Double Pattern Qualifier (DPQ)
Flags candles that retest an earlier high or low and reject it, as double-top (+1) and double-bottom (−1) candidates in a separate pane.
What you see
A pane below the chart. A double-top candidate gets a red bar upward labelled "DT", a double-bottom candidate a green bar downward labelled "DB". All other candles show nothing. The colors are fixed; Line Color has no effect.
How to read it
A candle is a double-top candidate when
- its high comes back up to the highest high of an earlier stretch of candles – within Proximity Threshold %, or above it,
- it closes below that earlier high,
- the candles in between never traded above the earlier high, and
- it shows a clear upper rejection wick.
A double-bottom candidate is the mirror image at an earlier low, with a lower rejection wick. The earlier stretch is the Lookback Period without its most recent Min. Distance candles; those candles form the bridge between the first and the second test.
The indicator flags the second test itself and does not wait for a break of the neckline, so treat a flag as a candidate that still needs confirmation from price. Each value only uses the current candle and earlier ones.
Using it in strategies
The output value is +1 on a double-top candidate, −1 on a double-bottom candidate and 0 otherwise; if a candle meets both conditions, −1 is reported. In the Trade Setup, value equal to −1 can serve as a long trigger and +1 as a short trigger, ideally combined with a trend or level filter. In WickScript: use indicator "Double Pattern Qualifier" with period 50 as dpq, then dpq.value == -1.
Settings
Open the settings with the slider icon next to the indicator (Indicators, F3). Numeric settings can be swept as Step 1 / Step 2 parameters when you run a strategy.
Inputs
| Setting | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lookback Period | Number | 30 | How many candles back the first top or bottom is searched, including the bridge candles. (min 10) |
| Proximity Threshold (%) | Number | 0.5 | How close, in percent, the candle's high (low) must come to the earlier high (low). It may also overshoot, as long as the candle closes back inside. |
| Min. Distance (Candles) | Number | 5 | Minimum number of candles between the earlier extreme and the retest. These bridge candles must not trade beyond the earlier extreme. (min 2) |
| Height | Number | 90 | Height of the indicator pane. (min 20) |
Styles
| Setting | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Line Color | Color | #EEE000C0 |
Outputs
These values can be used in Trade Setup triggers, filters and exits (see Trade Setup) and in WickScript.
| Output | In WickScript | Description |
|---|---|---|
| value | value | +1 double-top candidate, −1 double-bottom candidate, 0 none. |
Use in WickScript
use indicator creates this indicator inside a script, with settings by their ID. Each output is a field of the name after as. See WickScript indicators.
wickscript 1
indicator "Double Pattern Qualifier (DPQ) from the list" in pane
use indicator "DPQ" with period 30 as myDpq
show myDpq.value as line "value"