Momentum Decoupling Scalper
- Indicateurs
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Kay Zaremba
Trader and MQL4 / MQL5 / Pine Script developer behind trader.lifestyle.
YouTube: youtube.com/@traderlifestyle
What I do:
• Build free indicators and Expert Advisors for MT4, MT5
• Turn strategies from YouTube videos, TradingView scripts and forum posts into working code - Version: 1.0
- Activations: 5
Momentum Decoupling Scalper turns a popular 1-minute scalping method for gold into clear, non-repainting signals. A signal on the 15-minute chart arms the setup, the first momentum candle on the 1-minute chart is the entry, and every trade comes with a stop loss, three targets (TP1 / TP2 / TP3) and an automatic break-even.
The part most traders skip is the one that matters: the market must move on its own momentum against the US dollar. The indicator measures the dollar for you (the broker's dollar index or a synthetic one built from five major pairs) and only lets a signal through when gold and the dollar decouple in your favour.
| ✔ Never repaints | Closed candles only, from a fixed starting point. An arrow, a stop or a target never moves - live and in the Strategy Tester. |
| ✔ Complete trade plan | Entry, stop loss, TP1 / TP2 / TP3 and the break-even level for every signal, drawn on the chart and sent with the alert. |
| ✔ Dollar decoupling built in | No second chart, no extra indicator. The dollar index is found or built automatically, symbol suffixes included. |
| ✔ Settings from real data | Defaults come from a study on 21 months of XAUUSD M1 data (Jan 2025 - Oct 2026) with the spread of every candle deducted and a separate out-of-sample period. |
■ The idea in 30 seconds
| 1. RSI matrix (M15) | Four RSI lines (5, 8, 13, 21). When the fast RSI crosses the slow RSI, momentum on the 15-minute chart turns. A buy needs the slow RSI below 50 (still room to run), a sell above 50. |
| 2. Dollar decoupling | Momentum of the market (white line) against momentum of the US dollar (red line). The signal only counts when the gap between the lines opens in the signal direction and the market is on the right side of the dollar. |
| 3. Entry (M1) | The setup is now armed. The entry is the first candle in the signal direction that closes beyond the momentum EMA - within 15 candles. |
| 4. Manage | Stop behind the recent swing. One third of the position at TP1 (1R), TP2 (2R) and TP3 (3R). At +0.5R the stop moves to break-even. |
Example: M15 fast RSI crosses above the slow RSI at 42, gold momentum turns up while the dollar momentum falls (gap opens upwards) → BUY armed. Two minutes later an M1 candle closes up and above the EMA → BUY 4128.40, SL 4121.90, TP1 4134.90, TP2 4141.40, TP3 4147.90. Price runs 3.25 → stop to break-even 4128.72.
■ How to trade it, step by step
| Step 1 Chart | Open XAUUSD M1 and load the indicator with the default settings. The signal timeframe (M15) is read automatically - you do not need a second chart. |
| Step 2 Wait | Nothing to do until an alert comes. The dashboard shows "waiting for a M15 matrix signal", the live RSI matrix and the dollar decoupling status. |
| Step 3 Armed | Alert: "M15 matrix BUY signal + dollar decoupling - wait for the first bull candle". The chart shows ▲ M15 and a dotted entry window, the panel shows BUY ARMED with the candles left. Do not enter yet. |
| Step 4 Entry | Alert: "BUY ENTRY 4128.40 SL 4121.90 TP1 ... TP2 ... TP3 ..." with the entry arrow. Enter at market, put the stop and the targets (or split the position in three). |
| Step 5 Break-even | Alert: "move the stop to break-even". The cyan dashed line shows the new stop. From now on the trade can not turn into a full loss. |
| Step 6 Targets | Alerts for TP1, TP2, TP3. The ladder in the panel ticks off every target, the exit dot shows the result in R. |
■ What you see on the chart
| Momentum candles | Teal = bull (up candle closing above the momentum EMA), red = bear, white = neutral (no momentum). The running candle is coloured live, closed candles never change. |
| Momentum EMA | The cyan line (EMA 9). A candle must close beyond it to count as an entry candle. |
| ▲ / ▼ M15 | Higher timeframe signal that passed every filter. Hover it for the RSI values and the dollar gap. While armed, a dotted frame shows the entry window. |
| Entry arrow | On the trigger candle. Entry = close of this candle. |
| Position ladder | Red zone = risk (entry to stop). Green ladder = entry → TP1 → TP2 → TP3 (brighter when hit). Gold line = entry, red line = stop, cyan dashed = break-even stop, "TP1 ✓" when a target is hit. |
| Exit dot | Gold dot at the exit candle with the result, e.g. +1.00R BE or +2.00R TP3. |
■ The dashboard, card by card
| Header | Symbol, signal → entry timeframe, LIVE status. Buttons: entry timeframe (M1 ★, M2, M3, M5), layers (CANDLE, EMA, SIGNAL, ENTRY, TRADE, EXIT), compact mode, close to a pill. Drag the header to move the panel. Status line: waiting / ARMED / IN TRADE. |
| M15 RSI matrix | The last 48 M15 bars of the four RSI lines (blue fast, cyan, yellow, orange slow) with green / red background (fast above / below slow). Filled triangles = signals that passed the dollar filter, grey = crosses that were filtered out. Right: live values. Bottom: matrix state and how many lines are stacked. |
| Dollar decoupling | Market momentum (white) vs. dollar momentum (red) with the gap shaded green (market stronger) or red. Right: asset, dollar and gap values. Bottom: "decoupling UP - buy side open", "decoupling DOWN - sell side open" or "lines converge". The header shows the dollar source. |
| Setup / trade | Armed: direction, candles left in the window, what the entry candle needs, stop / target / break-even rules. In trade: entry, stop, break-even status, TP1 / TP2 / TP3 boxes, progress bar stop → TP3 with the live price and the live R. Afterwards: the last trade with its result. |
| Trade journal | Trades, win rate, profit factor and net R (after spread) of the last 60 days on your chart, rates for TP1 / TP2 / TP3 / break-even / full stop, last 16 results (hover a dot for the details). |
Every element has an explanation on mouse over. The panel avoids other Quant Series panels automatically, folds to a pill when there is no room and remembers its position.
