Setup & First Steps
Power Candles colors your candlesticks based on real-time currency strength data. The FX Power and IX Power calculation logic is built in, so Power Candles runs on its own, without separate FX Power or IX Power licenses. This guide describes version 4.6.
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 logic for forex pairs and gold (gold against the dollar), IX Power logic for indices, crypto and the other metals
- The panel briefly shows "Loading..." while the strength data comes in, then the candles start coloring
- The Auto-Optimizer tests both strategies on the recent bars of your chart. Auto-apply best is on by default, so the chart opens on the setup that tested best for this symbol and timeframe, with its arrows and its Entry, Stop Loss and Take Profit lines
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 complement Power Candles, which works fully on its own.
The Color Scale
Power Candles colors every candle in one of nine tones: four bearish, a neutral gray and four bullish. The reading rule: the stronger the signal, the purer the color. A light candle is a pale, washed-out tone, an extreme candle is the full, pure hue.
| Level | Bearish | Bullish | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| Light | pale red | pale green | light momentum |
| Medium | medium red | medium green | clear momentum |
| Strong | rich red | rich green | strong momentum |
| Extreme | full, pure red | full, pure green | extreme momentum |
| Neutral | gray | gray | no clear momentum |
For forex pairs and gold the color is based on the Delta (strength difference between the two sides, for gold: gold against the dollar). For indices, crypto and the other metals it is based on the raw IX Power strength value.
Set your own colors. All nine colors are adjustable on the Colors tab of the indicator properties (right-click the indicator > Properties > Colors), grouped as Bearish, Neutral and Bullish. The Colors tab sits next to the Inputs tab. To keep your chart's own candle colors, set "Color candles" to false, as an input or as the switch in the panel settings; arrows, panel and alerts keep running.
Auto-Optimizer
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, with its win rate, profit factor and pips. The ranking favors setups that are both profitable and consistent, and protects against statistical accidents from too few trades.
The line under LIVE shows the size of the test, for example Tested: 1000 bars, 42 signals: how many bars were analyzed and how many signals they produced. It describes the sample of the test; running trades appear in the Signal line. When the recent bars produce too few signals for a reliable result, the panel says so, shows a [ Defaults ] badge and runs the classic momentum view (see Strategy-Aware Arrows). Once the market delivers a setup again, Auto-apply best takes it over; with Auto-apply off, click Apply Best or a strategy row.
The optimizer measures the past: it shows which setup would have produced the best result on the recent bars of the chart you are looking at. It is an automated version of what you could do in the Strategy Tester, running 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 across all of them. Short history keeps the optimizer close to what works now, which is where the edge lives.
By default the optimizer tests the most recent 1000 bars of your chart (input "Max history bars to calculate"). Keep this default: the Tested: line shows how many signals those bars produced.
Minimum stop distance
Since 4.5 the input Min SL (x spread) keeps every stop clear of the spread. A signal whose stop would sit closer than twice the typical spread is skipped: no arrow, no BUY/SELL alert and no trade in the optimizer's test, so the table measures exactly what the chart would trade. This matters most on M1 and M5 and in quiet phases. The strength alerts (leaving neutral, direction change, strength increase) keep coming. Default 2, 0 switches the rule off.
Auto-Apply Best, Apply Best and the Synced Label
Auto-apply best is on by default since 4.5 (switch in Settings > OPTIMIZER). It keeps your chart on the optimizer's best setup by itself, all four live parameters at once: Strategy (MOM/REV), Signal Threshold (MinDelta), Stop Loss and Take Profit. When the optimizer finds a new best, Power Candles switches at a bar where both the current and the new setup are flat. Every trade on your chart plays out in full, with its lines, and SL and TP stay put until the trade ends.
The label next to the LIVE row shows where you stand:
[ Synced ]: your live settings equal the optimizer's current best[ Apply Best ]: the optimizer now ranks a different setup higher. One click loads it
Manual actions take effect immediately. Apply Best, a click on a MOM or REV row in the optimizer, switching Auto-apply on and changing the calculation period all load the new setup at once. If you want the new best right now, while Auto-apply waits for a flat bar, click Apply Best.
