Description
Algo Shadow Matrix is a Supertrend that knows how good the trend is. A Trend Quality Index (TQI) built from market efficiency, the volatility regime, price structure and momentum persistence sets the band width on every bar: the line hugs price in clean trends and backs off in noise, so flips arrive where the character of the market actually changes. Every flip is scored, drawn with its stop and three targets, and booked in a live performance ledger, so you see at a glance whether the current regime has been worth trading.
What it draws on your chart
- An adaptive Supertrend line, coloured by trend direction and shaded by trend quality.
- A BUY or SELL pill on every flip with a score from 0 to 102 built from six factors: momentum, efficiency, volume, RSI depth, structure and break depth.
- For each signal: the entry, a structure-aware stop (last pivot minus an ATR buffer) and three take-profit levels at 1R, 2R and 3R by default, extended to the right. A reached target turns cyan with a check mark.
- A three-column dashboard: market context (trend regime, resolved preset, efficiency and volatility regime), the TQI engine with its four factors, the active signal with entry, stop, targets and the distance from entry in percent, and a performance ledger with rolling win rate, average R, drawdown and the edge of the current regime.
- Alerts once per closed bar (BUY, SELL, any signal, bullish shift, bearish shift) as plain text or JSON, delivered to the cTrader log, a sound of your choice and email through cTrader's own settings.
How to trade with it
1. Add it to a chart and wait for the dashboard to show Ready. It needs 50 bars of history with the default settings (a longer lookback window extends this) and draws nothing before that; the Preset row counts the bars down until it reads Ready.
2. Leave Preset on Auto: Scalping resolves on M5 and below, Default up to H4, Swing above. Pick Crypto 24/7 or Custom by hand.
3. A pill is a flip confirmed on bar close. Read its score and the TQI row: a high score means momentum, efficiency, volume, RSI depth, structure and break depth agree; a high TQI means the trend that just ended was clean, so the new one starts from a real change of character.
4. Check the ledger before you act: rolling win rate, average R and the edge of the current efficiency and volatility cell tell you how the last signals in this kind of market worked out.
5. Use the drawn levels as they are or as a template: SL Buffer 1.5 x ATR below the last pivot, TP1 at 1R, TP2 at 2R, TP3 at 3R, Trade Timeout 100 bars.
6. Turn on the alerts you want. BUY and SELL with a sound are on by default; email is off until you enter the addresses.
Key settings
86 parameters in eleven groups. The 71 inputs of the original script keep their titles, groups, order and defaults; 15 are cTrader-only.
- Main Settings: Preset, ATR Length 13, Base Band Width 2.0 x ATR, Source.
- Adaptive Engine and Trend Quality Engine: efficiency window 20, adaptation strength 0.5, quality influence 0.4, curve power 1.5, asymmetric bands, character-flip detection, the four factor weights.
- Signal Filters: pivot strength 3, RSI 14 with 70/30 levels, volume z-window 20.
- Risk Management: SL buffer 1.5 x ATR, TP1/TP2/TP3 at 1R/2R/3R, label offset, hit marking, trade timeout 100 bars.
- Self-Learning: experimental auto-calibration of the quality strength, off by default.
- Visual and Dashboard: dark or light theme, TQI colouring, trend background, watermark, dashboard position and four sizes, colours.
- Alerts and cTrader: per-event toggles, sound, email, JSON format, marker style, label caps, score RSI memory mode, debug log.
Indicator type, periods, instruments, use cases
- Indicator type: trend, drawn on the main chart, signals plus visualisation.
- Best suited for popular forex symbols; also runs on indices, metals, energies and crypto (Crypto 24/7 preset). Any symbol; the volume factor is used when the broker supplies volume.
- Optimised for M5 to H4 periods; D1 and above with the Swing preset.
- Compatible with existing trend-following systems and effective as a standalone technical analysis tool.
- Use cases: trend entries on the flip with a quantified score, structure-based stop placement, staged profit taking at 1R/2R/3R, confirmation of a higher-timeframe bias, and feeding a cBot through the hidden Signal Marker output (+1 buy, -1 sell, 0 none).
Who it is for
Discretionary and semi-systematic traders who already use Supertrend or ATR trailing methods and want to know how strong each flip is before acting. It is an analysis tool, not a trading robot: it never places, modifies or closes orders.
Verified against the original
This is the cTrader edition of my own TradingView indicator, written in C# on the cAlgo API. It was replayed on 20,141 identical EURUSD M5 bars: 55 internal series equal, 2,707 of 2,707 signals on the same bars, all 499 labels, 5 level lines and 15 dashboard rows identical. Two score labels differ by up to 5 points because of an undefined-behaviour construct on the TradingView side; a strict mode is included.
Trial: what you get with the full version
The trial is this exact build limited to EURUSD (broker suffixes such as EURUSD.i are accepted), with no time limit and every parameter available. On any other symbol it shows a notice instead of the indicator. The full version removes the symbol lock: every forex pair, index, metal, energy and crypto symbol your broker offers, with the same signals, levels, dashboard and alerts.
Technical notes and limitations
- Signal pills and levels are placed on bar close and do not repaint. The current bar's line value and shading update until that bar closes.
- Alerts fire only for bars that close after the indicator went live; the history pass never alerts. Email needs cTrader's email settings.
- The performance ledger is a hypothetical R bookkeeping of the indicator's own signals on the loaded history: entry at the signal close, exits at the stop, the third target or the timeout, partial takes at the first two targets, no spread, commission or slippage.
- The chart keeps the most recent 300 signal labels by default (Max Signal Labels). With Chart Shift on, the ENTRY, SL and TP labels sit past the last bar; without it they are pinned inside the right edge.
- Signals on a live chart differ from a chart of another broker because the candles differ; the engine is identical on identical bars.
- Requirements: cTrader 5.0 or newer, tested on cTrader Desktop 5.9 (custom indicators run in cTrader Windows and Mac). No network access, no file access (Access Rights: None).
Support
Questions, bug reports and feature requests: the Discussion tab of this page or Ask seller. Updates are free for buyers and listed in the version history. Refunds follow the Store's 14-day money-back policy. If the indicator helps your trading, a rating on this page helps other traders find it.
Trading involves risk. Past performance does not guarantee future results.
Summary
Key features include scored BUY/SELL signals on trend flips, each accompanied by an entry point, a structure-aware stop loss based on the last pivot plus an ATR buffer, and three take-profit targets at 1R, 2R, and 3R levels. Signals are tracked in a live performance ledger showing rolling win rate, average return (R), drawdown, and the edge of the current market regime. A three-column dashboard provides market context, TQI factor details, active signal information, and performance metrics.
Alerts for BUY, SELL, and market shifts can be delivered via cTrader’s log, sound, or email. The indicator supports multiple presets optimized for scalping, default, swing trading, and 24/7 crypto markets, and is suitable for forex, indices, metals, energies, and cryptocurrencies. It operates on M5 to H4 timeframes (D1 and above with swing preset) and integrates with existing trend-following systems or can be used standalone. It does not place or manage trades but serves as an analysis and decision-support tool.
