Strategies / Momentum / ATR Strength

ATR Strength: Trading Oversized Candles on EUR/USD

When a single candle body grows to more than 2 times ATR(14), this system joins the move in the same direction. It works both ways, buying after a big up candle and selling after a big down candle. Trades last at most 8 bars and flip if an opposite signal appears.

MomentumLong & shortSwingEUR/USD1 hour

n/aProfit factor

80,499Net profit USD

52.48%Win rate

2,077Trades

-27,880Max drawdown

38.76Avg trade

Best run of 11. EUR/USD, 1 hour, spread 1, from run sweeps:2026-09-17-EURUSD-1h-opt.tsv:2.

Entry rules, long

Members only
No long is open

Entry rules, short

Members only
No short is open

Exit rules

Close 8 bars after entry
Members only
An opposite signal reverses the position
No stop loss

Test conditions

Period	Up to 2026-09-17
Instrument	EUR/USD, 1 hour
Spread	1 points
Contracts	1
Starting capital	1,000,000
Costs	Spread only. Commissions and overnight financing are not included.
Bars	Up to 200,000 bars, fewer where the instrument has less history
Last tested	2026-09-17

Parameters

positionSize Contracts per trade	1
atrPeriod ATR length	14
atrMultiplier Candle body must exceed this many ATRs	2
maxBarsInTrade Time exit exactly this many bars after entry	8

Every run

Markets and timeframes tested

Market	Timeframe	PF	Trades	Win %	Net	Max DD
EUR/USDBest run	1 hour	n/a	2,077	52.48	80,499 USD	-27,880
USD/JPY	Daily	n/a	165	54.55	880,730 JPY	-268,600
USD/JPY	1 hour	n/a	1,461	50.24	359,930 JPY	-141,710
USD/JPY	4 hours	n/a	410	48.78	205,380 JPY	-125,930
USD/JPY	10 min	n/a	1,964	49.80	189,090 JPY	-116,270
EUR/USD	5 min	n/a	1,842	40.01	28,308 USD	-25,518
EUR/USD	4 hours	n/a	564	50.00	25,332 USD	-25,173
GBP/USD	Daily	n/a	127	51.97	4,794 USD	-2,184
Dow Jones	4 hours	n/a	164	54.27	4,784 EUR	-3,802
GBP/USD	4 hours	n/a	528	50.76	2,228 USD	-2,006
Gold	Daily	n/a	108	53.70	917 EUR	-349

Charts

Results by run

Net profit against max drawdown

Net profitMax drawdown

The code

ProBuilder, rewritten to house standard

Every file in the library uses the same header, the same section order and the same variable names. The numbers above were produced by the original version before the rewrite, and the rewrite has not yet been compiled in ProRealTime.

// ============================================================
// ATR Strength
// ProRealAlgos Strategy Library  |  prorealalgos.com
// Type: Momentum
// Direction: Long & short
// Timeframe tested: 1 hour
// ============================================================

// --- Settings ---
DEFPARAM CumulateOrders = false

// --- Parameters ---
positionSize = 1       // contracts per trade
atrPeriod = 14         // ATR length
atrMultiplier = 2      // candle body must exceed this many ATRs
maxBarsInTrade = 8     // time exit exactly this many bars after entry

// --- Indicators ---
atrValue = AverageTrueRange[atrPeriod](close)

27 more lines: the entry and exit rules.

Read this first

Known weaknesses

There is no stop loss. A trade stays open until the 8 bar time exit, a new strong candle or an opposite signal, so one sharp move against you is not capped.
Profit factor was not recorded. All results come from parameter sweeps, so only net profit, trades, win rate and drawdown are known.
On EUR/USD 1 hour the maximum drawdown was 27,880 USD against a net profit of 80,499 USD, about a third of the total gain.
Results were thin on several markets. Gold Daily made 917 EUR over 108 trades and GBP/USD 4 hours made 2,227.9 USD over 528 trades.

Indicators used

ATR

How to load it

Copy the code with the copy button above the code block.
In ProRealTime, open a chart of the instrument and timeframe you want to test, then open ProOrder > New trading system and choose "Create with programming".
Paste the code, give the system a name and save it.
Click "Backtest", set your own spread and position size, and run it before you consider trading it live.

Questions

About this strategy

Can I run ATR Strength live in ProOrder?

Yes, the code is a standard ProOrder system you can load into ProRealTime. The rewrite has not been compile checked yet, so run it on a demo account first.

Which markets was it tested on?

The best run was EUR/USD 1 hour with 80,499 USD from 2077 trades. USD/JPY was positive on all four timeframes tested, and Gold, GBP/USD and the Dow Jones showed small profits.

How much risk is there at 1 contract?

At 1 contract on EUR/USD 1 hour the worst drawdown was 27,880 USD. Size your account around that figure, not around the average trade of 38.76 USD.

Why the 1 hour chart?

It gave the best EUR/USD result in the sweeps. The 5 minute and 4 hour charts also made money, but less (28,308 and 25,332 USD).

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