Continuation

Continuation is the definitive clean implementation of continuation trading: a state machine that establishes trend from swing structure and confirms resumption only when a pause resolves trendward with the right character. A trend arms after two rising (or two falling) swings; once price rests 3 bars without a new extreme, the pause is boxed and measured — depth, range, volume. The outcome is a graded signal or a quiet dissolve.

How to Trade the Continuation?

• Pause box: dashed while digestion runs; it must hold inside the 61.8% retracement cap and resolve within 40 bars or it invalidates.
• Continuation triangle: prints when price clears the impulse extreme with retracement, range and volume checks passed; the tooltip carries the pause statistics.
• Stop level: each confirmed continuation drops a dotted line at the pause extreme, beyond which stops are commonly placed.
• Prior swing line: the level the trend must hold — a close through it breaks structure outright and resets the machine.

Continuation Settings

• Swing Length (default 10): pivot length behind trend structure.
• Minimum Pause Length (default 3): bars without a new extreme before a pause forms.
• Maximum Pause Length (default 40): longer pauses go stale and invalidate.
• Maximum Retracement % (default 61.8): deepest share of the impulse leg the pause may give back.
• Range Contraction (default on): pause true range must contract below the impulse leg's.
• Volume Contraction (default on): volume must thin during the pause; skipped without volume data.
• Resolution Trigger (default Close): confirm on a closing basis, or Wick for the faster read.
• Expansion On Resolution (default off): requires the resolution bar's range to expand beyond the pause average.
• Style toggles cover pause zones, invalidated pauses, the prior swing level, stop levels and colors.

Frequently Asked Questions

How does this relate to flag patterns?

A bull or bear flag is one recognizable shape a pause can take. This build ignores shape and weighs evidence — depth, range contraction, volume drain — so any qualifying pause counts, flag-shaped or not.

Should I use the Close or Wick trigger?

Close, the default, confirms only on a settled bar beyond the impulse extreme, filtering intrabar pokes. Wick fires earlier but admits more marginal resolutions; Expansion On Resolution restores some selectivity.

What invalidates a continuation setup?

A retracement deeper than the cap, a pause outlasting the maximum length, or a close through the prior swing, which breaks trend structure outright. Invalidations fire an alert; failed pauses can stay on the chart in neutral.