min 0.30
• Choppiness: period 20, max 50
• Slope: 10 bars, min 0.30
• Separation: min 0.4 ATR
• Volatility: ATR period 14, ATR average 100, min 0.8
• Entry score 4, hold score 3
• Higher timeframe H1, EMA 50
• Session: 7 to 20 UTC (London + New York), optional
• Good for intraday trend and pullback entries
• If there are too few signals, lower the entry score to 3 or ADX min to 20
• If there is still too much sideways noise, raise the entry score to 5 and turn the session filter on

SUGGESTED SETUP FOR GOLD ON M15

• Fast EMA 21, slow EMA 55
• ADX: period 14, min 20
• Efficiency Ratio: period 14, min 0.30
• Choppiness: period 14, max 55
• Slope: 8 bars, min 0.30
• Separation: min 0.35 ATR
• Volatility: ATR period 14, ATR average 100, min 0.8
• Entry score 4, hold score 3
• Higher timeframe H4, EMA 50
• Session: optional, M15 is less sensitive to Asian session noise than M5 and M1
• Good for swing-style intraday trades, fewer signals but cleaner
• If you want more signals, lower the entry score to 3
• If it flips to gray too often inside a good trend, lower the hold score to 2

QUICK COMPARISON

• M1: tightest filters (ADX 25, entry score 5), higher timeframe M15
• M5: balanced filters (ADX 22, entry score 4), higher timeframe H1
• M15: looser filters (ADX 20, entry score 4), higher timeframe H4
• Rule of thumb: the lower the timeframe, the stricter the filters, because there is more noise
• The higher timeframe should be about 3 to 4 steps above the chart timeframe

7. HOW I USE IT

• Gray candle means no trade
• Only trade in the direction of the candle color, wait for a pullback then enter
• Use it with your existing system, don't enter on this indicator alone
• Prefer stretches scoring 5/6 or higher
• Stay away from big news: NFP, CPI, FOMC

8. USING IT WITH A BOT

• The bot reads 3 lines: UpLine, DownLine, FlatLine
• Whichever has a value on the closed bar (Last(1)) is the current state

9. NOTES

• No indicator is right 100% of the time, there is always some lag, especially at reversals
• Gold on M1 suffers from spread and slippage, test on demo first
• The live candle can change color tick by tick, so judge by closed candles