■ Inputs
| Signal - RSI matrix on the higher timeframe | |
| Signal timeframe | M15 (default, as in the strategy). M5, M10, M30, H1 possible. The chart timeframe must be lower - it is the entry timeframe. |
| Matrix RSI 1 - 4 | 5, 8, 13, 21. RSI 1 = fast line, RSI 4 = slow line; the cross of these two is the signal, RSI 2 and 3 complete the matrix display. |
| Buy zone / sell zone | 50 / 50. Buy only when the slow RSI is below the buy zone, sell only above the sell zone. |
| Dollar decoupling filter | |
| Decoupling rule | Off / lines separate in the signal direction / lines separate + right side (recommended) / asset and dollar turn in opposite directions. |
| Dollar source, symbol | Auto (broker dollar index if there is one, else synthetic) / synthetic / a symbol you name (e.g. DXY). |
| Momentum fast / slow / normalisation | 8 / 21 / 100 bars. Momentum = fast EMA - slow EMA of the log price, divided by the volatility of the last 100 bars, so market and dollar are comparable. |
| Trend filter | |
| Trend filter, EMA length | Off (default) / close on the trend side of the EMA / + EMA slope. Off by default because it did not improve the results in the study. |
| Entry trigger | |
| Entry candle | First momentum candle (default, as in the strategy) / momentum candle that also closes beyond the previous candle. |
| Momentum candle EMA | 9. Also colours the candles. |
| Entry window | 15 chart bars after the signal. No entry candle in time = setup expires. |
| Session from / until | 07 - 21 server hours. Signals outside are ignored (rollover and the quiet Asian hours performed worst). Same value = 24 h. |
| Max spread | 0.10 R. Skips the entry when the spread is too large compared to the stop. |
| Stop loss, 3 targets, break-even | |
| Swing bars, buffer, min / max | 30 bars, 0.2 ATR, 4 - 16 ATR. Stop behind the swing, never tighter than 4 ATR (protects against spread and noise), never wider than 16 ATR. |
| TP1 / TP2 / TP3 | 1R / 2R / 3R. 1R = the stop distance. One third of the position at each target. |
| Break-even, trigger, lock | When X R in profit (default 0.5R) / after TP1 / off. The new stop locks 0.05R to cover the spread. |
| Early exit | Off (default) / after TP1 close on a neutral or opposite candle / close on an opposite candle. |
| Close the rest after | 600 bars (time stop). |
| Journal after spread, history days | On / 60 days. |
| Drawing, alerts, display | |
| Layers, colours | Candles, EMA, signals, entries, trades, exits; last 12 trades drawn; all colours editable. |
| Alerts | Signal armed, entry, TP1/2/3, break-even, trade closed - popup, sound, push, e-mail, on-chart toast. |
| Display | Full dashboard or compact panel, automatic placement, start position, explanations on mouse over. |
■ For Expert Advisors (iCustom)
Buffers: 0-3 candle OHLC, 4 candle colour (0 bull, 1 bear, 2 neutral), 5 momentum EMA, 6 buy entry, 7 sell entry, 8 M15 buy signal, 9 M15 sell signal, 10 trade exit, 11 signal (+1 / -1), 12 entry, 13 stop loss, 14 TP1, 15 TP2, 16 TP3. Values are written on the closed candle and never change.
■ Good to know
- Built and tested for gold (XAUUSD) on M1; silver works with the same settings. On forex pairs the spread is large compared to an M1 stop - use the journal to judge your own symbol.
- The synthetic dollar index needs EURUSD, USDJPY, GBPUSD, USDCAD and USDCHF in your terminal (they are added to the Market Watch automatically). If one is missing, the panel shows it and no signals are given while the filter is on.
- Past results do not guarantee future results. The journal shows the real outcomes on your own chart, broker and spread.
- The indicator does not open trades. It is a decision tool.
