This screen is part of the Vole Bot package.
The three choices
- Close the trade on a spike acts on an open trade. It closes the trade when a spike candle runs against you, once the trade has been open for Minimum candles held whole candles and shows at least the Minimum profit to close (%) you set.
- Don’t enter on a spike acts before a trade opens. It skips the new trade when the signal candle is a spike.
- Only enter on a spike acts before a trade opens. It skips the new trade unless the signal candle is a spike.
When it acts
Close the trade on a spike looks at the candle that has just closed, on every candle while a trade is open. Your exits are checked in a fixed order on each closed candle, and the first one that fires closes the trade. A stop or take profit that the candle has already reached comes first, then Heikin Ashi Reversal Close, then Close on a Trend Reversal, then this rule. See Exit Rules. Don’t enter on a spike and Only enter on a spike are asked just before the bot places the order for a new trade, whatever your entry timing. They judge the last closed candle. Among your entry checks, Skip Spike-and-Fade Signals is asked first, then any Edge entry rules, then these two choices. The first check to refuse stops the entry. On the policy and instance forms, the rule is listed under Exit Trigger in the Pro Exit Modules list, whichever choice you make.Settings
How Minimum profit to close works
The profit is measured at the closing price of the candle that just closed, against your entry price. For a short, profit means the price has fallen.- 0 means no profit requirement. The rule can also close a trade that is in loss.
- A positive number, for example 1, means the trade must be 1 percent or more in profit.
- A negative number, for example -2, means the rule closes only while the loss is smaller than that. With -2, a loss of 1 percent may be closed, and a loss of 3 percent is left alone.
Worked example
The numbers below are made up to show how the rule works. They are not typical or expected results. You hold a long. You set What a spike does to Close the trade on a spike, Average over (candles) to 20, Spike size (× average) to 3, Minimum candles held to 2 and Minimum profit to close (%) to 0. The nineteen candles before the one being checked each had a volume of 1000. First, what counts as a spike. A candle with a volume of 4000 gives an average of 1150 over the last twenty candles, because the candle counts in its own average. Three times 1150 is 3450, and 4000 is above it, so the candle is a spike. A candle with a volume of 3000 gives an average of 1100. Three times 1100 is 3300, and 3000 is below it, so it is not a spike. Now the trade.
With Don’t enter on a spike and the same volumes, a new signal whose candle had a volume of 4000 would be skipped. With Only enter on a spike, a signal whose candle had a volume of 3000 would be skipped.
A candle at 4000 clears the spike line, 3 times the average. Made-up numbers.
Good to know
- Only whole, closed candles count. The rule never acts on a candle that is still forming.
- A market that reports no volume never produces a spike. For the entry choices, a candle with no usable volume is not refused. The same applies while there are fewer closed candles than Average over (candles). For Close the trade on a spike, a market with no volume gives the rule nothing to act on.
- A closed trade shows the reason Volume Exit.
- A signal turned away by the entry choices is listed under Refused in Entry Monitor. Its details show the candle’s volume as a multiple of the average and the spike size you set.