Setup & First Steps
Power Candles colors your candlesticks based on real-time currency strength data. As of V3, the FX Power and IX Power calculation logic is built in - you do not need separate FX Power or IX Power licenses to run Power Candles.
Setup:
- Drag Power Candles onto any chart - forex, indices, metals or crypto
- The indicator auto-detects the instrument type and picks the matching calculation logic (FX Power for forex, IX Power for everything else)
- Wait for "Loading..." to finish (5-30 seconds, needs 20+ valid data points)
- Candles start coloring automatically
If you also want a multi-symbol dashboard or a single-symbol strength line in a sub-window, FX Power NG and IX Power are available as standalone products. They are complementary, not required.
The Color Scale
Power Candles uses a 9-step color gradient:
| Color | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Dark Red (2 levels) | Strong to extreme bearish momentum |
| Light Red (2 levels) | Light to medium bearish |
| Gray | Neutral - no clear momentum |
| Light Green (2 levels) | Light to medium bullish |
| Dark Green (2 levels) | Strong to extreme bullish momentum |
For Forex pairs the color is based on the Delta (strength difference between the two currencies). For indices, metals and crypto it is based on the raw IX Power strength value.
Auto-Optimizer (V3)
Every chart load and every closed bar, the Auto-Optimizer runs 3,000+ trade simulations in the background covering:
- Two strategies: Momentum (MOM) trades with the strength direction, Reversal (REV) trades against extreme strength
- Three signal thresholds: weak, medium, strong
- A full Stop-Loss / Take-Profit grid scaled to current market volatility
The setup with the best risk-adjusted return for the current symbol and timeframe is highlighted in the AUTO-OPTIMIZER panel. The ranking favors setups that are both profitable and consistent, and protects against statistical accidents from too few trades.
This is not a forecast or machine learning. The optimizer shows what would have produced the best historical result on the recent bars of the chart you are looking at - an automated version of what you could do in the Strategy Tester, but live and per symbol.
Why short history, not "as much data as possible"
Power Candles is regime-adaptive by design. Markets switch between trend and range phases, between low- and high-volatility regimes. An optimizer that averages over years finds what worked on average, not what works now. Short history keeps the optimizer close to current market behavior, which is where the edge lives.
Rule of thumb: pick the shortest history that still produces 20-50 signals. On M1, 1000-2000 bars is usually right; on M5/M15 the same; on M30/H1 closer to 3000-5000.
Apply Best & the Active Label
Click Apply Best to load the optimizer's current pick as your live configuration. In one click this refreshes all four live parameters: Strategy (MOM/REV), Signal Threshold (MinDelta), Stop-Loss and Take-Profit. Arrows are immediately redrawn at the new threshold, and Entry/SL/TP reference lines appear on the chart.
The label next to the LIVE row is a status indicator, not a switch:
[ Active ]- your live settings happen to equal the optimizer's current pick[ Apply Best ]- the optimizer has since identified a different setup as superior. Your live settings have not changed; they are simply no longer identical to the latest pick
Losing "Active" status does not change a single live parameter. Strategy, alerts and arrow drawing all continue under your existing settings until you explicitly click Apply Best.
What controls arrow visibility
The single filter on whether an arrow is drawn is the MinDelta threshold (the bar-to-bar strength change required for an arrow). Strategy only flips the trade direction shown on the arrow; SL/TP only place the helper lines.
If your label has been on [ Apply Best ] for a while and you notice fewer arrows than usual, compare the LIVE MinDelta value to the Optimizer Best MinDelta value in the panel. If the LIVE one is noticeably higher, your settings are stricter than what the current market produces - one click on Apply Best lowers the filter and the arrows reappear.
Strategy-Aware Arrows
Without Apply Best, arrow color simply reflects momentum strength: green = bullish strength rising, red = bearish strength rising. A green arrow in a downtrend is not a buy signal, it is a momentum reading.
After Apply Best the arrows become strategy-aware. Color now describes the trade direction:
- Green = Buy, Red = Sell, always
- For Reversal setups the arrow flips against the momentum (a bullish-strength event becomes a Sell, etc.)
