Q: Key features

- **Price structure** — marks significant swing highs and swing lows. - **Lagging by 2 bars** — a fractal is only confirmed after 2 bars close past the center bar. - **Support/Resistance** — fractal levels act as natural support and resistance zones. - **Part of Williams' system** — designed to work with Alligator for trade entries.

Q: Breakout entry

- **Buy:** Price breaks above the most recent Up Fractal level. - **Sell:** Price breaks below the most recent Down Fractal level.

Q: With Alligator

- **Buy:** Up Fractal forms above the Alligator's Teeth — valid buy signal. - **Sell:** Down Fractal forms below the Alligator's Teeth — valid sell signal. - Fractals between the Teeth are considered invalid and should be ignored.

Q: Parameters

Fractals use a fixed 5-bar pattern — no configurable parameters.

Q: Sub-components

| Component | Description | |-----------|-------------| | `FRACTALS_UP` | Up fractal detected (1.0) or not (0.0) | | `FRACTALS_DOWN` | Down fractal detected (1.0) or not (0.0) |

Q: Example conditions

| Condition | Meaning | |-----------|---------| | `FRACTALS_UP > 0` | Up fractal detected — potential resistance / reversal down | | `FRACTALS_DOWN > 0` | Down fractal detected — potential support / reversal up |

Question 1

What are Fractals?

Accepted Answer

Williams Fractals, developed by Bill Williams, identify potential reversal points on price charts. A fractal is a 5-bar pattern where the middle bar has either the highest high (up fractal) or the lowest low (down fractal) compared to the two bars on each side.

Question 2

How it works

Accepted Answer

``` Up Fractal: High[2] High[-2] (center bar has highest high in a 5-bar window) Down Fractal: Low[2] > Low[0] < Low[-2] (center bar has lowest low in a 5-bar window) ``` The indicator outputs 1.0 when a fractal is detected, 0.0 otherwise.

Question 3

Key features

Accepted Answer

- **Price structure** — marks significant swing highs and swing lows. - **Lagging by 2 bars** — a fractal is only confirmed after 2 bars close past the center bar. - **Support/Resistance** — fractal levels act as natural support and resistance zones. - **Part of Williams' system** — designed to work with Alligator for trade entries.

Question 4

Breakout entry

Accepted Answer

- **Buy:** Price breaks above the most recent Up Fractal level. - **Sell:** Price breaks below the most recent Down Fractal level.

Question 5

With Alligator

Accepted Answer

- **Buy:** Up Fractal forms above the Alligator's Teeth — valid buy signal. - **Sell:** Down Fractal forms below the Alligator's Teeth — valid sell signal. - Fractals between the Teeth are considered invalid and should be ignored.

Question 6

Parameters

Accepted Answer

Fractals use a fixed 5-bar pattern — no configurable parameters.

Question 7

Sub-components

Accepted Answer

| Component | Description | |-----------|-------------| | `FRACTALS_UP` | Up fractal detected (1.0) or not (0.0) | | `FRACTALS_DOWN` | Down fractal detected (1.0) or not (0.0) |

Question 8

Example conditions

Accepted Answer

| Condition | Meaning | |-----------|---------| | `FRACTALS_UP > 0` | Up fractal detected — potential resistance / reversal down | | `FRACTALS_DOWN > 0` | Down fractal detected — potential support / reversal up |

Question 9

Tips

Accepted Answer

- Fractals are most effective when combined with the Alligator indicator. - Use fractal levels as stop-loss placement points — place SL beyond the last fractal. - On higher timeframes fractals identify major support/resistance levels. - Multiple fractals at similar price levels create a stronger support/resistance zone. - Fractals appear frequently — always filter with a trend indicator to avoid noise.