Big Move Map

Big Move Map colours every big move on your chart and counts them: how often big moves come on this symbol, how many bars since the last one, the usual gap between them, big moves per month and the 10 record moves with their dates. Big moves come in clusters: on US500 D1, half of the big days came within 4 days of the one before, while the average gap was 19 days. The record day since 2012 was -10.62% on 12 March 2020. Closed bars only, so it never repaints. Every number is verified against a separate implementation before each release.

What it does

Every candle with a big move is redrawn in colour on the price chart: aqua for a big rise, pink for a big fall. The 10 record moves are labelled with their rank and size. A small panel shows how large a move must be to count as big on this chart, the bars since the last big move and its date, the typical gap between big moves and the 1-in-10 gap, the share of big moves that were rises, the big moves this month against the usual number per month, and the record move. A strip in the lower-left corner shows the big moves in each of the last 12 months.

How it works

Each candle's move is its close against the previous close, in percent. A move is big when it is larger than 95% of all moves on this symbol and timeframe (you can set 80% to 99.5%), so "big" follows each market's own history and the same setting fits gold, currencies and indices on any timeframe. The last 5000 bars are studied by default. Only finished candles count.

How it was tested

Every figure (which candles are big, the size a big move needs, the gaps, the monthly counts and the 10 records) is recomputed by a separate implementation from the same broker data and matches it to the last decimal, on gold, EURUSD, US500 and USDJPY across H1, M15, D1 and H4, at settings from 80% to 99% and several history lengths.

Results and risks

On US500 D1 since August 2012, a big day was a move of 2.02% or more; there were 182, and 42% of them were rises. The typical gap between big days was 4 days, the average 19. The record moves were -10.62% on 12 March 2020, +10.16% on 24 March 2020 and +10.14% on 9 April 2025. On gold H1 over the last 5000 bars, a big hour was 0.73% or more, and the typical gap between big hours was 7 bars. These describe past moves, not the future: a move can always be larger than any before it.

Recommended use

Any symbol and any timeframe, from M1 to monthly, with at least 200 finished candles. Typical uses: seeing at a glance where the big moves were on the chart, how long it has been since the last one, whether this month has had more than usual, and when the record moves happened.

Inputs

• Big move: larger than this share of moves (95% by default, 80% to 99.5%).
• Bars studied: 5000 by default; 0 uses all loaded history.
• Coloured candles, record labels and the monthly strip: each can be switched off.
• Colours for big rises and big falls.
• Panel: show or hide, any chart corner, distance from the edges in pixels, and size (small, normal, large). One key (H by default) hides or shows everything the indicator draws.
• Alert on a big move: pop-up, push, email or sound, on a closed bar.
• Hide the chart grid: on by default.

Risk notice

Trading forex, metals, indices and other leveraged products carries a high risk of loss. Big Move Map is an analysis tool: it does not give investment advice or trading recommendations, and it does not guarantee any result. All figures describe past data, and past behaviour does not guarantee future behaviour. You are responsible for your own trading decisions.

Support

Questions? Message me through MQL5 chat.

Useful? A short review helps other traders find it.

A full guide with pictures: https://www.mql5.com/en/blogs/post/778639