Market Structure Confluence runs two independent readings on MT4 and MT5 and only marks the bars where both agree.
One is market structure: swing labels, break of structure, change of character. The other is a volatility band. Neither produces a signal on its own.
The structure half
Swings come from a ten-bar pivot needing bars on both sides, and each one is labelled HH, HL, LH or LL at the bar it happened.
When price takes out the last swing high, a line is drawn at that level with a label. The label is BOS if the break continues the direction of the previous one, and CHoCH if it reverses it. The tool keeps the direction of the last break as its structure state, and that state is one half of every signal.
Use wicks (or close of candle) decides what counts as taking out a level. Off by default, so a close past the level is required. Turn it on and a wick through is enough, which produces earlier and less reliable breaks.
The band half, which is hidden
The other reading is a channel: a 100-period weighted moving average, plus and minus two times a smoothed ATR. The ATR is period 14, smoothed over 21 bars, so the band width reflects sustained volatility rather than the last candle.
Band type ships as Not show. The band is calculated and the arrows depend on it, and by default you can't see it.
That's the single most confusing thing about this tool on first install, and it's a one-click fix. Set Band type to Both band while you learn what it's doing, and the arrows stop looking arbitrary.
There's a third option worth knowing: Only active draws just the band that matters for the current structure direction. In a bullish structure you see only the lower band, which is where the tool is looking for a signal. It halves the clutter without hiding the relevant half.
The arrow
A bullish arrow needs both of these on the same bar:
- The structure state is bullish, from the last BOS or CHoCH
- The bar straddles the lower band — its low below, its high above
So it marks a pullback deep enough to reach the band, inside a structure that says the trend is up. Bearish is the mirror against the upper band.
Neither condition alone does anything. Structure can be bullish for two hundred bars with no arrow at all, because price never got stretched enough to touch the band.
| Structure indicator | Band indicator | This | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marks | Every break | Every band touch | Only where both agree |
| In a trend with no pullback | Constant labels | Nothing | Nothing |
| In a range that touches the band | Nothing useful | Constant touches | Nothing, if structure is flat |
| Band visibility | — | Always | Hidden by default |
What it publishes
Two plotted buffers, the upper and lower band, subject to the Band type setting. iCustom gets you those levels. The structure labels, break lines and arrows are chart objects and aren't readable that way.
Alerts
One switch, When trend changed?, on by default. It fires when the structure state flips, not when an arrow appears.
Notification type picks the channel. Note that this is an alert on the structure half only, so you'll be told the trend changed and you'll still need to watch for the band touch yourself.
Where it's weak
The band is invisible out of the box. Worth repeating, because it makes the arrows look random until you turn it on.
The alert is on the wrong event. The interesting bar is the arrow, and the alert fires on the structure flip. There's no alert on the confluence itself.
Structure confirms ten bars late. A ten-bar pivot needs ten bars to its right, so a swing label lands well after the swing. The break lines are correct; the swing that defined them is old news by the time you see it.
Two bands, one width. The channel is symmetric around the average, so in a strong one-way move the band on the wrong side is unreachable and the tool goes quiet for a long time. That's arguably correct behaviour and it does mean long silences.
A hundred-period weighted average is slow. On a chart that has just changed regime, the basis lags and the bands sit in the wrong place for a while.
No score, no history of signals. Arrows are drawn and that's it. Nothing counts how they resolved.
Questions you'll have
Does Market Structure Confluence repaint? No. Structure is confirmed on closed bars behind a new-bar check, and labels, break lines and arrows stay where they were drawn. The band values move as the average updates, which is a moving average doing what it does.
Why can't I see the band? Band type ships as Not show. Set it to Both band, or to Only active for the one side that matters.
Why did I get no arrow in an obvious pullback? The bar has to actually straddle the band: low below and high above. A pullback that stops short of the band produces nothing, however good it looks.
What's the difference between BOS and CHoCH? BOS continues the direction of the last break, CHoCH reverses it. Both are drawn as a line at the level with a label.
Why is the swing label so far behind price? A ten-bar pivot needs ten bars to the right before it can be confirmed.
Do I get an alert on the arrows? No. The only alert is on the structure flip. This is the main thing I'd change about the tool.
Can an EA read it? The two band levels are plotted buffers, so iCustom gets those. The structure and the arrows are chart objects.
Best timeframe? H1 and H4. On M15 the ten-bar pivot finds structure inside noise, and the band is touched constantly.
MT4? Both platforms are included, one download each. Same two halves, same defaults, same alert.
Support
Message me through the site with a screenshot, the symbol and the timeframe, and I can tell you which of the two conditions was missing. Updates are included for as long as your subscription runs.
Analysis tool. It places no trades and makes no profitability claim. Past price behaviour is not a guide to future price behaviour.