Consecutive Bars Indicator: Formula, Settings and How to Read It
Consecutive Bars plots a signed count of same-direction candle bodies: +1, +2, +3 and so on while each bar closes above its open, and −1, −2, −3 while each bar closes below its open. A bar that closes exactly at its open returns 0 and interrupts the run without reversing it.
Senzoukria · Indicators · Updated September 2026
Consecutive Bars ships with the Senzoukria desktop app, in the Structure & sessions group of the indicator catalogue. It is drawn in its own panel below the chart.
What Consecutive Bars measures
Direction is taken from the body — open against close — rather than from one close against the previous close, so the sign matches the colour of the candle as it is actually drawn. A neutral bar produces 0 and breaks the sequence; the next bar restarts from ±1 in whichever direction it closes. This mirrors the convention used by the delta streak indicator on the order flow side, where a neutral reading neither extends nor flips the pressure being counted. Because every bar has a defined value, zeros included, the histogram is continuous with no warm-up period at the left edge of the chart.
The formula, as implemented
This is not a description of how the indicator is usually defined elsewhere — it is what the shipped code computes, documented next to the implementation:
Consecutive bars — compte SIGNÉ de bougies consécutives de même sens : +1, +2, … tant que close > open ; −1, −2, … tant que close < open. close == open (doji) → 0 : la barre CASSE la série sans la retourner (même convention que `delta-streak` côté flux — une barre neutre ne prolonge ni n'inverse la pression, la suivante repart de ±1). Sens pris sur open/close (le CORPS), pas sur close[i] vs close[i−1] : c'est la couleur de la bougie telle qu'elle est dessinée. Chaque barre a une valeur définie (0 compris) → l'histogramme est PLEIN, aucun warm-up.
How to read it
- The magnitude is a count, not a price: a bar reading +6 means six consecutive green candles, regardless of how far price actually travelled.
- A zero column is informative — it marks the bar whose open and close were equal and which therefore cut the run.
- A sign change from positive to negative means the candle colour flipped and the count started over; there is no intermediate state.
- Judge long streaks against what that instrument and bar type normally produce rather than against a fixed number, since a six-bar run on 30-second bars and on daily bars are not comparable events.
- An unusually long streak describes persistence; it is not an instruction, and it says nothing about whether the sequence continues or ends.
Parameters and defaults
Only the two colours and the smoothing are configurable. Smoothing defaults to 1, which keeps the raw integer count; any higher value replaces the count with a moving average of it, so the plotted number stops being a streak length and becomes a smoothed tendency that also trails the market. Leave it at the default if you want the literal count.
| Parameter | Type | Default | Range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smoothing | number | 1 | 1 – 200 |
What it does not show
Size is absent from the count: six one-tick bodies and six twenty-tick bodies both read +6, so a grind and a thrust are indistinguishable here. So are a streak traded on almost nothing and one traded heavily, since neither volume nor delta enters the calculation. On tick, volume or range bars a streak's meaning shifts with the bar construction, because those bars do not each cover the same amount of time. And treating a neutral bar as a reset is a convention — where open equals close often, as in thin overnight hours, runs come out artificially short.
Using it in Senzoukria
Add it from the Indicators panel of any footprint chart or candle chart. It runs on futures data from Rithmic or Databento and on crypto pairs from Binance and Bybit, on the same engine — the calculation does not change with the venue, only the data feeding it does. Market data subscriptions are billed by the provider, separately from the app.
Related indicators
- Session High/Low — Structure & sessions
- Opening Range — Structure & sessions
- IB Extensions — Structure & sessions
- Classic Pivots — Structure & sessions
- Camarilla Pivots — Structure & sessions
- Naked POC — Structure & sessions
See the full indicator library, or start with the order flow guide if you are new to reading aggression, delta and absorption.
Frequently asked questions
- What counts as a consecutive candle in this indicator?
- A candle counts toward the run when its close is on the same side of its open as the previous candle's — all closes above their opens for a positive run, all below for a negative one. The comparison is always within each bar, between its own open and close, not between successive closing prices. That means the count matches the colours you see drawn on the chart.
- Does a doji break a streak of consecutive candles?
- Yes. A bar whose close equals its open returns 0 and ends the run, but it does not flip it to the other side. The bar after it starts a fresh count at +1 or −1 depending on its own body. This follows the same rule the platform uses for delta streaks, where a neutral bar neither extends nor reverses the count.
- Does Consecutive Bars measure how big the move was?
- No. It measures only how many bars in a row closed in the same direction, so a long streak of very small bodies produces the same reading as a long streak of large ones. To judge the size of the move, read it alongside a range measure such as True Range, or simply against the price chart.