Rob Hoffman IRB + MA Trend
OVERVIEW
This indicator combines Rob Hoffman's Inventory Retracement Bar (IRB) setup with his moving average overlay set and "No-Trend Zone", and adds a trend gate so IRB signals only fire when the market is actually trending. The idea is simple: trade continuation in a clean trend, and stay out when price is chopping around the averages.
Everything runs on the price chart — no separate pane.
THE INVENTORY RETRACEMENT BAR (IRB)
An IRB is a bar that pushes against the prevailing trend and then closes back in a way that shows the counter-trend move is running out of steam.
- Long IRB: the bar's open AND close are both at least 45% below its high (a long upper wick in an uptrend).
- Short IRB: the bar's open AND close are both at least 45% above its low (a long lower wick in a downtrend).
IRB bars are marked with small triangles. The IRB itself is not the entry — it's the setup.
ENTRY TRIGGER
After an IRB forms, the indicator waits up to 20 bars (adjustable) for price to confirm:
- "Extreme high/low break" (default): entry when price breaks one tick beyond the IRB's high (long) or low (short). This is the classic rule.
- "Close past retracement level": an earlier, more aggressive entry that triggers when a bar closes back through the IRB's 45% retracement level.
If price instead breaks the opposite side of the IRB before triggering, the setup is cancelled. Confirmed entries are labeled "IRB L" / "IRB S".
IRBs with an unusually large range (more than 2x ATR by default) are ignored, since oversized retracement bars tend to fail more often.
MOVING AVERAGE OVERLAY
The full MA set is plotted for context:
- SMA 3 and 5 (fast speed lines)
- EMA 18 and 20 (primary trend lines — the 20 EMA is highlighted in gold)
- SMA 50, SMA 89, EMA 144, SMA 200 (longer-term trend lines)
The ribbon can be hidden if you only want the core lines.
NO-TREND ZONE
The blood-red cloud is the No-Trend Zone: a Keltner-style channel built from a 34-period EMA with a band of 0.45x the EMA-smoothed true range. When price is inside or hugging this zone, the market isn't trending and IRB signals are suppressed.
The band smoothing can be switched to RMA (Wilder ATR). If you want to match the original overlay set exactly, use length 35, multiplier 0.5, and RMA smoothing.
TREND GATE
An IRB only counts when all of these agree:
1. Price has closed outside the No-Trend Zone in the direction of the trade.
2. Price is on the correct side of the 20 EMA — or, optionally, still on the correct side of the 89 EMA anchor, so a deep pullback through the 20 doesn't cancel an otherwise healthy trend.
3. (Optional, on by default) No long IRBs below the 89 EMA anchor and no short IRBs above it.
The gate can be turned off to see every raw IRB bar shape regardless of trend.
Trend angle: Hoffman looks for the 20 EMA sloping at roughly 45 degrees. This is deliberately NOT coded — Pine Script has no access to the chart's pixel scale, so any "degrees" value would change with zoom and wouldn't match what you see. Judge the slope by eye.
TRAILING STOP REFERENCE
A yellow dotted line shows a reference stop: it starts at the IRB's low (long) or high (short) when an entry triggers, then trails at 1.5x ATR while the trend holds, and clears when hit or when the trend is lost. It's a visual guide only and does not manage any position.
ALERTS
Two alert conditions are available: "Hoffman IRB Long Entry" and "Hoffman IRB Short Entry". Signals on the live, unconfirmed bar can change until that bar closes, so "Once Per Bar Close" is recommended when creating alerts.
HOW TO USE IT
- Trade in the direction of the trigger labels only.
- When price is sitting in the red cloud, stand aside — that is the chop the zone exists to keep you out of.
- Look for a clearly sloping 20 EMA; flat averages mean weak continuation.
- Use the IRB's opposite extreme (or the trailing stop line) as a logical stop reference.
CREDITS
The Inventory Retracement Bar setup, the moving average overlay set, and the No-Trend Zone concept are Rob Hoffman's publicly taught methods. The overlay set was cross-referenced against UCSgears' open-source "Rob Hoffman - Overlay Set" script. This script is an independent implementation and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Rob Hoffman.
This indicator is for educational purposes and is not financial advice. Past signals do not guarantee future results.
This indicator combines Rob Hoffman's Inventory Retracement Bar (IRB) setup with his moving average overlay set and "No-Trend Zone", and adds a trend gate so IRB signals only fire when the market is actually trending. The idea is simple: trade continuation in a clean trend, and stay out when price is chopping around the averages.