- Entry, Stop-Loss and Take-Profit reference lines appear at the exact price of the most recent open signal
- Alerts include direction (BUY/SELL), strategy marker (MOM/REV), state, delta transition and SL/TP in pips
Example alert: AUDUSD - SELL (REV) - Bull Strong | Delta +12.3 -> +54.6 | SL 230 / TP 240
Arrows always appear on closed bars only - they never flip mid-candle. The candle color itself can change while a candle is forming, but the arrow is fixed once the bar closes.
V3.1 Settings Panel
As of V3.1 settings live in a dedicated Settings Page inside the panel, opened via the gear icon in the footer. A "Back to Main" link returns to the live view. The classic MT5 input dialog (right-click > Properties > Inputs) still works and holds the same values as defaults, but the panel settings are faster for everyday toggling.
Per-Symbol Toggles
All display toggles (colored candles, arrows, live trade lines, history trade lines) and alert toggles (popup, push, sound, plus a master switch) are now stored per symbol. XAUUSD can run sound-only alerts, EURUSD can run push-only, and NAS100 can have arrows hidden - all without overwriting each other. Settings take effect immediately and persist across sessions.
Reset Button
A Reset button restores all settings and toggles for the current symbol to the input defaults. License and Auto-Optimizer live settings are not affected - it is a "start fresh" button for display and alert configuration.
Faster Cold Start
V3.1 added a 500 ms timer during the data-load phase that switches back to normal cadence once data is available. This is most noticeable on weekend loads and on slow VPS connections.
Key Parameters
Threshold Groups
Separate thresholds for Forex (0-100 Delta scale) and IX instruments (0-50 Strength scale):
Forex Thresholds:
| Parameter | Default | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| NeutralZone | 10 | Values within this zone show as gray |
| LightThreshold | 20 | Transition to light color |
| MediumThreshold | 35 | Transition to medium color |
| StrongThreshold | 55 | Transition to strong/extreme color |
| MinDeltaChange | 20 | Minimum delta change for momentum arrows (input default - the live value gets refreshed by Apply Best) |
IX Thresholds follow the same pattern with lower defaults (5, 12, 20, 30, 10) since IX Power's scale is -50 to +50.
Calculation Mode
FXP_CALCULATION_MODE (default: H8) - the analysis window the strength engine uses internally. Recommended starting points by chart timeframe:
| Chart TF | Calculation Mode | Style |
|---|---|---|
| M1 | H4 | Scalping |
| M5 | H8 (default) | Scalping / Intraday |
| M15 | D1 | Intraday |
| M30 | 3D | Intraday / Swing |
| H1 | W1 | Swing |
| H4 | 2W to 3W | Swing / Position |
Practical Tips
- Standalone is the default workflow. The Auto-Optimizer already filters by risk-adjusted return; one click on Apply Best gives you a complete trade plan (direction, SL, TP) on the chart. That is what V3 was built for.
- One orthogonal filter for higher selectivity: FX Levels is the only Stein indicator that adds genuinely new information on top of Power Candles. It tells you whether a signal sits at a real horizontal support or resistance level. Skip signals in no-mans-land between levels, take signals at levels.
- Avoid stacking confluence: FX Trend as an extra filter is redundant - V3 already tests momentum and reversal internally and picks the better one.
- Sanity-check before escalating "no arrows" issues: in the panel, compare the LIVE MinDelta to the Optimizer Best MinDelta. If LIVE is much higher, your settings have drifted from current market conditions - Apply Best fixes it.
- Hide panel on small screens: set hidePanel = true for a cleaner chart.
Common Issues
Candles stay gray - Normal during loading. Power Candles needs at least 20 valid data points before colors activate. Enable debug mode to see progress in the Experts log.
No new arrows appear - The most common cause: your LIVE MinDelta is set higher than what the current market produces (label shows [ Apply Best ] for a long time). Compare LIVE MinD to Optimizer Best MinD in the panel; click Apply Best to refresh.
No new Entry/SL/TP lines after a new arrow - Three possible causes, in order of likelihood: (1) "Live trade lines" toggle is off for this symbol, check the Settings page; (2) the previous trade has not yet hit SL or TP, so lines stay anchored to the original signal; (3) very few bars loaded - resolves itself within seconds.
Slow cold start, especially on weekends - V3.1 contains a cold-start speedup. If still on V3.0 or older, update via MT5 auto-update or a fresh MQL5 Market install.
Inconsistent colors after restart - Fixed long ago via data validation. Update to the latest version.