Zone Shift — Trend Zones and Retests

Category: Indicators By: Iván González Created: November 10, 2025, 9:19 AM
November 10, 2025, 9:19 AM
Indicators
7 Comments

What is Zone Shift?

Zone Shift is a trend-and-channel indicator designed for clear, actionable context. It highlights when price escapes a dynamic envelope and then retests the breakout level. The tool works across timeframes:

  • Swing & positional: clean visual structure and reliable “zone memory.”

  • Intraday: responsive enough for trend days; still mindful of retests.

Use it to:

  • Confirm trend bias (green/red candles).

  • Track dynamic zones (top/bottom bands).

  • Spot retests of the trend-start level (diamond signals) that often precede continuation.

How it works

  1. Core averages

    • ema: an exponential-style average of close using length (user-driven).

    • hma: a faster, HMA-like average using max(20, length − 40) for the period.

    • Middle line (mid) = average of ema and hma.

  2. Dynamic distance

    • dist = simple average of the true bar range (high − low) over 200 bars.

    • Top (itop) = mid + dist; Bottom (ibot) = mid − dist.

  3. Trend flip logic

    • Bull flip: when the low closes above itop while the prior bar’s low was below the prior itop.
      trend = 1, trendStart = low, candles turn green.

    • Bear flip: when the high falls below ibot while the prior bar’s high was above the prior ibot.
      trend = 0, trendStart = high, candles turn red.

  4. Retest logic (⯁)

    • After a flip, the indicator tracks the trend-start level (trendStart).

    • Bull trend: prints a green ⯁ when price crosses back above trendStart.

    • Bear trend: prints a red ⯁ when price crosses back below trendStart.

    • Markers are spaced by ≥ 5 bars to avoid clutter, and positioned using ATR(14) x 0.2 for visibility.

Visual elements & interpretation

  • Three lines

    • Top (blue): upper zone boundary.

    • Middle (dotted): blended trend mean (EMA/HMA-style).

    • Bottom (blue): lower zone boundary.

  • Candle coloring

    • Green candles = active bull regime after a confirmed upside escape.

    • Red candles = active bear regime after a confirmed downside escape.

  • Retest diamonds (⯁)

    • Plot a green ⯁ below price in bull regimes (reclaiming trend-start).

    • Plot a red ⯁ above price in bear regimes (rejecting trend-start).

Inputs & settings

  • Length (per)

    • Default: 100

    • Range enforced: 60–200 (automatically clamped).

    • Effect: Governs the smoothness of the core averages. Larger = smoother bands; smaller = more responsive.

  • Candle coloring (colorCandles)

    • 1 = on (default), 0 = off. When on, the indicator draws candles with regime colors.

  • ATR(14) for marker offset

    • Used only to place ⯁ slightly away from bars (±0.2 × ATR) for readability.

Note: Internally, length feeds both the EMA-like and HMA-style calculations, with the HMA-style period set to max(20, length − 40) to maintain responsiveness.

Signals & trade ideas (not financial advice)

  • Breakout → Trend initiation
    When price escapes the Top/Bottom and candles flip color, consider the new regime as in force.

  • Retest continuation (⯁)
    The diamond marks when price re-tests the trend-start level and reaffirms the regime. Many traders look for follow-through candles after the ⯁.

  • Middle-line pullbacks
    In an established trend, pullbacks toward the Middle can act as dynamic mean reversion spots for continuation, especially when the regime color remains intact.

ProBuilder code

// ------------------------------------------------------
//PRC_Zone Shift [ChartPrime]
//version = 1
//06.11.2025
//Iván González @ www.prorealcode.com
//Sharing ProRealTime knowledge
// ------------------------------------------------------
// inputs
// ------------------------------------------------------
per = 100 // Length 60-200 / minval = 60, maxval = 200
if per >200 then
   length=200
elsif per <60 then
   length=60
else
   length=per
endif
colorCandles=1
showsignals=1
showcloud=1
showlevel=1
UPcolorR=100
UPcolorG=200
UPcolorB=200
DNcolorR=200
DNcolorG=200
DNcolorB=100
atr=averagetruerange[14](close)
// ------------------------------------------------------
// Indicator calculations
// ------------------------------------------------------
once trend = 0
once trendStart = 0
once lastRetest = 0

ema= average[length,1](close)
hma= average[max(20,length-40),8](close)
dist=average[200](high-low)
mid = (ema+hma)/2
itop = mid+dist
ibot = mid-dist

if low > itop and low[1] < itop[1] and not trend then
   drawsegment(trendStartidx,trendStart,barindex,trendStart)style(dottedline)coloured("grey",255*showlevel)
   trend=1
   trendStart=low
   trendStartidx=barindex
   r=UPcolorR
   g=UPcolorG
   b=UPcolorB
endif

if high < ibot and high[1] > ibot[1] and trend then
   drawsegment(trendStartidx,trendStart,barindex,trendStart)style(dottedline)coloured("grey",255*showlevel)
   trend=0
   trendStart=high
   trendStartidx=barindex
   r=DNcolorR
   g=DNcolorG
   b=DNcolorB
endif

// Retest TrendStart Level

if (close > trendStart and close[1] < trendStart or low > trendStart and low[1] <trendStart) and trend and barindex-lastRetest>5 then
   lastRetest=barindex
   drawtext("⯁",barindex,low-0.2*atr)coloured(r,g,b,255*showsignals)
endif

if (close[1]>trendStart and close<trendStart or high[1]>trendStart and high<trendStart) and not trend and barindex-lastRetest>5 then
   
   lastRetest=barindex
   drawtext("⯁",barindex,high+0.2*atr)coloured(r,g,b,255*showsignals)
endif

if islastbarupdate then
   drawsegment(trendStartidx,trendStart,barindex,trendStart)style(dottedline)coloured("grey",255*showlevel)
endif
// ------------------------------------------------------
// PLOT
// ------------------------------------------------------
if showtrend then
   drawrectangle(barindex,5,barindex+1,15)anchor(bottom,index,yshift)coloured(r,g,b,0)fillcolor(r,g,b)
endif
colorbetween(itop,ibot,r,g,b,95*showcloud)
// ------------------------------------------------------
return mid as "Middle"style(dottedline), itop as "Top", ibot as "Bottom"

Download
Filename: PRC_Zone-Shift.itf
Downloads: 85
Iván González Master
This author is like an anonymous function, present but not directly identifiable. More details on this code architect as soon as they exit 'incognito' mode.
Author’s Profile

Comments

Logo Logo
Loading...