What it is
The scanner is one tool for every pattern WickSpeak knows. It covers candle shapes such as tweezers, harami and kickers, price action setups such as pin bars, fakeys, sweeps, breaks of structure, fair value gaps and order blocks, chart shapes such as flags, wedges, cup and handle and triple tops, and harmonics such as the Gartley and Bat.
When two patterns land on the same candle, the bigger shape wins, because a chart pattern says more than a doji on the same bar. The tick or cross shows what happened next, so you can see how patterns have behaved on your own chart.
How it is calculated
1. Choose a family: Candle, Price action, Chart, Harmonic or Everything. 2. The scanner tests the loaded candles against every pattern's rule in that family. 3. Each match is labelled on the candle that completed it. 4. If two patterns hit the same candle, the larger pattern is shown. 5. With tick or cross on, each past pattern gets a tick if price then went its way, or a cross if it failed. 6. The newest matches are kept, 15 by default.
Settings
| Setting | Default | Range | What it changes |
|---|---|---|---|
| family | Candle | Candle, Price action, Chart, Harmonic or Everything | Which group of patterns to scan for. |
| pattern | all with a direction | all with a direction, all in the family, or a single pattern | Keep only patterns that point up or down, or include neutral ones too. |
| show | bullish and bearish | bullish and bearish, bullish only or bearish only | Filter by direction. |
| most recent | 15 | 1 to 300 | How many of the latest patterns are labelled. |
| tick or cross what happened next | yes | yes or no | Marks each past pattern with a tick if it worked or a cross if it failed. |
How to read it
How to trade it
- 1
Pick the family that suits your style: Candle for quick reversals, Chart for breakouts, Harmonic for turning zones.
- 2
Entry trigger: a bullish pattern appears at a key level on gold 15 minute and the next candle closes above the pattern's high.
- 3
Stop: beyond the pattern's low, or for chart patterns beyond the opposite side of the shape.
- 4
Target: 2 times the stop, or the pattern's measured move for chart patterns.
- 5
Use the ticks and crosses to drop pattern types that keep failing on that market and timeframe.
A bullish pattern is proved wrong if price closes below the pattern's low; a bearish pattern if it closes above the pattern's high.
WickSpeak names each pattern on the candles that made it, ticks or crosses past ones by what happened next, and writes a plain-English reading: what the pattern is, how to trade it and what would prove it wrong. Playbook can use a pattern as a condition, so a play can be built around any of the 146 and backtested on past candles.
Best markets and timeframes
Candle and price action patterns suit 5 minute to 1 hour charts; chart and harmonic patterns suit 1 hour to daily. Gold, US30 and NAS100 all give plenty of examples.
Common mistakes
- Turning on Everything and drowning the chart in labels.
- Reading a short run of ticks as proof a pattern works.
- Trading patterns in the middle of nowhere instead of at levels.
Works well with
Questions traders ask
How many patterns does the scanner find?
146: 70 candlestick patterns, 28 price action patterns, 30 chart patterns and 18 harmonic patterns.
What do the ticks and crosses mean?
They show what happened after each past pattern on your chart: a tick if price went the pattern's way, a cross if it failed. It helps you see which patterns have been behaving on that market.
Can I scan for just one pattern?
Yes. Choose the family, then pick the single pattern you want, and set the direction filter to bullish, bearish or both.
Can I backtest a pattern?
Yes. In Playbook a pattern can be a condition in a play, and the play can be backtested on past candles with your costs.