Signal Compass Desk

One Panel Instead Of Five Windows

Reading a market usually means keeping several windows open at once: a moving average for the direction, an oscillator for momentum, a strength indicator to tell a trend from a range, and something else again for the levels. Each one answers its own question in its own corner of the screen.

Signal Compass Desk puts those readings into a single block in the corner of the chart. One look tells you which way the market is leaning, whether the move is gaining or losing momentum, whether there is strength behind it, where a trade setup would place its stop and targets, and which trading session is currently running.

The panel draws objects on the chart and does not calculate indicator buffers, so it leaves the chart itself untouched. It updates as new bars arrive.

What The Panel Shows

Direction. The slope of a moving average on the analysis timeframe, normalised by volatility so the reading stays comparable across symbols and periods.

Momentum. The state of the Stochastic oscillator, compressed into five readable states.

Trend strength. The ADX reading with a plain label attached, so a range is not mistaken for a trend.

Trade setup. A stop level and three targets derived from the ATR value, built either from the signal candle or from the nearest retest level.

Sessions. Sydney, Tokyo, London and New York, by server time.

Quality filter. Three levels of strictness for how readily the panel presents a setup.

Direction And Why A Higher Timeframe Confirms It

The direction reading comes from the slope of a moving average measured over a number of bars on the analysis timeframe, divided by the ATR value so that the number means the same thing on a currency pair and on a metal.

On top of that the panel keeps a second moving average on a higher timeframe you choose. When the price sits on the opposite side of that higher period average from the slope you are reading, the direction figure is halved rather than reversed. The idea is not to flip the reading but to mark it as unconfirmed while the larger period disagrees.

The average period for both the analysis timeframe and the confirming period is an input, and so is the higher timeframe itself.

Momentum In Five States

Momentum is read from the Stochastic oscillator, and the panel translates the raw oscillator values into five states:

BURST is set when the oscillator sits in an extreme zone in the direction the panel is reading. CONFIRMED means the oscillator agrees with the direction without being extreme. PARTIAL is shown when the two oscillator lines disagree with each other. SCALP ENTRY marks a fresh crossing of the signal line in the direction of the reading. REJECTED means the oscillator currently points against the direction the panel reads.

The oscillator period, its signal period and the smoothing are inputs.

Trend Strength, And When Not To Look For A Trend

The ADX value is printed with a label next to it, using the conventional thresholds: a low reading is labelled as a range, a middle reading as moderate, a high reading as strong. The raw ADX value is shown as well, so you can apply your own thresholds if you prefer.

This is the reading that keeps the other two honest. Direction and momentum can both look encouraging inside a market that is not actually going anywhere, and the strength figure is the one that says so.

Trade Setup And Volatility

The trade setup block turns the readings into levels. It prints a stop level and up to three targets, each one a multiple of the ATR value away from a reference price. The multipliers for the stop and for each target are inputs, and each target can be switched off individually, so you can keep only the ones you actually use.

The reference price itself comes from the setup mode you pick. In candle mode the levels are measured from the extreme of the signal candle. In retest mode the panel looks for the nearest swing extreme within a lookback window and builds the levels from that level instead, falling back to the current price when no such level is found in the window.

The ATR source is also selectable: it can be taken from the chart timeframe or from the analysis timeframe.

The Analysis Timeframe Is Yours To Choose

The panel keeps the analysis timeframe separate from the chart timeframe. You can leave the chart on a fast period for entries and have the panel read a slower one for context, without switching the chart back and forth. The panel header always prints both, so there is no doubt about which period produced the numbers on screen.

Set the analysis timeframe to the current one and the panel simply reads the chart it is placed on.

Trading Sessions

The panel tracks the four main trading sessions and shows which of them are active at the moment, using the server time of your broker rather than your local clock. The start hour of each session is an input, so the windows can be aligned to how your broker's server clock is set.

Quality Filter

The quality filter decides how readily the setup block is presented. With the filter off, the setup is printed whenever the panel has an opinion. The standard level requires a minimum composite reading before the setup appears, and the strict level requires more than that, on both the composite reading and the strength figure.

When the filter holds a setup back, the panel does not go blank: it prints the reason, so you can always see why nothing is on screen.

Panel Layout And Colours

The panel is drawn in the upper right corner of the chart in a dark block with light lettering. It uses objects rather than buffers, so it does not interfere with other indicators on the same chart, and it cleans up its objects when removed.

Input Parameters

Analysis timeframe and the higher timeframe used for confirmation. Moving average periods for the analysis and confirming averages. Stochastic period, signal period and smoothing. ATR period and ADX period. Trade setup mode: candle or retest, with the retest lookback window. ATR source: chart timeframe or analysis timeframe. ATR multipliers for the stop and for each of the three targets, with individual switches. Quality filter level. Session start hours and the session display switch. Minimum number of bars required before the panel starts reading, and the refresh timer.

Reading Values From An Expert Advisor

The panel is an indicator, so its numbers can also be read from an Expert Advisor through the chart objects it draws, if you want to build your own automation on top of the same readings.

Requirements

MetaTrader 5. Any symbol and any timeframe. Enough history on the symbol for the analysis timeframe: the panel waits until the requested number of bars is available and shows a loading message until then.

Support

Questions about installation or settings are answered through the MQL5 Market messaging system.