SMC Model Builder

Every trader sees Smart Money Concepts differently. One trader confirms a break with a wick, another needs a candle close. One draws the order block on the last opposite candle, another on the candle at the extreme. Most indicators decide this for you. SMC Model Builder lets you decide.

1. Every definition is a setting

• Turning points in 3 sizes (small, big, largest): candles to the left and right, or a zigzag by percent, points or average true range, on wicks or bodies.
• Structure: a break needs a wick, a close, a body percent, two closes, or a close with a strong candle. You choose the chart labels for a break of structure and a change of character. A strict change of character is an option.
• Liquidity: equal highs and lows (tolerance and number of touches), old swing points, previous day and week, Asian, London and New York sessions. Three sweep rules with a minimum and maximum depth.
• Zones: order blocks (5 definitions, 4 zone shapes, 5 end rules), fair value gaps (4 size filters, 4 fill rules), inverted fair value gaps, balanced price ranges, breaker blocks, mitigation blocks, rejection blocks, supply and demand.
• Patterns: Quasimodo, turtle soup, sweep of a higher time frame candle range, double top and bottom with a sweep, inducement.
• Time: sessions and session windows in New York time (summer time is automatic), higher time frame candles (one hour, four hours, one day, one week).

2. Model builder

Up to 3 models, each with up to 6 steps, for example: "Asian high swept, then a change of character within 20 candles, then price back into a new fair value gap".

Each step is one simple choice from a list (sweep, break of structure, change of character, return to a zone, confirmation candle, pattern, time window, higher time frame agrees, premium or discount, optimal trade entry area). The panel shows the live progress, for example "step 2 of 3 [x] [ ] [ ]".

3. Twelve ready models (each one can be edited)

Sweep, change of character and fair value gap; break of structure and order block retest; Quasimodo level retest; turtle soup and confirmation; swing sweep, change of character and order block; breaker retest; breaker and fair value gap; equal highs or lows sweep, strong shift and fair value gap; pullback to the optimal trade entry area after a break of structure; inducement sweep and order block; sweep of a higher time frame candle range and change of character; Asian high or low sweep, change of character and fair value gap.

4. Entry, stop, targets and statistics

Entry at the candle close, the zone edge or the middle of the zone. Stop beyond the setup, the zone, the swing point or a multiple of the average true range. Three targets as multiples of the risk or at the next liquidity level. Minimum reward to risk, break-even option and a spread input.

The panel shows what each model did on past candles: trades, share of wins, average result in units of risk, profit factor. These numbers are often negative. The point is that you see the past results before you trade.

5. No repaint

Everything is calculated on closed candles. A signal is placed on the candle whose close completed it, and its entry, stop and targets do not move or disappear later. This was tested by running the indicator candle by candle in the Strategy Tester and comparing every event and all 9 buffers for Expert Advisors with a full recalculation (gold, EURUSD, GBPUSD; more than 100,000 events).

Good to know: a swing point, order block, fair value gap or structure line can only be confirmed after some later candles. Once confirmed, it is drawn from the candle where it started (that is where the zone is), and it does not change after that. The indicator remembers its first calculated candle, so a restart of the terminal shows the same history. If your broker later corrects old candles, the history is calculated again from the corrected prices.

How many candles later? With the default settings: order block up to about 10 candles; small, big and largest structure lines up to about 30, 55 and 125 candles; equal highs and lows line up to about 200 candles; sessions when the session ends. Zigzag turning points have no fixed limit and can be confirmed much later. Signals, entries, stops and targets are never drawn back in time.

If the "Max bars in chart" setting of the terminal is smaller than the history the indicator needs, the remembered first candle can drop out. The panel then says so in orange, and the history is calculated again. On another computer or in the Strategy Tester the first candle can be different, so the oldest results can differ there (for example the fair value gap size filter, which uses the average gap since the first candle).

Statistics: a limit entry counts as filled on the signal candle only when that candle closed at or beyond the entry; otherwise it waits from the next candle. The share of wins counts break-even trades as not won. Limit orders that never filled are not counted.

Buffers for Expert Advisors: if several models signal on the same candle, all arrows are drawn and the buffers carry the lowest model number.

6. Also included

A scanner for several symbols (closed candles only), alerts (pop-up, sound, phone, e-mail), 9 buffers for Expert Advisors, and a demo tour in the Strategy Tester that switches through the twelve models by itself.

Please note

• A setup is a description of price, not a promise. Past results do not tell the future.
• The statistics use past candles of your broker and the spread you enter.
• A news filter is not included.