Signal Generation & Trade Management

Purpose

"Should we trade? Which direction? Where's entry/stop/target?"

This component is the decision maker. It receives graded setups from Layer 3 and decides:

Should we take this trade? (passes all gate filters)
Which direction? (LONG or SHORT)
Where to enter, stop, and exit? (entry techniques)

Trading Market Principle

"Trade with the trend, not against it"

MA21 rising = LONG only → don't fight a rising market
MA21 declining = SHORT only → don't catch falling knives
MA21 flat = use MTF direction as tiebreaker
Gate filters protect capital → blocked hours, wrong zone, weak confirmation = skip
Only high-quality setups traded → A+, A, B grades only

Decision Flow

           ┌─────────────────────────────────┐
           │  Setup Quality Result (Layer 3) │
           │  Grade: A+/A/B/C/D/F            │
           └─────────────────────────────────┘
                         │
                         ▼
           ┌─────────────────────────────────┐
           │  GATE 1: Grade Filter           │
           │  Only A+, A, B pass             │
           │  C, D, F → REJECTED             │
           └─────────────────────────────────┘
                         │
                         ▼
           ┌─────────────────────────────────┐
           │  GATE 2: Hour Filter            │
           │  Blocked: 9 AM, 10 PM, 11 PM    │
           │  (Loss-making hours)            │
           └─────────────────────────────────┘
                         │
                         ▼
           ┌─────────────────────────────────┐
           │  GATE 3: Direction Determination│
           │  MA21 rising → LONG             │
           │  MA21 declining → SHORT         │
           │  Flat/unclear → NO TRADE        │
           └─────────────────────────────────┘
                         │
                         ▼
           ┌─────────────────────────────────┐
           │  GATE 4: Probability Zone Filter│
           │  Top third + LONG = OK          │
           │  Bottom third + LONG = BLOCKED  │
           │  (Trades with probability)      │
           └─────────────────────────────────┘
                         │
                         ▼
           ┌─────────────────────────────────┐
           │  Calculate Entry/Stop/Target    │
           │  Generate Signal                │
           └─────────────────────────────────┘

Gate Filters

Gate 1: Grade Filter

Only high-quality setups are traded:

Grade	Action
A+, A, B	PASS → Generate signal
C, D, F	BLOCKED → No signal generated

Gate 2: Hour Filter

Block historically loss-making hours:

Blocked Hours: [9, 22, 23]  // 9 AM, 10 PM, 11 PM IST

IF current_hour IN blocked_hours:
    RETURN None  // No signal

Gate 3: Direction Determination

Direction is determined by MA21 slope with 1H → 15m fallback:

trend_direction = market_state.trend_direction

IF trend_direction == "up":
    direction = LONG    // MA21 rising → trade long

ELIF trend_direction == "down":
    direction = SHORT   // MA21 declining → trade short

ELSE:
    // MA21 flat/unclear → use MTF fallback
    IF mtf_direction == "up":
        direction = LONG
    ELIF mtf_direction == "down":
        direction = SHORT
    ELSE:
        // TICKET-22: 1H → 15m fallback (matches TimeframeSettings)
        // Config: primary=1H, confirmation=15m, wait_for_15min_alignment=True

        one_hour_dir = timeframe_results['1h'].direction
        fifteen_min_dir = timeframe_results['15m'].direction

        // Priority 1: 1H + 15m agreement (strongest)
        IF one_hour_dir == fifteen_min_dir AND one_hour_dir IN ['up', 'down']:
            direction = LONG if one_hour_dir == 'up' else SHORT

        // Priority 2: 1H only (primary_timeframe)
        ELIF one_hour_dir IN ['up', 'down']:
            direction = LONG if one_hour_dir == 'up' else SHORT

        // Priority 3: 15m only (confirmation_timeframe)
        ELIF fifteen_min_dir IN ['up', 'down']:
            direction = LONG if fifteen_min_dir == 'up' else SHORT

        ELSE:
            RETURN None  // ALL timeframes sideways → true consolidation

Direction Hierarchy:

MA21 slope (5min) – primary
MTF primary_direction – first fallback
1H + 15m agreement – strongest MTF signal
1H only – primary_timeframe fallback
15m only – confirmation_timeframe fallback
None – only if all sideways (true consolidation)

Gate 4: Probability Zone Filter

Filters trades based on price position within range:

Zone	LONG	SHORT	Logic
Top Third	Blocked	Allowed	80% continuation down, 15% up
Middle Half	Allowed	Allowed	Neutral zone
Bottom Third	Allowed	Blocked	80% continuation up, 15% down

Sideways Market Exception: In creeper/consolidation, uses mean reversion (opposite logic).

Stop Loss Calculation

Stop placement based on entry technique:

Entry Technique	LONG Stop	SHORT Stop
GREEN_BAR_PULLBACK	Below pullback low	Above rally high
BREAKOUT_PULLBACK	min(last 3 lows)	max(last 3 highs)
MA_BOUNCE	MA21 - 5 points	MA21 + 5 points
BOS_ENTRY	min(last 10 lows) + buffer	max(last 10 highs) - buffer
DISCOUNT_ZONE	entry × 0.99	entry × 1.01
DEFAULT	entry - 40 points	entry + 40 points

Minimum Stop Distance: 40 points (prevents tight stops hitting on noise)

Take Profit Calculation

Implements "cut the move in half" principle:

distance_to_ma = |entry_price - MA21|
target_distance = distance_to_ma × 0.5

IF LONG:
    take_profit = entry_price + target_distance
ELSE:
    take_profit = entry_price - target_distance

Minimum R:R: 1.5 (target must be at least 1.5× risk)

Cost Calculations

Commission (Dhan Broker)

commission = position_size × Rs 20 per lot

CTT (Commodity Transaction Tax)

contract_value = entry_price × lot_size × position_size
tax = contract_value × 0.0001  // 0.01% total (0.005% per leg)

Configuration

Parameter	Value	Description
`commission_per_lot`	20.00	Rs per lot (Dhan)
`transaction_tax_rate`	0.00005	0.005% per leg × 2 = 0.01% CTT
`lot_size_multiplier`	100	MCX lot size
`min_stop_distance`	40	Minimum stop in points
`default_risk_reward`	1.5	Minimum R:R ratio
`enable_hour_filter`	True	Block loss-making hours
`blocked_hours`	[9, 22, 23]	Hours to skip
`enable_ma_direction_filter`	True	MA21 alignment required
`enable_probability_zone_filter`	True	Zone probability check
`enable_color_change_filter`	False	Disabled (too restrictive)

Output

Signal Object:

Field	Type	Description
`direction`	Enum	LONG or SHORT
`entry_price`	float	Current close price
`stop_loss_price`	float	Calculated stop level
`take_profit_price`	float	Calculated target level
`position_size`	int	From setup quality (1 or 2 lots)
`setup_quality`	Enum	A+, A, or B
`entry_technique`	Enum	How stop was determined

Dependencies

Upstream:

multi_timeframe_analysis.py - MTF direction fallback
market_state_analysis.py - Trend direction, market state
setup_quality_detection.py - Grade, position size

Internal:

probability_zone_analysis.py - Zone filtering logic

Downstream:

trade_execution_engine.py - Executes the signal