ICT / SMC Concepts · Lesson 07
Change of Character+
Learn how a failed continuation attempt can add another layer of evidence before market structure shifts.
Before We Start
This lesson builds directly on Change of Character from Lesson 06. You already know HH, HL, LH, LL, BOS and CHoCH. Now we add one more clue.
By the end you will be able to:
- Explain what CHoCH+ is, and what the plus adds to a standard CHoCH.
- Spot a failed Lower Low and a failed Higher High, and tell them from valid ones.
- Tell BOS, CHoCH and CHoCH+ apart on a chart.
- Explain why CHoCH+ is stronger evidence in this framework, and why it is still not certainty.
Why Is It Called CHoCH+?
In the previous lesson, you learned that CHoCH occurs when price breaks a meaningful structural level against the current trend.
CHoCH+ adds another clue before that break. The market first fails to continue in its original direction.
STRUCTURAL BREAK
FAILED CONTINUATION
+
STRUCTURAL BREAK
Watch the same bearish structure end two ways. Only the ending changes. Use Compare to see what the plus adds.
CHoCH vs CHoCH+
The same bearish structure: LL, LH, LL, LH. Two different endings.
The Most Important Part: Failure
In an established trend, price is expected to keep producing new extremes.
CHoCH+ begins when that expected extreme fails. Compare a successful continuation with a failed one. Same prior low, different attempt.
Success vs Failure
A bearish trend tries to make another Lower Low. Toggle the outcome.
Bullish Change of Character Plus
Bullish CHoCH+Start with a bearish structure: a low, a lower high, a lower low. Now follow it step by step.
- Price attempts to continue lower.
- Price fails to create another Lower Low.
- The attempted low stays above the previous LL.
- Price reverses upward.
- Price breaks above the previous meaningful Lower High.
- Bullish CHoCH+ forms.
The order matters. The failure comes first. The break comes second. Marking a CHoCH+ before the Lower High breaks is a mistake.
The result may suggest that sellers are losing momentum. It does not guarantee an uptrend.
- BEARISH STRUCTURE
- EXPECTED NEW LL
- NEW LL FAILS
- BREAK ABOVE PRIOR LH
- BULLISH CHoCH+
A Bullish CHoCH+, Step by Step
A bearish trend, a failed Lower Low, then a break of the key Lower High.
Bearish Change of Character Plus
Bearish CHoCH+Now the inverse. Start with a bullish structure: a high, a higher low, a higher high.
- Price attempts another high.
- Price fails to make another Higher High.
- The attempted high stays below the previous HH.
- Price falls.
- Price breaks below the previous meaningful Higher Low.
- Bearish CHoCH+ forms.
The market tries to make another Higher High. It cannot. Now watch the Higher Low. When that level breaks, the CHoCH+ is complete.
- BULLISH STRUCTURE
- EXPECTED NEW HH
- NEW HH FAILS
- BREAK BELOW PRIOR HL
- BEARISH CHoCH+
A Bearish CHoCH+, Step by Step
A bullish trend, a failed Higher High, then a break of the key Higher Low.
CHoCH vs CHoCH+
- Requires
- An opposing structural break
- Example
- Bearish structure, break above the LH
- Interpretation
- Possible structural change
BREAK
- Requires
- A failed continuation, then the opposing break
- Example
- Bearish structure, failed new LL, break above the LH
- Interpretation
- Additional structural evidence of change
FAILURE + BREAK
Here is the same idea side by side. Both charts begin from the identical bearish structure. Press any button. Both move together.
Bullish CHoCH
Bullish CHoCH+
Failed Lower Low vs Valid Lower Low
Previous low 100. New low 99. Price extended lower.
Previous low 100. Attempted low 100.40. Price did not extend lower.
A failed Lower Low is not a smaller bearish candle. It is structural. The new swing low fails to go beneath the prior meaningful swing low.
Failed Higher High
Previous high 100. New high 101. Price extended higher.
Previous high 100. Attempted high 99.60. Price could not make the expected new structural high.
Do not confuse candle size with swing structure. What counts is where the swing high sits compared with the previous one.
BOS vs CHoCH vs CHoCH+
The expected continuation succeeds.
HL → break high → HH
BOS = CONTINUATION
The opposing structure breaks.
Bullish structure → break HL
CHoCH = CHANGE
The continuation fails first, then the opposing structure breaks.
Failed HH → break HL
CHoCH+ = FAILURE + CHANGE
This is the mental model for the rest of the course. Now try it. The structure so far is HH, HL, HH, HL. Choose the ending.
Structure Lab: Choose the Ending
One bullish structure, three possible endings. What is each one called?
CHoCH+ and Inversion Fair Value Gaps
The source shows CHoCH+ alongside an IFVG-style setup. Here is the idea. Recall Lesson 02.
CHoCH+ describes market structure. An IFVG describes an inverted imbalance zone. They are different concepts that can occur during the same movement.
- BEARISH STRUCTURE
- FAILED LL
- BULLISH DISPLACEMENT
- BREAK ABOVE LH
- BULLISH CHoCH+
- BEARISH FVG INVALIDATED
- BULLISH IFVG
CHoCH+, Then an IFVG
Structure, failure, CHoCH+, IFVG. One step at a time.
CHoCH+ and Order Blocks
Now a bearish example, with an Order Block from Lesson 03.
CHoCH+ is a structural event. An Order Block is a price zone. Do not imply that the zone guarantees a reaction.
