What is a Signal/Trade candle?

Signal Candle

Signal Candle is the candle on the basis of which your Entry order got triggered. This indicator is only available in the Exit Condition since the indicator gets its OHLC values only when your Entry has been triggered and a position has been entered.

Let us look at an example to understand its use case

Entry Condition: Close(0) crosses above SuperTrend(7,3,0)

In case an entry is triggered and we want to exit the trade when the Entry candle’s low is broken. We can use the following condition for this

Exit Condition: Close(0) lower than Signal Candle(Low,0)

Trade Candle

Trade Candle is the candle on which you entered the trade after your condition is met and Entry order got triggered. So, the Trade candle is simply the next candle following the Signal Candle, discussed above. This indicator too is only available in the Exit Condition, similar to the Signal candle. Therefore Trade Candle(-1) = Singal Candle(0)

Let us look at an example to understand its use case

Entry Condition: Close(0) crosses above SuperTrend(7,3,0)

In case an entry is triggered and we want to exit the trade when the candle at which we entered, its low is broken. We can use the following condition for this

Exit Condition: Close(0) lower than Trade Candle(Low,0)

Now we have understood what is a signal candle and its difference from a Trade candle.

If you want to write an Exit condition that involves any candle prior to the Trade and a Signal candle, you can simply set the respective Offset value. For example, if you want to use the previous candle to the Signal candle to exit, you can either write

Close(0) lower than Signal Candle(Low,-1)

OR

Close(0) lower than Trade Candle(Low,-2)

Note: Trade Candle and Signal Candle are not compatible with the SYMBOL function currently. Trade Candle and Signal Candle are only applicable on instruments being traded on. So, if you are using the SYMBOL function for Entry, Trade/Signal candle cannot mark the underlying instruments’ Entry Candles. Hence you will not find the Trade/Signal candle in the drop-down menu inside the SYMBOL function when writing an Exit condition.

Also, If you use the Trade/Signal candle reference outside the SYMBOL function, it will use the Entry reference of the instrument on which the order was placed and not on the instrument basis on which the Entry was triggered.