Belt Hold

Belt Hold detects the belt hold candlestick — a one-candle line opening at one extreme of its range and closing hard toward the other — with each textbook requirement encoded as a measurable test, the pattern's first faithful build in the library. Detection requires counter-trend context (the prior close beyond a 14-bar average), a real body at least 1.2× the recent average, a shaved open within tolerance, a limited closing shadow, and a close reaching well into the previous candle's range. Each hit is labeled, and its opening extreme extends forward as the natural invalidation level.

How to Trade the Belt Hold?

• Bullish Belt Hold label: after a decline, the session opened essentially at its low and closed strongly higher — buyers controlled it from the first print.
• Bearish Belt Hold label: the mirror after an advance, opening at the session high and closing strongly lower.
• Invalidation level breached: price traded back through the opening extreme — the rejection failed, the level turns dotted and dim, and a dedicated alert fires.

Belt Hold Settings

• Trend Length (default 14): average establishing the trend the candle prints against.
• Body Average Length (default 14): bars averaged to define a long real body.
• Long Body Multiplier (default 1.2): minimum body versus that average.
• Opening Shadow Tolerance % (default 5): largest shadow allowed on the opening side.
• Closing Shadow Tolerance % (default 25): shadow allowed at the closing end.
• Prior Range Penetration % (default 50): reach of the close into the prior candle's range.
• Require Gap Open (default disabled): restrict detection to the ideal gapping form.
• Next-Bar Confirmation (default disabled): mark only follow-through patterns, one bar later.
• Invalidation Levels (default enabled) with Show Last Levels (default 8) capping how many stay drawn.
• Style toggles cover labels, candle highlighting, and the trend basis plot.

Frequently Asked Questions

How is a belt hold different from a marubozu?

A Marubozu leaves no shadow at either end and reads as raw strength wherever it prints. The belt hold only demands a shaved open, tolerates a small closing shadow, and must print against a preceding move — a reversal line, not a momentum bar.

Should I wait for next-bar confirmation?

Common practice is yes: wait for the next session to close the pattern's way before acting. The toggle is off by default so raw lines appear immediately; Confirmed alerts fire regardless.

What invalidates the signal?

Trade back through the belt hold's opening extreme, the level this build extends forward. Beyond it the rejection that defined the candle has failed.