Video: How I Avoid Sideways Markets Using This Simple Tool
Creator: TradeGenius
Original Video: Watch the original video
Difficulty: Intermediate
The Big Idea
TradeGenius combines a signal indicator with a separate market-state filter. The signal proposes a direction; the filter determines whether that direction is eligible. Buy signals are considered only during bullish oscillator readings, sell signals only during bearish readings, and both are ignored during neutral readings.
This makes skipping a signal part of the method. A visually attractive triangle is insufficient if the market-state filter disagrees. The video also includes a losing eligible trade, illustrating that agreement between indicators does not guarantee success.
The Two Indicators Have Different Jobs
| Tool | Role in the transcript | Settings stated |
|---|---|---|
| AI Supertrend | Plots the trend line and buy/sell triangles. The creator describes a nearest-neighbor comparison layered over a Supertrend calculation. | Core ATR length 9; factor 2. |
| Range Oscillator | Classifies readings as bullish, bearish or neutral for signal eligibility. | Minimum range length 200; range-width multiplier 1.5; boundaries +100 and −100. |
The supplied transcript transcribes the oscillator developer as “Zman.” Confirm the exact script, author and version before configuring a chart; a similar indicator name is not evidence that it uses the same formula.
The stated settings do not fully specify either implementation. The nearest-neighbor features, training window, neighbor count and signal logic are not provided. Nor is the oscillator’s complete formula. An ordinary Supertrend is therefore not a verified substitute for the named AI script.
The Eligibility Rules
- Bullish: the oscillator is green and above +100. Consider buy signals; skip sell signals.
- Bearish: the oscillator is red and below −100. Consider sell signals; skip buy signals.
- Neutral: the oscillator is white between its boundaries. Skip both directions.
Exact equality at a boundary is not explained in the transcript. For a mechanical implementation, choose and document a boundary convention. A conservative research convention is to require strictly above +100 or strictly below −100, treating equality as neutral.
The word “ranging” describes this indicator’s classification, rather than proving that price cannot trend. A price-based filter can lag a new move, classify a choppy stretch as directional, or switch states repeatedly around its thresholds.
This Is Different From the Earlier Neutral-Zone Method
Another TradeGenius demonstration used a double-EMA pullback signal and preferred a white oscillator reading between the boundaries. Here, the signal source is AI Supertrend and the rule is the opposite: directional readings qualify, while white readings are skipped.
Do not merge the two into one oscillator rule. The filter is attached to a particular hypothesis about its signal. A state that serves one setup can be excluded by another. Whether either combination improves results needs testing on its own terms.
What the Examples Show
The bullish examples include a bounce and a dip followed by a reclaim above the trend line. A sell triangle in that same bullish state is ignored. In the neutral stretch, both buy and sell signals are ignored. Once the oscillator drops into bearish territory, a sell becomes eligible and a subsequent buy is excluded.
Those examples explain the decision process. They do not provide a complete sample, instrument-by-instrument results or evidence that every sideways market is avoided. The included losing short also shows that a qualified signal can hit its stop before any target is reached.
Stops, Targets and the Transcript’s Wording
The long example places the stop near a recent swing low beneath the line supporting price. Targets are described earlier in the narration as two or three times the amount risked. The concluding sentence reverses the risk/reward wording; this guide follows the earlier, clearer description of a 2R or 3R reward target.
A symmetric short plan would place invalidation above a relevant swing high, but the transcript does not define an exact swing detector or stop buffer for every short. Those details must be specified before backtesting.
Choose 2R or 3R before entry under a fixed rule. Switching between them after seeing the outcome makes the apparent result unreliable. A wider target can change both win rate and holding time; neither target is automatically superior.
A Worked Risk Example
For an independently illustrated long entry at 100 and stop at 98, planned price risk is 2 per unit. A 2R target is 104 and a 3R target is 106. A $100 planned risk budget corresponds to 50 shares before fees and slippage. These prices and sizing figures are explanatory additions, not trades documented in the video.
Use contract point value for futures and the relevant unit conversion for other products. Position sizing should follow the entry-to-stop distance rather than the visual appeal of the triangle. A stop defines intended risk, but execution can exceed that amount during gaps or fast conditions.
Confirmation and Timing Must Be Explicit
Check both the triangle and oscillator state at the same decision time. A signal visible intrabar may disappear by the close, and a green reading during a candle may finish neutral. The transcript does not establish whether its scripts repaint or how their live signals behave.
A cautious research implementation evaluates completed candles and enters no earlier than the next available price. That is an independent timing convention, not a verified reproduction of the video’s fills. For the original scripts, inspect their documentation and compare live observations with historical chart behavior.
How to Test the Filter’s Contribution
The useful research question is whether the filter improves the signal system after costs. Compare an unfiltered version with a filtered version, using the same dates, instruments, entry timing, sizing and exit rules.
- Obtain the exact indicator versions and write down all settings, including any AI parameters absent from the narration.
- Define signals using values available at the decision time. Reject hindsight-based or future-dependent inputs.
- Run an unfiltered baseline taking the indicator’s eligible signal events under fixed execution rules.
- Run the matched filtered version: buys only above +100, sells only below −100, neither in the neutral region.
- Evaluate 2R and 3R as separate predefined variants, with the same stop rule and a stated time exit.
- Record included and excluded signals, costs, trade count, average outcome in R, drawdown and market-state transitions.
The filtered strategy will often trade less, but fewer trades alone do not establish improvement. It may avoid some losers and miss some winners. Report both effects, particularly after fresh breakouts when a long-lookback filter may respond slowly.
If the Original Code Is Unavailable
Do not label a replacement indicator as the original method. A normalized distance-from-average filter or ordinary Supertrend would create a different research system. Its parameters, thresholds and results must be attributed to that approximation.
This article does not include a substitute Pine strategy because the supplied settings do not establish the original oscillator formula or AI signal implementation. No compilation or backtest has been performed, and no win rate is inferred from the selected examples.
Common Failure Modes
- Late qualification: the oscillator reaches a directional state after much of the move has occurred.
- Threshold switching: repeated crossings generate unstable eligibility near a boundary.
- Shared information: both indicators rely on price, so their agreement is not independent confirmation.
- Different live behavior: historical triangles may not reflect what was visible at the intended entry time.
- Unfavorable risk structure: a technically eligible signal can still require a stop that exceeds the risk budget.
Separate results by long and short direction, trend state and instrument. Preserve losing trades and skipped signals in the journal, rather than using screenshots of winners as the evaluation sample.
Before Taking a Signal
- Is the exact signal script identified and configured?
- Does a completed oscillator reading permit the proposed direction?
- Is the signal new, or are you chasing a previously completed event?
- Is the swing-based invalidation rule defined before entry?
- Is the target variant fixed, with costs and position size accounted for?
- Have you checked whether the indicator uses unavailable future information or changes past signals?
Final Takeaway
The method is a permission rule: bullish readings permit buys, bearish readings permit sells, and neutral readings permit neither. It offers a consistent way to skip signals. Whether that improves trading outcomes depends on the exact indicators, execution rules and evidence from a complete test.
Risk Disclosure
This guide is educational and does not provide personalized investment advice. Trading can result in losses beyond intended stop risk. Indicator alignment, selected examples and hypothetical targets do not guarantee future performance.
Independence
CandleChasers is not affiliated with TradeGenius or the indicator developers. This article independently interprets the supplied transcript. Boundary conventions, timing suggestions, research procedures and numerical examples are CandleChasers additions; the creator’s paid indicator promotion is not adopted as evidence of performance.