Market IntelligenceTime Intelligence

MARKET TIMEFRAME.

Every period leaves a footprint. The next one is measured against it.

The Market Timeframe is last period’s footprint — the previous High, Midpoint and Low, and where the Close finished inside them. The objective record of where value was accepted. Markets trade relative to prior value, not in a vacuum.

Time Frame Structure diagram - the previous period's High, Close, Mid-Point, Open and Low drawn as reference lines for the new period

Public information. Known before the open. The terrain every bar of the new period is read against — on the Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Quarterly and Yearly time frames.

The structure — the previous period’s High, Close, Mid-Point, Open, Low

Gold with the Yearly Time Frame Structure drawn on a live chart - PYH, PYC, PYM and PYL from the prior year

The same structure on a live chart — Gold · Yearly · PYH · PYC · PYM · PYL

Daily · Weekly · Monthly · Quarterly · Yearly · 500+ Markets

FREE Timeframe Chart Overlay →

01 · What It Is

SAME BAR.
DIFFERENT MEANING.

A price bar on its own tells you what happened. It cannot tell you what it means. Printed above last period’s close and midpoint, the bar is strength. Printed below them, it is weakness. The bar did not change. The context did.

The Problem

Price Without a Reference

Most traders read a session in isolation. Up day, down day, wide range, narrow range — and every read is relative to nothing. A strong close in a weak period and a weak close in a strong period look identical on the screen.

The Solution

The Footprint Is the Reference

Measure the new bar against last period’s footprint and it answers the question. Above the close is positive. Above the midpoint is trending, below it corrective. Outside the range is new value. Bias, before the open — the same read on every market.

You are not asking what price did.You are asking what it did relative to what was already true.

02 · Why You Need It

MARKETS TRADE RELATIVE
TO PRIOR VALUE.

Not in a vacuum. Time Frame Structure is the objective record of where value was accepted — and four reasons it is practical, not academic.

They are everyone’s levels.

The prior high, low and close are not your levels — they are everyone’s. Traders, algos and desks all anchor to them, which is exactly why price stalls, reverses or accelerates there. You are trading where the order flow already knows to respond.

Bias in one glance.

Above the prior close, the period leans positive; below it, negative. Inside the prior range, balance and rotation; outside it, the market is discovering new value. Continuation, reversal or breakout territory — before you touch a single computed level.

Acceptance vs. rejection.

A period that closes back inside the prior range after poking outside it: rejection — the move failed. A period that accepts and holds beyond the prior high or low: the market chose a direction. That is how you tell a real breakout from a head-fake — a trend from a trap.

It scales to your horizon.

Prior-day levels for the day trade. Prior-year levels for long-term positioning. Reading the right prior-period structure for the horizon you actually trade keeps you anchored to value at your scale — not fighting a daily wiggle when the yearly range is in control. One structure, five periods, 500+ markets.

One structure · every period — the previous Day, Week, Month, Quarter and Year

03 · Integrations

ON THE CHART
YOU ALREADY TRADE.

The whole time frame stack — Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Quarterly, Yearly — drawn on the chart you already use. Connect once and the levels render as an overlay, updated every period. No workflow change. Free.

NINJATRADERTRADINGVIEWTRADESTATIONSIERRA CHARTCTS T4

Gold intraday chart with the full Time Frame Structure overlay - previous day PDH, PDM, PDC, PDL in blue; previous week PWH, PWM, PWC, PWL in green; previous month PMC, PMM in orange; previous quarter PQM in magenta; previous year PYC in cyan — Gold · intraday · the previous Day, Week, Month, Quarter and Year on one chart · example, not a live read

FREE Timeframe Chart Overlay → See every integration and its setup guide →

Free registration · The Time Frame integration is included with your account

Free Timeframe Overlay

CHOOSE
YOUR PLATFORM.

The prior-period High, Midpoint, Close and Low on the chart you already trade, Daily through Yearly. Pick your platform, register once, and your setup guide and key are waiting in your account.

NinjaTraderGet the overlay → TradingViewGet the overlay → TradeStationGet the overlay → Sierra ChartGet the overlay → CTS T4Get the overlay →

Free registration · No card · The Timeframe Overlay is included with your account

04 · How You Use It

A REFERENCE.
AND A STRATEGY.

The previous session’s high, midpoint and low — and where the close finished inside them. Once it is on your chart, where that close sits tells you which play the new period is set up for, before it opens. Three examples, on the Daily.

Extreme cluster · PDH–PDC

Extend or retreat.

Settled at the extreme. The market either extends last period’s momentum without losing a step, or it stabilizes and makes a play for the PDM — where it rejects back toward the PDH or rotates to the PDL.

Pivotal cluster · PDM–PDC

Preparing to move.

Settled on the balance point. The context is pivotal off that range: the market is preparing to move to either extreme. PDM is the pivot, PDH and PDL are the targets — the structure’s case for patience.

Not clustered · open range

Bias lean only.

Settled in open range. The structure gives you the PDC bias lean and little more until price reaches the PDM or a range extreme. PDH and PDL are the momentum validation — context, not direction.

Having context makes the process repeatable.Where the close settled tells you the play. Before the open.

All six close templates, live on the MarketColor Rankings header →

05 · Your Process

STRUCTURE. STATE.
STRATEGY.

Time Frame Structure is not a standalone tool. It is the first read in a process you define once and run every period — the terrain the map is read against.

Market Timeframe

The terrain

Where value was accepted last period, and where the market’s memory will make it react. Observed, not projected.

You are here

PriceMap

The structure

One unified structural framework across markets, asset classes and time frames — Critical Ranges, directional pivots, sentiment, breakout levels, targets and risk boundaries.

PriceMap →

MarketColor

The state

Which of 26 signature states the market is in — and which strategy that condition supports.

MarketColor →

Playbook

The strategy

Structure plus state equals strategy theme. Optimal, Hedge, or stand aside — decided before you trade.

Playbook →

The PriceMap is the map — pivots, targets, structure bias. Time Frame Structure is the terrain — where price has actually been and where the market’s memory will make it react. You need both: the map shows where the structure is; the terrain shows where price has already been accepted. Where they overlap is where the highest-conviction decisions live.

Navigator · on why the terrain matters

Structure makes the process objective.Your Trade Plan makes it yours.

Navigator reads the whole stack against your Trade Plan →

Start With the Terrain