Liquidity Sweep Detector — Market Structure Drop
Liquidity Sweep Detector — Market Structure Drop
Most "breakouts" at obvious swing highs and lows are actually liquidity grabs — price pokes through to trigger stops, then reverses. This indicator flags those single-bar stop-runs and rejections so you can stop fading every wick and start fading the ones that matter.
## What it does
- Tracks recent Williams-style pivot highs and pivot lows via `ta.pivothigh` / `ta.pivotlow` (configurable left/right strength).
- Keeps those levels "active" for a defined lookback window so old, stale pivots stop firing signals.
- Flags a **Bear Sweep** when a bar's *high* pierces the active pivot high but the *close* prints back below it.
- Flags a **Bull Sweep** when a bar's *low* pierces the active pivot low but the *close* prints back above it.
- Draws line-break level plots, red/green triangle markers, a background tint on the sweep bar, and fires `alertcondition` events.
## Recommended settings
- Pivot Left Bars: **5**
- Pivot Right Bars: **5**
- Pivot Lookback: **50** bars
- Min Penetration %: **0.0** (raise to 0.05–0.10 on noisy futures to require a real poke)
- Show Pivot Levels: **on**
- Show Status Label: **on**
## Ideal timeframe
5-min through 1-hour intraday for futures and large-cap equities; daily for swing-trade setups on indexes and majors.
## How to use
Treat a confirmed sweep as a *signal*, not a *trade*. The cleanest setups are bull sweeps into a higher-timeframe demand zone or bear sweeps into supply / a prior breakdown level — enter on a re-test of the swept level with a stop just beyond the wick. Skip sweeps that print mid-range or against a strong trend on the higher timeframe; those tend to chop. Pair it with VWAP, the prior day high/low, or an HTF EMA stack for context.
## Pine Script v5 code
```
//@version=5
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// ============================================================
// MF Liquidity Sweep Detector (Market Structure)
// ------------------------------------------------------------
// Flags stop-runs at recent swing highs/lows that get rejected
// inside the same bar:
// Bear Sweep = bar wicks ABOVE a recent pivot high but CLOSES
// below it (failed breakout, longs trapped)
// Bull Sweep = bar wicks BELOW a recent pivot low but CLOSES
// above it (failed breakdown, shorts trapped)
// Pivot levels are tracked with Williams-style left/right bars
// and stay "active" for `lookback` bars after they confirm.
// Free for non-commercial use. Build on it, share back.
// ============================================================
indicator("MF Liquidity Sweep Detector", shorttitle="MF LSD", overlay=true, max_labels_count=50)
// --- Inputs ---
leftBars = input.int(5, "Pivot Left Bars", minval=1)
rightBars = input.int(5, "Pivot Right Bars", minval=1)
lookback = input.int(50, "Pivot Lookback (bars)", minval=1)
minPenPct = input.float(0.0, "Min Penetration %", step=0.05)
showLevels = input.bool(true, "Show Pivot Levels")
showLabel = input.bool(true, "Show Status Label")
// --- Williams pivots (confirmed `rightBars` bars after the pivot bar) ---
ph = ta.pivothigh(high, leftBars, rightBars)
pl = ta.pivotlow(low, leftBars, rightBars)
// --- Carry forward most recent pivot + age it ---
var float lastPivotHigh = na
var float lastPivotLow = na
var int barsSinceHigh = 999
var int barsSinceLow = 999
if not na(ph)
lastPivotHigh := ph
barsSinceHigh := 0
else
barsSinceHigh := barsSinceHigh + 1
if not na(pl)
lastPivotLow := pl
barsSinceLow := 0
else
barsSinceLow := barsSinceLow + 1
activeHigh = barsSinceHigh <= lookback ? lastPivotHigh : na
activeLow = barsSinceLow <= lookback ? lastPivotLow : na
// --- Sweep conditions (single-bar wick + reject) ---
bearSweep = not na(activeHigh) and high > activeHigh * (1 + minPenPct / 100) and close < activeHigh
bullSweep = not na(activeLow) and low < activeLow * (1 - minPenPct / 100) and close > activeLow
// --- Plots: pivot levels ---
plot(showLevels ? activeHigh : na, title="Active Pivot High",
color=color.new(color.red, 0), style=plot.style_linebr, linewidth=1)
plot(showLevels ? activeLow : na, title="Active Pivot Low",
color=color.new(color.green, 0), style=plot.style_linebr, linewidth=1)
// --- Sweep arrows ---
plotshape(bearSweep, title="Bear Sweep", style=shape.triangledown,
location=location.abovebar, color=color.red, size=size.small)
plotshape(bullSweep, title="Bull Sweep", style=shape.triangleup,
location=location.belowbar, color=color.green, size=size.small)
// --- Background tint on the sweep bar ---
bgcolor(bearSweep ? color.new(color.red, 80) :
bullSweep ? color.new(color.green, 80) : na)
// --- Status label ---
var label statusLbl = na
if showLabel and barstate.islast
label.delete(statusLbl)
statusLbl := label.new(bar_index, high,
"Liquidity Sweep L:" + str.tostring(leftBars) +
" R:" + str.tostring(rightBars) +
" Lookback:" + str.tostring(lookback),
style=label.style_label_left,
color=color.new(color.gray, 70),
textcolor=color.white,
size=size.small)
// --- Alerts ---
alertcondition(bullSweep, title="Bull Sweep",
message="MF LSD: Bull Sweep — stop run below pivot low reclaimed")
alertcondition(bearSweep, title="Bear Sweep",
message="MF LSD: Bear Sweep — stop run above pivot high rejected")
```
Drop your tweaks, screenshots, and questions below — that's how the library gets better.