7trade Line Break: lines that ignore swings
Line Break draws another chart of the same price over the candles — a line break chart. A new line is built only when the close has moved further along the move or has broken the edge of several last lines. The rest of the time nothing appears — and that is how you see whether the market is standing or moving. After this article you will understand the lines, thresholds 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
A candle chart draws every swing. A line break chart ignores it: while the closes stay inside the last line, nothing new appears. A line along the move means the move continued. A line against the move means the move reversed.
The indicator is adapted for binary options:
- mark on the confirmation bar — the triangle stands where the reversal was confirmed by a close, not at the extreme point known only after the fact;
- reversal threshold — on the right you can see at which close the line will reverse and how many points away that is;
- the market is standing — no new line for longer than a trade lasts;
- typical move per trade — a measure of distance to the thresholds.
Below is a live chart on real candles. Click it to open it large; there a click on a line, a mark or a threshold shows an explanation. The ⚙ icon opens the settings window.
What is on the chart
| Element | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Line body, green or red | A rectangle from the close of the previous line to the new close. It holds while the line is alive. The width tells how many candles one step of the move took; a wide body means the market was standing |
| Line level — a stepped line | The close of the current line: the price to beat for the next step in the same direction. While it stands still, the move has not advanced |
| Live line — a dotted line on the current candle | The line the current candle will give if it closes at this price. It does not exist until the close, and no marks are put on it |
| Reversal up: the close broke the edge of the last lines upwards, and a line against the previous move was built | |
| Reversal down | |
| Reversal threshold — an orange dotted line on the right | If the current candle closes beyond it, the line reverses. A wick does not count. The tag reads, for example, "▼ Reversal on a close below · −40 pt." |
| Continuation threshold — a grey dotted line on the right | A close beyond it builds one more line along the move. Only in the "All" view |
| Typical move per trade — a grey dotted line above and below | How far the close usually travels during a trade. Only in the "All" view |
If there is no new line for longer than a trade lasts, the market is standing. In a standing market reversals more often turn out to be noise.
Hints
Click a line, a mark or a threshold to see a plate: what it is and what to do with it (a coloured dot and "CALL", "PUT" or "Wait"). The plate stays until you click elsewhere. Under the line is the state of the last bar: the side and how many lines in a row, whether the market is standing, how far the reversal is in moves per trade, when the last reversal was. 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 |
|---|---|
| Lines | Only the line break chart: line bodies, the level and the live line. No marks or thresholds |
| Signals | The lines, the reversal marks and the reversal threshold on the right. This is the starting setup |
| All | The continuation threshold and the typical move per trade too |
Events for strategies
In the "Strategies" window the events are listed with the prefix "Line Break:".
| Event | When it fires | CALL / PUT |
|---|---|---|
| line reversal | A line against the previous move was built — the or mark. Once, on the confirmation bar | Up / down |
| line direction | State: the direction of the current line. Holds until the price breaks the edge of the last lines | Rising / falling |
| new line built | A line was built on this bar — along the move or as a reversal. It does not say the side: good as a "the market is moving" filter | None |
| market standing | State: no new line for as many bars as the trade lasts | None |
| market moving | The other way round: the last line was built recently | None |
| reversal close | State: the reversal threshold is closer than a typical move per trade. The side is where the line will reverse | Line falling / line rising |
"Reversal close" is not a reversal, it means the reversal is near: for a rising line the event answers PUT.
All settings
The window opens with the ⚙ icon — on the Line Break card in the "Indicators" window or in the header of its panel below the chart. If the lines are drawn over the candles — with the pencil in the line of the chart legend. While a strategy with Line Break 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: "Lines", "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 |
Line bodies
| Field | What it does |
|---|---|
| Show line bodies | The line rectangles |
| Live line as a dotted line | The current candle's line before it closes |
| Lines for a reversal | The edge of how many last lines the close must break for the move to reverse. More — fewer reversals, but each carries more weight. 3 at the start |
Line level, Reversal marks
| Field | What it does |
|---|---|
| Show the line level | The stepped line at the close of the current body |
| Show / marks | Reversal triangles |
Right of the candle
| Field | What it does |
|---|---|
| Reversal threshold | The orange dotted line |
| Continuation threshold | The grey dotted line, in the "All" view |
| Typical move per trade | The grey dotted line above and below, in the "All" view |
| Tags on the right | How many points to the thresholds and what the typical move per trade is |
| Expiry, bars | Trade length in bars. On M1 a bar is a minute: 3 is a three-minute trade. It also decides whether the market is standing |
| Typical move — over how many bars | Over how many recent bars the typical move per trade is calculated |
Presets
| Preset | What it sets |
|---|---|
| 1-min trade | The typical move and "the market is standing" over one bar |
| 3-min trade | Over three bars — the starting setup |
| 5-min trade | Over five bars: the move per trade is larger, and "the market is standing" comes later |
| More sensitive | Reversal by the edge of the last two lines: more reversals, the threshold is closer to the price |
| Calmer | Reversal by the edge of the last four lines: fewer reversals, the threshold is farther |
Legend
All colours in one list; each can be changed. Here is also the button that returns all settings to the starting ones.
What Line Break does not do
- It does not know the future. A reversal means the close has already broken the edge of the last lines, not that the price will keep going that way.
- 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 live line is only preliminary.
- It does not redraw the past. A mark stands on the bar where the reversal was confirmed and does not move later.
Frequently asked questions
Why is a line body stretched over many candles? All that time the closes stayed inside the line, and the line break chart drew nothing. The market was standing.
The price broke the level with a wick, but there is no reversal. A reversal counts only by the close. A wick does not count.
Why did the dotted line disappear? The candle closed in a way that did not produce a new line. The live line is only preliminary.
How is "More sensitive" different from "Calmer"? By the number of lines whose edge must be broken for a reversal: two or four.
What's next
- Candle Geometry — the shape of a candle as numbers for strategies.
- Renko — bricks the size of the move per trade.
- Strategies — the builder — how to build a rule from events.