- BULLISH STRUCTURE
- FAILED HH
- BEARISH DISPLACEMENT
- BEARISH CHoCH+
- BEARISH OB NEAR THE ORIGIN
- POSSIBLE LATER RETEST
CHoCH+ and a Bearish Order Block
Structure, failed high, CHoCH+, then the zone.
CHoCH+ and Breaker Blocks
Recall Breaker Blocks from Lesson 04. Here the same break that completes a bullish CHoCH+ also closes beyond a bearish Order Block.
One event changes structure. The other changes how a zone is read. Different concepts, same price movement.
CHoCH+ and a Breaker
Structure, failed LL, CHoCH+, then the failed Order Block.
Why the Extra Failure Matters
With a standard CHoCH, the opposing structural level breaks.
With CHoCH+, we also know that the existing trend failed to create the new extreme it was expected to make first.
That is why FluxCharts describes CHoCH+ as stronger evidence than a standard CHoCH. In this framework it is more structural information. It is not a probability, and not a numeric edge.
Stronger Does Not Mean Guaranteed
After a CHoCH+, several things can happen:
What Might Traders Examine Next?
The source describes traders using areas such as IFVGs and Order Blocks after a CHoCH+ when evaluating pullbacks. These are areas traders may study. They are not places where you should enter.
Where Can CHoCH+ Appear?
The source describes CHoCH+ mainly in intraday contexts, with examples from small timeframes such as 1m and 5m up to broader intraday ones such as 30m.
The pattern is based on structure, so the same concept can appear at different scales. That does not make every scale equally significant.
Knowledge Check
Knowledge check
Check 1
A bearish structure. Price attempts another low but stays above the previous LL. Then it breaks the previous LH. What formed?
Knowledge check
Check 2
A bullish structure. Price directly breaks below the HL. There was no failed attempt at a new HH first. CHoCH or CHoCH+?
Knowledge check
Check 3
Price attempts a new HH. The swing high stays below the previous HH. The HL has not been broken yet. Has a bearish CHoCH+ formed?
Knowledge check
Check 4
What makes CHoCH+ different from a standard CHoCH?
Knowledge check
Check 5: Scenario A
HH, HL, then a new HH. BOS, CHoCH or CHoCH+?
Knowledge check
Check 5: Scenario B
HH, HL, then a break below the HL. BOS, CHoCH or CHoCH+?
Knowledge check
Check 5: Scenario C
HH, HL, a failed HH, then a break below the HL. BOS, CHoCH or CHoCH+?
Your Turn
Practice one: a bullish CHoCH+. A bearish trend has printed LH, LL, LH, LL. Then the market pauses, and price makes one more attempt lower.
Knowledge check
Step 1
The attempted new low stays above the prior LL. What just happened?
Step 2: Find the Level to Break
The failed Lower Low is marked. Three lettered highs. The future candles are hidden.
What level must price break for a bullish CHoCH+?
Practice two: a bearish CHoCH+. A bullish structure prints HL, HH, HL, HH. Then price attempts one more high, and it fails below the prior HH.
Find the Protected Higher Low
The failed Higher High is marked. Which structural level must now break?
Which structural level must now break?
Bullish CHoCH+: six steps
- Step 1: Find bearish structure.
- Step 2: Identify the prior LL and LH.
- Step 3: Watch price attempt another LL.
- Step 4: Confirm that the new LL fails.
- Step 5: Watch price break the prior LH.
- Step 6: Mark bullish CHoCH+.
Bearish CHoCH+: six steps
- Step 1: Find bullish structure.
- Step 2: Identify the prior HH and HL.
- Step 3: Watch price attempt another HH.
- Step 4: Confirm the new HH fails.
- Step 5: Watch price break the prior HL.
- Step 6: Mark bearish CHoCH+.
Common Mistakes
Calling every CHoCH a CHoCH+
Correction: CHoCH+ requires an additional failed continuation attempt.
Marking CHoCH+ immediately after a failed HH or LL
Correction: The opposing structural level must still break.
Using candle colour instead of swing structure
Correction: Failure is based on structural highs and lows, not on whether a candle is green or red.
Using tiny internal pivots
Correction: Identify meaningful structural swings.
Confusing a failed LL with a Higher Low too early
Correction: First understand it as a failure to extend the current bearish structure.
Treating CHoCH+ as a guaranteed reversal
Correction: It provides additional evidence, not certainty.
Confusing CHoCH+ with an IFVG
Correction: CHoCH+ describes structure. An IFVG describes an inverted price imbalance.
What You Learned
- CHoCH+ adds a failed continuation attempt before the structural break.
- Bullish CHoCH+ requires a failed Lower Low followed by a break above a meaningful Lower High.
- Bearish CHoCH+ requires a failed Higher High followed by a break below a meaningful Higher Low.
- CHoCH+ contains more structural information than a standard CHoCH.
- It is still not a guaranteed trend reversal.
- CHoCH+ can occur alongside IFVGs, Order Blocks and Breaker Blocks.
- Structure should always be identified before labelling the event.
CHoCH+ = FAILURE + BREAK. Stronger structural evidence in this framework, not certainty.
+ BREAK ABOVE LH
= BULLISH CHoCH+
+ BREAK BELOW HL
= BEARISH CHoCH+
The whole course in one picture
- Trend continues
- Expected extreme succeeds
- CONTINUATION
- Opposing structural level breaks
- POTENTIAL CHANGE
- Expected extreme FAILS
- +
- Opposing structural level breaks
- STRONGER STRUCTURAL CHANGE SIGNAL, in this framework
= CONTINUATION
= BREAK
= FAILURE + BREAK