Smarter Money Concepts - OBs [PhenLabs]📊 Smarter Money Concepts - OBs
Version: PineScript™ v6
📌 Description
Smarter Money Concepts - OBs (Order Blocks) is an advanced technical analysis tool designed to identify and visualize institutional order zones on your charts. Order blocks represent significant areas of liquidity where smart money has entered positions before major moves. By tracking these zones, traders can anticipate potential reversals, continuations, and key reaction points in price action.
This indicator incorporates volume filtering technology to identify only the most significant order blocks, eliminating low-quality signals and focusing on areas where institutional participation is likely present. The combination of price structure analysis and volume confirmation provides traders with high-probability zones that may attract future price action for tests, rejections, or breakouts.
🚀 Points of Innovation
Volume-Filtered Block Detection : Identifies only order blocks formed with significant volume, focusing on areas with institutional participation
Advanced Break of Structure Logic : Uses sophisticated price action analysis to detect legitimate market structure breaks preceding order blocks
Dynamic Block Management : Intelligently tracks, extends, and removes order blocks based on price interaction and time-based expiration
Structure Recognition System : Employs technical analysis algorithms to find significant swing points for accurate order block identification
Dual Directional Tracking : Simultaneously monitors both bullish and bearish order blocks for comprehensive market structure analysis
🔧 Core Components
Order Block Detection : Identifies institutional entry zones by analyzing price action before significant breaks of structure, capturing where smart money has likely positioned before moves.
Volume Filtering Algorithm : Calculates relative volume compared to a moving average to qualify only order blocks formed with significant market participation, eliminating noise.
Structure Break Recognition : Uses price action analysis to detect legitimate breaks of market structure, ensuring order blocks are identified only at significant market turning points.
Dynamic Block Management : Continuously monitors price interaction with existing blocks, extending, maintaining, or removing them based on current market behavior.
🔥 Key Features
Volume-Based Filtering : Filter out insignificant blocks by requiring a minimum volume threshold, focusing only on zones with likely institutional activity
Visual Block Highlighting : Color-coded boxes clearly mark bullish and bearish order blocks with customizable appearance
Flexible Mitigation Options : Choose between “Wick” or “Close” methods for determining when a block has been tested or mitigated
Scan Range Adjustment : Customize how far back the indicator looks for structure points to adapt to different market conditions and timeframes
Break Source Selection : Configure which price component (close, open, high, low) is used to determine structure breaks for precise block identification
🎨 Visualization
Bullish Order Blocks : Blue-colored rectangles highlighting zones where bullish institutional orders were likely placed before upward moves, representing potential support areas.
Bearish Order Blocks : Red-colored rectangles highlighting zones where bearish institutional orders were likely placed before downward moves, representing potential resistance areas.
Block Extension : Order blocks extend to the right of the chart, providing clear visualization of these significant zones as price continues to develop.
📖 Usage Guidelines
Order Block Settings
Scan Range : Default: 25. Defines how many bars the indicator scans to determine significant structure points for order block identification.
Bull Break Price Source : Default: Close. Determines which price component is used to detect bullish breaks of structure.
Bear Break Price Source : Default: Close. Determines which price component is used to detect bearish breaks of structure.
Visual Settings
Bullish Blocks Color : Default: Blue with 85% transparency. Controls the appearance of bullish order blocks.
Bearish Blocks Color : Default: Red with 85% transparency. Controls the appearance of bearish order blocks.
General Options
Block Mitigation Method : Default: Wick, Options: Wick, Close. Determines how block mitigation is calculated - “Wick” uses high/low values while “Close” uses close values for more conservative mitigation criteria.
Remove Filled Blocks : Default: Disabled. When enabled, order blocks are removed once they’ve been mitigated by price action.
Volume Filter
Volume Filter Enabled : Default: Enabled. When activated, only shows order blocks formed with significant volume relative to recent average.
Volume SMA Period : Default: 15, Range: 1-50. Number of periods used to calculate the average volume baseline.
Min. Volume Ratio : Default: 1.5, Range: 0.5-10.0. Minimum volume ratio compared to average required to display an order block; higher values filter out more blocks.
✅ Best Use Cases
Identifying high-probability support and resistance zones for trade entries and exits
Finding optimal stop-loss placement behind significant order blocks
Detecting potential reversal areas where price may react after extended moves
Confirming breakout trades when price clears major order blocks
Building a comprehensive market structure map for medium to long-term trading decisions
Pinpointing areas where smart money may have positioned before major market moves
⚠️ Limitations
Most effective on higher timeframes (1H and above) where institutional activity is more clearly defined
Can generate multiple signals in choppy market conditions, requiring additional filtering
Volume filtering relies on accurate volume data, which may be less reliable for some securities
Recent market structure changes may invalidate older order blocks not yet automatically removed
Block identification is based on historical price action and may not predict future behavior with certainty
💡 What Makes This Unique
Volume Intelligence : Unlike basic order block indicators, this script incorporates volume analysis to identify only the most significant institutional zones, focusing on quality over quantity.
Structural Precision : Uses sophisticated break of structure algorithms to identify true market turning points, going beyond simple price pattern recognition.
Dynamic Block Management : Implements automatic block tracking, extension, and cleanup to maintain a clean and relevant chart display without manual intervention.
Institutional Focus : Designed specifically to highlight areas where smart money has likely positioned, helping retail traders align with institutional perspectives rather than retail noise.
🔬 How It Works
1. Structure Identification Process :
The indicator continuously scans price action to identify significant swing points and structure levels within the specified range, establishing a foundation for order block recognition.
2. Break Detection :
When price breaks an established structure level (crossing below a significant low for bearish breaks or above a significant high for bullish breaks), the indicator marks this as a potential zone for order block formation.
3. Volume Qualification :
For each potential order block, the algorithm calculates the relative volume compared to the configured period average. Only blocks formed with volume exceeding the minimum ratio threshold are displayed.
4. Block Creation and Management :
Valid order blocks are created, tracked, and managed as price continues to develop. Blocks extend to the right of the chart until they are either mitigated by price action or expire after the designated timeframe.
5. Continuous Monitoring :
The indicator constantly evaluates price interaction with existing blocks, determining when blocks have been tested, mitigated, or invalidated, and updates the visual representation accordingly.
💡 Note:
Order Blocks represent areas where institutional traders have likely established positions and may defend these zones during future price visits. For optimal results, use this indicator in conjunction with other confluent factors such as key support/resistance levels, trendlines, or additional confirmation indicators. The most reliable signals typically occur on higher timeframes where institutional activity is most prominent. Start with the default settings and adjust parameters gradually to match your specific trading instrument and style.