User Guide: Trade Direction (Direction Filter) in the Trading System

What is Trade Direction?

Trade Direction helps you define the allowed trading direction: Buy only, Sell only, both, or neither. This is the first filter before the system searches for entry signals.

Simply put:

• Market is trending up → Trade Direction allows only Buy → system only displays buy signals

• Market is trending down → Trade Direction allows only Sell → system only displays sell signals

• Market is sideways → Trade Direction can block all (no trading) or allow depending on your choice

Trade Direction is a shared feature, built into multiple systems: systems using the standard template. Usage is the same regardless of which system you use.

How to enable Trade Direction

Where to find Trade Direction?

Trade Directi is located in the Input Parameters section of the indicator or EA. To open:

1. Right-click the indicator on chart → select Properties (or press F7)

2. Switch to Inputs tab

3. Scroll to the parameter group labeled "Trade Direction" or "═══ DIRECTION FILTER ═══"

How to enable

By default, Trade Direction is in Off state (disabled). To enable:

• Click the value box to the right of Trade Direction row → select Custom or Follow Structure Trend

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Input parameters explained

1. Trade Direction — Operating mode

Info	Details
Name in indicator	Trade Direction
Default	Off (disabled)
Values	Off / Custom / Follow Structure Trend

Three modes in detail:

Off (Disabled)

• Trade Direction does not interfere with any signals

• All Buy and Sell signals are displayed normally

• Suitable when you want to evaluate trading direction yourself

Custom (Manual selection)

• You decide which direction to allow using 2 sub-parameters: Allow BUY signals and Allow SELL signals

• Example: you believe the market will rise → enable Buy, disable Sell → only see Buy signals on chart

• Suitable when you already have your own market direction assessment

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Follow Structure Trend (Follow structure trend)

• Trade Direction automatically reads data from Market Structure to decide

  • If Market Structure identifies Uptrend → only allow Buy

  • If Market Structure identifies Downtrend → only allow Sell

  • If Ranging (sideways) → depends on When Sideways parameter

• Recommended for most users — no need for manual assessment, system analyzes automatically

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2. Allow BUY signals — Allow Buy signals

Info	Details
Name in indicator	Allow BUY signals (or ├─ Allow BUY signals)
Default	true
Values	true / false
Only works when	Trade Direction = Custom

• true  → Buy signals are displayed

• false  → Buy signals are completely hidden

Note: This parameter has no effect when Trade Direction is in Off or Follow Structure Trend mode.

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3. Allow SELL signals — Allow Sell signals

Info	Details
Name in indicator	Allow SELL signals (or ├─ Allow SELL signals)
Default	true
Values	true / false
Only works when	Trade Direction = Custom

• true  → Sell signals are displayed

• false  → Sell signals are completely hidden

Combining Allow BUY + Allow SELL:

Allow BUY	Allow SELL	Result
true	true	Display both Buy and Sell (like filter disabled)
true	false	Display Buy only
false	true	Display Sell only
false	false	No signals displayed (stand aside)

4. When Sideways — Action when market is ranging

Info	Details
Name in indicator	When Sideways (or └─ When Sideways)
Default	No Trading
Values	No Trading / Allow Both / Buy Only / Sell Only
Only works when	Trade Direction = Follow Structure Trend

• No Trading (recommended): Safest — ranging markets are usually unpredictable, standing aside avoids losses

• Allow Both: When you have experience trading in ranges (buy lows, sell highs) and combine with other filters

• Buy Only / Sell Only: When you have specific reasons to believe the range will break out in a particular direction

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Reading Trade Direction signals on chart

Status Label

When Trade Direction is enabled (Custom or Follow Structure Trend), you'll see a small text line in the top-left corner of the chart, below the Market Structure label. This line shows which direction the system is allowing.

Displayed statuses

Label on chart	Color	Meaning
DIR: ▲ BUY only	Green	Buy only allowed — Sell signals hidden
DIR: ▼ SELL only	Orange/Red	Sell only allowed — Buy signals hidden
DIR: MANUAL ▏ ▲ BUY + ▼ SELL	Yellow	Custom mode, both allowed
DIR: MANUAL ▏ ▲ BUY only	Green	Custom mode, Buy only
DIR: MANUAL ▏ ▼ SELL only	Orange/Red	Custom mode, Sell only
DIR: MANUAL ▏ BLOCKED	Gray	Custom mode, both disabled (stand aside)
DIR: ◆ RANGING ▏ BLOCKED	Gray	Auto + ranging market + No Trading
DIR: ◆ RANGING ▏ ▲ BUY + ▼ SELL	Gray	Auto + ranging + Allow Both

Trade Direction is a hidden filter — it doesn't create additional arrows or lines on the chart. Instead, it blocks or allows pattern signals (Fakey, PinBar, Inverted Hammer...) to be displayed.

• Signal in correct direction → displays normally (arrow, zone fill, trading line...)

• Signal in opposite direction → disappears completely (not displayed on chart)

Example: Trade Direction shows "DIR: ▲ BUY only" → system detects Fakey Bearish (Sell signal) → this signal is blocked → you don't see anything on chart.

