> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://help.vole.bot/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Skip Spike-and-Fade Signals

> Skips a new trade when the signal candle has a long wick against your direction and only a small body.

> [!NOTE]
>
> This screen is part of the Vole Bot package.

**Skip Spike-and-Fade Signals** looks at the candle that produced your signal. If that candle has a long wick against the direction of your trade and only a small body, the bot skips the trade. Price pushed hard against the signal during the candle and then came back before the close, so the move has already faded. The rule only ever skips an entry. It never closes a trade.

The wick it measures is the one on the side that points against your trade. For a long, that is the wick below the candle's body. For a short, it is the wick above the body.

## When it acts

The rule is asked just before the bot places the order for a new trade, whatever your entry timing. It judges the signal candle, which is the real exchange candle the signal came from, not a Heikin Ashi candle.

* With **Bar Close** and **Smart** entry timing, and for the order that [Wait Before Entering](https://help.vole.bot/en/execution-rules/entry-monitor.md) places later, it judges the candle that has just closed, or the signal candle that Wait Before Entering remembered.
* With **Validated** and **Intra Bar** entries, it judges the candle that is still forming, as it looks so far. A candle early in its life can still change shape, so the verdict reflects the moment of the check.
* If the wick is longer than your limit, the signal is skipped. The signal is dropped, not delayed.
* Among your entry checks, this one is asked first, then any Edge entry rules, then the entry choices of [Volume Spike Rule](https://help.vole.bot/en/execution-rules/pro-exit-modules/volume-spike-rule.md). The first check to refuse stops the entry. Because it comes before waiting begins, a signal it refuses never starts a wait in Wait Before Entering.
* A signal this rule turns away is listed in [Entry Monitor](https://help.vole.bot/en/execution-rules/entry-monitor.md) as **Refused**.

On the policy and instance forms, the rule is listed under **Pre-Entry Filter** in the **Pro Exit Modules** list.

## Settings

| Label on the form | What it means | Unit and range |
| - | - | - |
| **Longest allowed wick (× body)** | How long the wick against your direction may be, in multiples of the candle's body. A wick longer than this skips the signal. A wick exactly equal to the limit passes. | Multiples of the body, from half the body to five times the body |
| **Also skip candles with no body (a doji)** | A candle that opens and closes at the same price has no body to compare the wick against. Ticked, such a candle skips the signal. Unticked, it passes. A candle with a tiny body that is not zero is measured like any other. | Tick box |

## Worked example

The numbers below are made up to show how the rule works. They are not typical or expected results.

Your strategy signals long on a candle. You set **Longest allowed wick (× body)** to 2. For a long, the wick that counts is the one below the body.

| Candle | Open | High | Low | Close | Body | Lower wick | What happens |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| A | 1000 | 1006 | 970 | 1005 | 5 | 30 | The wick is six times the body, above your limit of twice the body. The signal is skipped. |
| B | 1000 | 1006 | 995 | 1005 | 5 | 5 | The wick equals the body, below your limit. The signal passes. |
| C | 1000 | 1006 | 990 | 1005 | 5 | 10 | The wick is exactly twice the body, which equals your limit. The signal passes. |

For a short, the same test is mirrored. The wick above the body is the one that counts.

![Two long signal candles with the same body. The left candle has a lower wick six times the body, longer than the allowed twice the body, so the signal is skipped. The right candle has a lower wick equal to the body and the signal passes.](https://mintcdn.com/vole-bot/FPSL8V4NlLCcmRfn/images/pro-exit/skip-spike-and-fade-signals.svg?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=FPSL8V4NlLCcmRfn\&q=85\&s=003f7a95516c312b3ff9d43f11927eb5)

The same body with two different lower wicks. Made-up numbers.

## Good to know

* It only skips new trades. It never closes a trade and never moves a stop.
* If the bot cannot read the candle, it does not skip the trade. A check that cannot judge the candle has no opinion.
* Run Backtest does not simulate this rule, so a backtest can take trades that a live bot would skip. See [Run Backtest](https://help.vole.bot/en/backtest/run-backtest.md).


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