Everything runs on the price chart — no separate pane.
THE INVENTORY RETRACEMENT BAR (IRB)
An IRB is a bar that pushes against the prevailing trend and then closes back in a way that shows the counter-trend move is running out of steam.
- Long IRB: the bar's open AND close are both at least 45% below its high (a long upper wick in an uptrend).
- Short IRB: the bar's open AND close are both at least 45% above its low (a long lower wick in a downtrend).
IRB bars are marked with small triangles. The IRB itself is not the entry — it's the setup.
ENTRY TRIGGER
After an IRB forms, the indicator waits up to 20 bars (adjustable) for price to confirm:
- "Extreme high/low break" (default): entry when price breaks one tick beyond the IRB's high (long) or low (short). This is the classic rule.
- "Close past retracement level": an earlier, more aggressive entry that triggers when a bar closes back through the IRB's 45% retracement level.
If price instead breaks the opposite side of the IRB before triggering, the setup is cancelled. Confirmed entries are labeled "IRB L" / "IRB S".
IRBs with an unusually large range (more than 2x ATR by default) are ignored, since oversized retracement bars tend to fail more often.
MOVING AVERAGE OVERLAY
The full MA set is plotted for context:
- SMA 3 and 5 (fast speed lines)
- EMA 18 and 20 (primary trend lines — the 20 EMA is highlighted in gold)
- SMA 50, SMA 89, EMA 144, SMA 200 (longer-term trend lines)
The ribbon can be hidden if you only want the core lines.
NO-TREND ZONE
The blood-red cloud is the No-Trend Zone: a Keltner-style channel built from a 34-period EMA with a band of 0.45x the EMA-smoothed true range. When price is inside or hugging this zone, the market isn't trending and IRB signals are suppressed.
The band smoothing can be switched to RMA (Wilder ATR). If you want to match the original overlay set exactly, use length 35, multiplier 0.5, and RMA smoothing.
TREND GATE
An IRB only counts when all of these agree:
1. Price has closed outside the No-Trend Zone in the direction of the trade.
2. Price is on the correct side of the 20 EMA — or, optionally, still on the correct side of the 89 EMA anchor, so a deep pullback through the 20 doesn't cancel an otherwise healthy trend.
3. (Optional, on by default) No long IRBs below the 89 EMA anchor and no short IRBs above it.
The gate can be turned off to see every raw IRB bar shape regardless of trend.
Trend angle: Hoffman looks for the 20 EMA sloping at roughly 45 degrees. This is deliberately NOT coded — Pine Script has no access to the chart's pixel scale, so any "degrees" value would change with zoom and wouldn't match what you see. Judge the slope by eye.
TRAILING STOP REFERENCE
A yellow dotted line shows a reference stop: it starts at the IRB's low (long) or high (short) when an entry triggers, then trails at 1.5x ATR while the trend holds, and clears when hit or when the trend is lost. It's a visual guide only and does not manage any position.
ALERTS
Two alert conditions are available: "Hoffman IRB Long Entry" and "Hoffman IRB Short Entry". Signals on the live, unconfirmed bar can change until that bar closes, so "Once Per Bar Close" is recommended when creating alerts.
HOW TO USE IT
- Trade in the direction of the trigger labels only.
- When price is sitting in the red cloud, stand aside — that is the chop the zone exists to keep you out of.
- Look for a clearly sloping 20 EMA; flat averages mean weak continuation.
- Use the IRB's opposite extreme (or the trailing stop line) as a logical stop reference.
CREDITS
The Inventory Retracement Bar setup, the moving average overlay set, and the No-Trend Zone concept are Rob Hoffman's publicly taught methods. The overlay set was cross-referenced against UCSgears' open-source "Rob Hoffman - Overlay Set" script. This script is an independent implementation and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Rob Hoffman.
This indicator is for educational purposes and is not financial advice. Past signals do not guarantee future results.
إخلاء المسؤولية
لا يُقصد بالمعلومات والمنشورات أن تكون، أو تشكل، أي نصيحة مالية أو استثمارية أو تجارية أو أنواع أخرى من النصائح أو التوصيات المقدمة أو المعتمدة من TradingView. اقرأ المزيد في شروط الاستخدام.
إخلاء المسؤولية
لا يُقصد بالمعلومات والمنشورات أن تكون، أو تشكل، أي نصيحة مالية أو استثمارية أو تجارية أو أنواع أخرى من النصائح أو التوصيات المقدمة أو المعتمدة من TradingView. اقرأ المزيد في شروط الاستخدام.