Kicker Pattern Detector
The kicker is defined by its gap: a strong candle in one direction, then a clean break with NO overlap at all before a strong candle forms in the opposite direction. Without the gap this is just a strong engulfing-style reversal, which already has its own detectors and is a completely different (and much more common) signal. This indicator checks the gap explicitly - InpMinGapPoints sets how large the non-overlapping distance between the two candle bodies must be - and separately checks that both candles clear InpMinBodyRatio against the recent average body size (measured over InpAvgBodyPeriod bars, excluding the two pattern candles themselves so a single giant kicker can't inflate its own qualifying average). Because forex trades continuously across brokers and sessions, the genuine intrabar gaps a kicker requires mostly only occur at the weekly market open or around fast news prints - unlike stocks, which gap between every session close and open by default. This is stated plainly rather than oversold: on a busy trading day this indicator can go long stretches without a single valid signal, and that is the pattern being genuinely rare on this instrument class, not a bug. Notes and limitations This indicator does not distinguish a genuine weekend/news gap from a broker-side data anomaly (a missing tick, a feed reconnect) - any bar-to-bar jump that clears InpMinGapPoints with no overlap and strong bodies on both sides will qualify. Verify a flagged signal against a second data source before trusting it as a real market gap. It is a shape detector only: it does not predict that price actually continues in the new direction, and it does not manage a trade. Given how rarely genuine gaps occur on forex, back-test coverage for this pattern will necessarily be thin compared to detectors built on common candle shapes.
Indicator · MT4 · v1.0 · Free
About Kicker Pattern Detector
Kicker Pattern Detector is an indicator for MetaTrader 4. It draws buy and sell arrows on the chart and can alert you with a pop-up, sound, email or push message. It has 4 settings, such as Min gap points, Avg body period and Min body ratio. MQL source code included.
Files in the download: KickerPatternDetector.ex4, KickerPatternDetector.mq4, KickerPatternDetector.txt.
Settings
| Setting | Default | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Min gap points | 20 | Minimum gap size between the two bodies (points) |
| Avg body period | 14 | Bars used to measure the average body size |
| Min body ratio | 1.2 | Each candle's body must be at least this multiple of the average |
| Alerts | true | Alert once when a new kicker completes |
How to install
- Download the ZIP from your PolyMaria library and unzip it.
- In MetaTrader 4 open File → Open Data Folder, then go to MQL4 → Indicators.
- Copy the .mq4 file(s) there. Put any .mqh files in MQL4 → Include.
- Open the .mq4 file in MetaEditor and press Compile (F7) if MetaTrader does not show it.
- Drag the indicator from the Navigator onto a chart and adjust the settings.
Tags: Candlestick Patterns · Buy/Sell Arrows · Alerts · MT4 Indicator · MQL4 Source Code