After a setup change, the next new arrow opens the trade. A trade the new setup would already have had open before the change stays off your chart, and the panel reads Signal: none, waiting for next until the next new arrow. The first build after attaching the indicator or after Reset shows the tested setup's open signal as usual.
You keep the final say. Click MOM or REV in the optimizer to pick your own strategy: Power Candles holds it and switches Auto-apply off. If you had followed the optimizer and your live setup later differs from the current best, the LIVE row turns amber and [ Apply Best ] offers the one-click way back (input "Hint when LIVE drifted from optimum"). With Auto-apply off, your live settings stay exactly as they are until you click Apply Best.
What controls arrow visibility
Two filters decide whether an arrow is drawn: the MinDelta threshold (the bar-to-bar strength change required for an arrow) and the minimum stop distance (Min SL (x spread)). Strategy only flips the trade direction shown on the arrow; SL/TP only place the helper lines.
With Auto-apply on, MinDelta follows the optimizer. With Auto-apply off and fewer arrows than usual, compare the threshold in the LIVE row (MinD) with the optimizer's best row. If the LIVE one is noticeably higher, your settings are stricter than what the current market produces, and one click on Apply Best brings the arrows back.
Strategy-Aware Arrows
With the optimizer running, arrows are strategy-aware. Color 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 open signal and stay anchored until SL or TP is hit
- Alerts include direction (BUY/SELL), strategy marker (MOM/REV), state, delta transition and the setup's SL/TP values; the exact prices sit on the Entry, SL and TP lines on the chart
Example alert: AUDUSD - SELL (REV) - Bull Strong | Delta +12.3 -> +54.6 | SL 230 / TP 240
Arrow size follows the size of the momentum jump behind the signal, and the scale adapts to your timeframe by itself. The Signal line in the panel reads Signal: BUY active, Signal: SELL active or Signal: none. An arrow that fires while a trade is still open is a nested signal, marked "newer nested" in the Signal line. The Nested signals switch (Settings > SIGNALS) shows or hides them on the chart and in the alerts; the lines always belong to the active signal.
Arrows appear on closed bars only and are final: once drawn, an arrow is never moved, resized or removed. The candle color itself can change while a candle is forming.
Momentum view. With the optimizer switched off (input "Enable OnChart Backtest" set to false) or in the [ Defaults ] state, arrow color reflects momentum: green = bullish strength rising, red = bearish strength rising. Here a green arrow in a downtrend is a strength reading, and the trade decision is yours.
Settings Panel
Settings live on a Settings page inside the panel, opened via the gear icon in the footer. "Back to Main" returns to the live view. The page is grouped into OPTIMIZER (Auto-apply best), SIGNALS (Nested signals), DISPLAY (Color candles, Show arrows, Live trade lines, History trade lines) and ALERTS. The classic MT5 input dialog (right-click > Properties > Inputs) works alongside it: settings that exist in both places take effect through either route.
Settings Apply to Every Symbol
Every switch on the settings page is global: the four display switches, Nested signals, Auto-apply best and the alert channels (master switch, popup, push, sound). Hide the arrows or switch push on once, and the choice carries over to every symbol and timeframe you switch to. Settings take effect immediately and persist across sessions.
Reset Button
"Reset symbol to defaults" gives the current symbol a clean start: the calculation period and the live setup go back to their defaults, Auto-apply best switches back on (a global switch, so it is on again for every chart you load next), and the chart rebuilds on the tested setup. The round arrow ↺ at the right end of the LIVE row is the same reset in one click. Every other switch on the settings page stays as it is, and so does your license.
Fold the Panel to One Line
The minus sign at the right of the panel header folds the panel to the header, one LIVE line and the footer. The line shows the active setup with SL and TP on the left and the signal state on the right: BUY or SELL in the signal colors, "waiting" after a setup change, "none" without an open signal. The square sign unfolds it. Each chart remembers its state across timeframe changes and restarts. The header still drags the panel, and the gear in the footer opens the settings from both states.
