Round Number Magnet

# Round Number Magnet - Do round numbers really matter?

*Category: Support and Resistance | Difficulty: beginner | Window: chart window (overlaid on price) | Markets: Universal (Forex, indices, commodities, crypto, stocks) | Suggested timeframes: M15, M30, H1, H4, D1*

## Short description

> Draws round levels with an automatically computed step and measures how much price actually reacts to them on this specific instrument.

## Full description

### Overview

Round numbers attract orders: stops, targets and pending orders concentrate on figures that are easy to remember. The effect is real but not uniform, and varies a lot between instruments and periods. This indicator does two distinct things. The first is drawing the relevant round levels around current price, computing the step automatically from the instrument decimal places, so it works with no configuration on currencies, indices and metals. The second, and more important, is measuring how much price actually reacts to those levels on this market, counting the bars that crossed them versus those that stopped at them. The second figure tells whether it is genuinely worth accounting for them, or whether it is a widespread belief with no support in the data.

### How the calculation works

1. The automatic step depends on the instrument decimal places: one hundredth on major currencies, a whole unit on yen, metals and many indices.

2. The round level below price is obtained by rounding price down to a multiple of the step, the one above by adding one step.

3. The major level uses a multiple step, defined by InpMajorEvery, and the one closest to current price is drawn.

4. The zone around a level, within which a bar counts as touching it, defaults to one tenth of the step.

5. For every past bar it is checked whether it reached the zone of a round level and whether it closed inside it.

6. Effectiveness is the share of bars closing inside the zone versus those that reached it, readable in the data window.

### How to use it

- Read effectiveness in the data window before using the levels: if it is low, round numbers do not matter on that instrument.

- The major level, drawn in gold, is the most significant and should be treated as the main reference.

- Avoid placing stops exactly on a round number: that is precisely where everyone else orders concentrate.

- On low timeframes lowering the step manually is advisable, because the automatic one generates levels too far apart.

- Effectiveness varies over time: check it periodically rather than taking it as settled once and for all.

### Who it is for and on which timeframes

It is the simplest of the category and requires no configuration to start using. It works on all timeframes from M15 up and on any instrument, thanks to the automatic step computation. It is useful both to those who believe in the round number effect, because it draws them, and to those who doubt it, because it provides the data to verify. This second function is what sets it apart from the many indicators that merely draw lines on round levels.

### Practical example of reading a signal

A trader applies the indicator to two instruments. On EURUSD the measured effectiveness is sixteen per cent: bars reaching a round level almost always cross it without stopping, so on this market round numbers offer no operational edge. On the chart of an equity index effectiveness is forty three per cent: nearly half the bars reaching a round thousand close inside it. On that second instrument it pays to place targets just before round levels and to avoid putting stops there. The same belief, checked against data, turns out correct on one market and false on the other.

## Input parameters

| Parameter | Default | Description |

|---|---|---|

| `InpStepPoints` | 0.0 | Level step in points. With zero the step is computed automatically from the instrument decimal places. |

| `InpMajorEvery` | 5 | Every how many levels a major one is drawn. With five, on a major currency, the major level falls every five hundred pips. |

| `InpReactionWin` | 300 | Bars over which level effectiveness is measured. Wide windows give a steadier measure. |

| `InpZonePoints` | 0.0 | Zone width around each level. With zero, one tenth of the step is used. |

## Advantages / strengths

- It does not merely draw round levels: it measures whether they genuinely have an effect on that instrument.

- The step is computed automatically and works with no configuration on currencies, indices and metals.

- It separates ordinary levels from major ones, which in practice carry very different weight.

- Light computation, no repaint and no external dependency.

## Limitations and warnings

- The automatic step rule is a reasonable convention but not optimal for every existing instrument.

- The effectiveness measure is crude: it counts contacts without distinguishing the context in which they occurred.

- On very low timeframes the automatic step generates levels too far apart to be useful.

- The effectiveness value is not drawn but only readable in the data window, reducing its immediate visibility.

**No repaint:** values printed on a closed bar are never modified afterwards.

**Disclaimer.** This product is a technical analysis tool, not an automated trading system, and it offers no profit guarantee whatsoever. Financial markets carry the risk of total loss of the invested capital. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Every signal must be confirmed with your own analysis, a money management plan and prior testing on a demo account. The author is not responsible for trading decisions taken on the basis of this indicator.

## Suggested tags / keywords for MQL5

`round numbers`, `psychological levels`, `support resistance`, `levels`, `statistics`, `validation`, `no repaint`, `price action`