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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

  2. No long is open

Entry rules, short

  2. No short is open

Exit rules

  1. Close 8 bars after entry
  3. An opposite signal reverses the position
  4. No stop loss

Test conditions

PeriodUp to 2026-09-17
InstrumentEUR/USD, 1 hour
Spread1 points
Contracts1
Starting capital1,000,000
CostsSpread only. Commissions and overnight financing are not included.
BarsUp to 200,000 bars, fewer where the instrument has less history
Last tested2026-09-17
Parameters (4)
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

MarketTimeframePFTradesWin %NetMax DD
EUR/USDBest run1 hourn/a 2,07752.4880,499 USD-27,880
USD/JPYDailyn/a 16554.55880,730 JPY-268,600
USD/JPY1 hourn/a 1,46150.24359,930 JPY-141,710
USD/JPY4 hoursn/a 41048.78205,380 JPY-125,930
USD/JPY10 minn/a 1,96449.80189,090 JPY-116,270
EUR/USD5 minn/a 1,84240.0128,308 USD-25,518
EUR/USD4 hoursn/a 56450.0025,332 USD-25,173
GBP/USDDailyn/a 12751.974,794 USD-2,184
Dow Jones4 hoursn/a 16454.274,784 EUR-3,802
GBP/USD4 hoursn/a 52850.762,228 USD-2,006
GoldDailyn/a 10853.70917 EUR-349

Charts

Results by run

Top 10 of 11 runs. The full list is in the table above.

Net profitMax drawdown

The code

ProBuilder, rewritten to house standard

// ============================================================
// 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.

Setup

How to load it

  1. Copy the code with the copy button on the code block.
  2. 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".
  3. Paste the code, give the system a name and save it.
  4. Click "Backtest", set your own spread and position size, and run it before you consider trading it live.

Indicators used

ATR
Read this firstKnown weaknesses4 points
  • 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.

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).

Related

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Slow MACD Slope

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6.80 PF · 7,305 trades

Twelve Minus Two Momentum

Also a momentum strategy.

12.00 PF · 52 trades

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Past backtest results do not guarantee future results. This is not financial advice. Curated and maintained by ProRealAlgos. ProRealTime™ is a trademark of ProRealTime SAS. prorealalgos.comStatsDocs