How to know signal was blocked

Enable Debug Mode in indicator parameters → open MT5 → View → Toolbox → Expert tab. You'll see logs:

text

Trading scenarios (examples)

Scenario 1: Follow Structure Trend in Uptrend

• You set Trade Direction = Follow Structure Trend, When Sideways = No Trading

• Market Structure identifies  ▲ UPTREND  → label shows "DIR: ▲ BUY only" in green

• System detects Buy pattern (Fakey Bullish) → displays on chart ✓

• System detects Sell pattern (Fakey Bearish) → blocked, not displayed ✗

• You only see Buy signals → trade with the uptrend → safer

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Scenario 2: Custom for specific trading session

• You analyze that during today's London session price will fall

• Set Trade Direction = Custom, Allow BUY = false, Allow SELL = true

• Label shows "DIR: MANUAL | ▼ SELL only" in orange/red

• System only displays Sell signals → you focus on sell trades

• End of session, change Trade Direction back to Off or Follow Structure Trend

• 
  

Scenario 3: Ranging — stand aside

• Trade Direction = Follow Structure Trend, When Sideways = No Trading

• Market Structure shows  ◆ RANGING  → label "DIR: ◆ RANGING | BLOCKED" gray

• System doesn't display any signals — even if patterns appear

• You stand aside waiting for clear trend → when Market Structure switches to Uptrend or Downtrend, signals will reappear

Trade Direction usage tips

Tip 1: Start with Follow Structure Trend + No Trading

This is the safest setting for beginners:

• Trade Direction = Follow Structure Trend

• When Sideways = No Trading

System automatically allows only Buy in Uptrend, Sell in Downtrend, and blocks all when Ranging. You don't need to assess trend yourself.

Tip 2: Don't "chase price" when Trade Direction just changed direction

When DIR label changes from "BUY only" to "SELL only" (or vice versa), don't rush to enter immediately. Wait for:

• Pattern signal to appear (Buy/Sell arrow)

• Current candle to close

• Spread not too wide (avoid low liquidity times)

Direction change is just a "green light" to allow trading — you still need a specific entry signal.

Tip 3: Only use Custom when you have clear reason

Custom mode is suitable when:

• You've analyzed news/fundamentals and are confident of direction

• You're backtesting only one direction

• You want to temporarily "lock" direction during a specific trading session

Avoid: Using Custom then forgetting to change back → missing signals when market changes direction.

Tip 4: Always combine with stop loss and money management

Trade Direction helps filter direction, but doesn't guarantee every signal will win. Risks still exist:

• Trend can reverse right after you enter

• Buy signal in Uptrend can still lose if entering wrong price zone

• Always set stop loss and don't risk more than 2–3% of capital per trade

Tip 5: Don't constantly adjust parameters

Trade Direction has only 4 simple parameters — shouldn't change constantly during the day:

• Choose one mode (recommended: Follow Structure Trend) and keep it

• Only change when there's specific reason (session change, backtesting...)

• Avoid "flipping back and forth" between Custom and Auto → causes confusion, misses signals

Tip 6: Accept missing signals

When Trade Direction blocks a direction, you'll miss some counter-trend signals that could have been profitable. This is an intentional trade-off:

• Lose a few small counter-trend opportunities

• In exchange: avoid many losing counter-trend trades (usually larger losses than profits)

• Long term, direction filtering improves overall results

Tip 7: Prefer H1 timeframe and above when starting

On small timeframes (M1, M5), trend changes fast → Trade Direction "flips" frequently → causes confusion. On H1, H4 and above:

• Trend is more stable

• Trade Direction changes less → easier to follow

• Fewer signals but higher quality

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Combining Trade Direction with other features

Trade Direction works most effectively when used with other signal filtering modules in the system. Here are combination methods:

Combination 1: Trade Direction + Market Structure (overall trend)

This is the most natural combination — when you choose Follow Structure Trend mode, Trade Direction automatically reads data from Market Structure.

• Market Structure determines: Uptrend / Downtrend / Ranging

• Trade Direction becomes: BUY only / SELL only / BLOCKED

Tip: Enable Show BOS/CHOCH Lines in Market Structure to see trend change points on chart. When you see CHoCH → prepare for Trade Direction to change direction.

Combination 2: Trade Direction + Signal Zone Filter (structure price zones)

• Trade Direction filters direction: Buy only or Sell only

• Signal Zone Filter filters position: signal must be near swing zone or BOS/CHoCH event

• Result: signal is both correct direction and correct position → highest quality

Example: Uptrend → Trade Direction allows Buy → Signal Zone Filter checks: "Is this Buy near swing HL?" → Yes → display. No → hide.

Combination 3: Trade Direction + Quality Filter / Extreme Zone Filter

• Trade Direction filters direction

• Quality Filter filters pattern quality (keeps only clear, beautiful patterns)

• Extreme Zone Filter filters overbought/oversold zones

• Three layers: Correct direction → Beautiful pattern → Reasonable price zone → extremely selective signals

Combination 4: Trade Direction + entry signal (candlestick pattern)

Use Trade Direction as the first filtering step:

1. Step 1: Which direction does Trade Direction allow? → Buy only

2. Step 2: Is there a valid candlestick pattern? → Yes (Fakey Bullish)

3. Step 3: Does that pattern pass other filters? → Yes

4. Step 4: Enter Buy trade with calculated stop loss and TP

Important: Trade Direction is the "first filter", other filters are "additional confirmation". Don't use in reverse (don't see beautiful pattern then ignore Trade Direction blocking it).

Combination 5: Choose suitable trading session

Trade Direction is most effective during high liquidity hours:

• London session (15:00–23:00 VN time): Forex volatile, clear trends

• New York session (20:00–04:00 VN time): Gold and forex volatile

Avoid: Session transition hours (11:00–14:00 VN) — low liquidity, unclear trend, Trade Direction may "flip" back and forth

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Quick summary