Balanced Big Wicks (50/50) Highlighter

Detects candles with unusually long, balanced upper and lower wicks—a potential sign of market indecision followed by strong breakout action.

What It Does
Identifies candles where both upper and lower wicks each account for at least a configurable percentage (e.g., 30–40%) of the total range, and where the body remains small—creating the classic “balanced wick” (50/50) appearance.

Marks these candles visually with color (bullish/bearish), optional background shading, and a tiny “50/50” label above the candle.



Why It’s Useful
Balanced wicks often precede decisive moves once price breaks either wick. This script highlights such opportunities systematically.

Helpful for traders looking for clean entry signals: long on close above the upper wick, short on close below the lower wick—with straightforward risk management (SL at opposite wick, TP 1:1).



Key Inputs (default values shown in parentheses)
Min wick % (each side): 30%

Max body %: 20%

Equality tolerance: 10%

Min range filter (ATR multiples): 0 (disable)

ATR length: 14

Color candles: On

Background highlight: Off by default

Plot label on candle: On



Adjust these to fit your preferred timeframe or instrument (e.g., raise wick thresholds or ATR filter for noisy 15‑minute altcoin charts; relax slightly for smoother 1‑hour BTC analysis).



Alerts


Three alert options included:

“50/50 Wick (Any)” — triggers on any balanced-wick candle.

“50/50 Wick (Bullish)” — only when the candle closes bullish (upper close).

“50/50 Wick (Bearish)” — only when the candle closes bearish (lower close).

How to Use It
Add the indicator to your chart.

Adjust input settings to suit the timeframe or trading style.

Watch for highlighted candles.

Optional alert: create alerts using one of the provided alert conditions (e.g., “50/50 Wick (Any)”) with “Once per bar close” to get notified when signal bars appear.

Use your own trade logic (e.g., breakout entries as described above).

Disclaimer & Originality
Original Concept: I built this script from scratch to highlight a specific candle structure often used by traders in breakout setups—long balanced wicks with small bodies.

No external code references; it’s entirely open-source and self-explanatory.

Note: This indicator highlights potential setups—not financial advice. Always backtest any strategy, and use sound risk management. Past patterns do not guarantee future success.

Optimized Settings for 5m–15m Scalping
Min wick % (each side): 0.30

→ Forces both wicks to be almost half the candle each. Very strict.

Max body % of range: 0.40

→ Candle body must be ≤10% of full range = almost a doji.

Equality tolerance: 0.1

→ Wicks must be within 5% of each other relative to full candle size.

Min range filter (ATR multiples): 0

→ Candle must be at least 1.2× bigger than recent average (ATR14). Filters out weak fake dojis.

ATR Length: 14 (standard, stable)

Color candles / Plot labels: On (so you clearly see them)

Background highlight: Optional