ZynIQ Pullback Zones Lite

Pullback Zones Lite shades a pullback zone under a rising EMA (or over a falling one) and marks the bar where price pulls back into that zone while the trend is clear. It keeps you out of over-extended moves: when price is stretched too many ATRs from the EMA, no signal can fire and the HUD tells you to wait. Every size is measured in ATRs, so the same defaults work on index futures, stocks, forex and crypto.

How it works

1. Profile. Scalping uses EMA 21 and a zone 0.8 ATR deep; Intraday (default) EMA 34 and 1.0 ATR; Swing EMA 55 and 1.2 ATR. Custom lets you set both. ATR length is 14.
2. Trend. The EMA slope is measured over 5 bars and divided by ATR. Above 0 the EMA is rising (a weak uptrend); at or above 0.25 ATR it is a clear uptrend. The mirror applies to downtrends. With the higher-timeframe filter on, both also need the higher timeframe to agree, otherwise there is no trend for that side.
3. Higher-timeframe filter (on by default). The last closed higher-timeframe bar must close above its 50 EMA for longs (below for shorts). Automatic timeframe: up to 1 minute uses 15 minutes, up to 5 minutes uses 1 hour, up to 1 hour uses 4 hours, up to 4 hours uses daily, daily uses weekly, weekly uses monthly, monthly uses 12 months.
4. Zone. In an uptrend the zone runs from the EMA down to EMA minus the zone depth x ATR. In a downtrend it runs from the EMA up to EMA plus the depth.
5. Arming. A long setup arms once a whole closed bar sits above the EMA in an uptrend. Any bar that reaches the EMA uses the setup up, signal or not.
6. Long signal (short is the mirror), on a closed bar:
   • the setup is armed and the trend is clear (or just rising, with “Only signal in a clear trend” off);
   • the bar’s low reaches the EMA and the bar closes at or above the bottom of the zone (with “Signal on: Close back beyond the EMA”, it must also close above the EMA);
   • the close is no more than 3 ATR from the EMA (the over-extension guard);
   • at least 3 bars since the last signal, and the bar is not the first bar after a session gap.
7. Over-extension. When the close is more than 3 ATR above (or below) the EMA, the HUD shows it in amber and the first such bar gets an amber diamond. The limit line itself is off by default (“Show the over-extension limit”).

What you see on the chart

• EMA: teal (or green) in a clear uptrend, fuchsia (or red) in a clear downtrend, grey otherwise.
• Zone: shading under the EMA in an uptrend, over it in a downtrend. Strong shading means signals are allowed; faint shading means the trend is too weak for signals. The thin line is the far edge of the zone: a close beyond it means the pullback has failed.
• Over-extension limit (off by default): a faint amber line above the EMA in an uptrend (below it in a downtrend). Price beyond it is stretched; don’t chase. The amber diamonds and the HUD warning work with the line hidden.
• Triangles: a teal triangle under the bar for a long pullback, a fuchsia one over the bar for a short pullback.
• Amber diamonds (on by default): the first bar that closes beyond the over-extension limit, above the bar when stretched up and below it when stretched down.
• HUD (top right by default):
  • Title: profile, EMA length and zone depth.
  • Trend: Uptrend (clear), Downtrend (clear), Uptrend (weak), Downtrend (weak) or No trend.
  • Extension: how many ATRs the close is from the EMA, amber when over-extended.
  • Zone: the zone’s two prices.
  • Setup: No trend: stand aside / Weak trend: no signals / Over-extended: don’t chase / Price is in the zone / Waiting for a pullback / Re-arming.
  • Last signal: direction and how many bars ago.
  • HTF filter: up or down with the timeframe used, off, or “off: X is not above the chart”.
• Watermark: “ZynIQ Pullback Zones”, faint, bottom right.

Settings

Alerts

All alerts are decided on closed bars. Create them with “Once per bar close”.

For one alert with full details (the zone prices and the level that breaks the setup), choose the condition “Any alert() function call”. Note that the trend alerts can fire often when the slope hovers around the clear-trend threshold; most traders only use the signal alerts.

Set it up for your market

How to use it

• Trade in the direction of the strongly shaded zone only. Faint shading means “watch, don’t trade”.
• Wait for price to come to the zone. If the HUD says over-extended, the move has run: let it come back rather than buying the top.
• A signal is a place to look, not an order. One way to use it is to wait for the next bar to trade back through the signal bar’s high (long) or low (short). The far edge of the zone is the level that matters: a close beyond it means the pullback has failed.
• Common mistakes: trading every touch in a sideways market (keep “Only signal in a clear trend” on), and moving to a much shorter EMA so signals come more often (they get noisier).
• Pairs well with ZynIQ Momentum Master (is momentum turning back your way at the zone?) and ZynIQ Trend Master or Market Regime Master Pro (is this a trending market at all?).

Good to know

• Signals appear when the bar closes, never during the bar. On history every bar is closed, so what you see on history is what you would have seen live.
• The higher-timeframe filter uses the last closed higher-timeframe bar, so it lags by up to one higher-timeframe bar by design.
• The EMA needs about its own length in bars to settle; the first few dozen bars of a chart can be off.
• The tool uses no volume, so cash indices and forex work the same as everything else.
• Free TradingView plans limit how many indicators you can add to a chart.
• There are no drawing limits to worry about: markers are plotted, not drawn as objects.

Version 3 changes

• Over-extension guard (new). The page always promised that the tool “keeps you out of over-extended moves”, but v2 had no such check. v3 measures how far the close is from the EMA in ATRs. Beyond 3 ATR (default) the move is over-extended: no signal, an amber diamond marks the start, the HUD says “Over-extended: don’t chase”, and an optional faint amber line (off by default) shows where the limit sits.
• “Only signal in a clear trend” now works. In v2 the option did nothing. v3 defines a clear trend as an EMA slope of at least 0.25 ATR over 5 bars (both adjustable), plus higher-timeframe agreement when that filter is on. With the option off, any rising or falling EMA counts.
• Wicks through the zone now count. v2 ignored a bar whose wick went right through the zone. v3 counts it as long as the bar closes without breaking out of the far side of the zone.
• No more repainting. The higher-timeframe filter now reads only the last closed higher-timeframe bar, and every signal is decided on a closed bar, so nothing appears on a live candle and then vanishes.
• Higher timeframe picked for you. v2 used 60 minutes on every chart, which is useless on 1 hour and above. v3 picks the next sensible timeframe automatically, and switches the filter off (and says so in the HUD) if a manual choice is not above the chart.
• One signal per pullback. A setup is used up when price reaches the EMA and re-arms only once a whole bar sits clear of it again, plus an optional minimum gap between signals.
• Session gaps ignored. The first bar after an overnight gap, the futures halt or a weekend cannot signal (on by default).
• Alerts with ticker and price. Six alerts, each with the ticker, timeframe and close; the detailed alert messages also give the zone and the level that breaks the setup.
• Theme-aware EMA and zones (v2’s EMA was always blue), a Custom profile, tooltips on every setting, a movable HUD and watermark that read on dark and light charts.