Key Parameters
Threshold Groups
Separate thresholds for Forex (0-100 Delta scale) and IX instruments (0-50 Strength scale):
Forex Thresholds:
| Parameter | Default | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Neutral zone around zero | 10 | Values within this zone show as gray |
| Light color threshold | 20 | Transition to light color |
| Medium color threshold | 35 | Transition to medium color |
| Strong color threshold | 55 | Transition to strong/extreme color |
| Minimum delta change to draw arrow | 20 | Minimum delta change for momentum arrows (this is the input default, Auto-apply best and Apply Best refresh the live value) |
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
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 | H8 (default) | Intraday |
| M30 | 3D | Intraday / Swing |
| H1 | W1 | Swing |
| H4 | 2W to 3W | Swing / Position |
The Period row in the panel shows the active mode, and its arrows step it up or down; the shortest period available is the chart timeframe. A period change is a setup change: the arrows are redrawn, the optimizer tests again, and with Auto-apply on the chart takes the new best.
Practical Tips
- Standalone is the default workflow. The Auto-Optimizer already filters by risk-adjusted return, and with Auto-apply best on, your chart carries a complete trade plan (direction, SL, TP) by itself.
- 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, Power Candles already tests momentum and reversal internally and picks the better one.
- Read the panel before escalating "no arrows": the Tested line shows how many signals the recent bars produced, and the Signal line shows whether a trade is open or the chart is waiting for the next arrow.
- Small screens: fold the panel to one line with the minus sign in its header, or set "Hide indicator panel" to true for a completely clean chart.
Common Issues
Candles stay gray: Normal for a moment while loading. Power Candles needs at least 20 valid data points before colors activate. Switch on "Activate extended logging" to follow the progress in the Experts log.
No new arrows appear: Two common causes: (1) on M1 and M5 and in quiet phases, the minimum stop distance skips signals whose stop would sit within twice the typical spread, by design (see Auto-Optimizer); (2) with Auto-apply off, your LIVE MinDelta is set higher than what the current market produces (label on [ Apply Best ] for a long time). Compare the LIVE MinD with the optimizer's best row and click Apply Best.
Arrows without Entry/SL/TP lines while Auto-apply best is on: Fixed in 4.6. The update is free: in MT5 open Market > My Purchases and update Power Candles. If the update button shows nothing yet, remove the indicator in the Navigator (right-click > Remove) and reinstall it from My Purchases. Attaching it to a chart again only loads the file already installed.
No new Entry/SL/TP lines after a new arrow: Possible causes: (1) "Live trade lines" is off, check Settings > DISPLAY; (2) the arrow is a nested signal inside a trade that is still open, so the lines stay with the original signal until SL or TP is hit; (3) right after a setup change, arrows from before the change carry no lines, the next new arrow opens the trade and the panel reads waiting for next until then; (4) very few bars loaded, which resolves itself within seconds.
Panel is only one line high: It is folded. Click the square sign at the right of the header to unfold it.
Slow start, especially on weekends: Since 3.4 Power Candles loads immediately on chart open, on weekends and with the market closed too. On an older version, update via Market > My Purchases.
Inconsistent colors after restart: Fixed long ago via data validation. Update to the latest version.
Power Candles and the Scanner
The Power Candles Scanner runs the same self-optimizing engine across the symbols in your Market Watch and lists where a setup is live right now. Click a symbol name in the Scanner and the chart it sits on switches to that symbol in the scan timeframe. Power Candles on that chart draws the candle colors, the arrows and the Entry, Stop Loss and Take Profit lines. With Auto-apply best on, the chart follows the best strategy the Scanner reports; Apply Best takes it over at once.
If you start with one of the two, start with Power Candles: it puts the complete trade plan on every chart you open. The Scanner adds the overview across all your symbols. Details in the Scanner guide.