ArdenAlgoPower of three (PO3)
- PO3 frames a session as accumulation, then a manipulation move, then distribution.
- The engine encodes no phase model and never asks which phase the market is in.
- Its sweep-then-shift sequence captures the manipulation-to-distribution turn without naming it.
What the concept says
Power of three splits a period into three acts: a quiet accumulation range, a manipulation push that takes liquidity on one side, and a distribution move in the opposite direction. As a way of describing how many sessions look afterwards, it is genuinely useful.
Why "afterwards" is the problem
Phase labels are easy to place on a finished chart and very hard to place on a forming one. That asymmetry is where hindsight enters, and hindsight is precisely what an engine designed for a pre-registered evaluation cannot afford. If a rule cannot be evaluated bar by bar as bars close, it does not belong in this mechanization.
What the engine does with the same idea
It keeps the part that is observable and drops the part that is narrative. A sweep is the manipulation act made concrete: liquidity taken, rejection printed, all on a closed bar. A structure shift is the distribution act made concrete: the opposing swing broken with displacement, inside a fixed window. No story is required, and none is told.
Common questions
Does the engine track daily open or session ranges?
No. It tracks prior-day and prior-week extremes as liquidity levels, but it has no concept of an accumulation range or a session phase.
Isn't sweep-then-MSS basically PO3?
It rhymes with the middle and last acts: liquidity taken, then direction confirmed. The difference is that the engine never claims to know which phase it is in — it reacts to two events in a fixed order, and if the second never arrives the sequence expires.
Why avoid the phase language?
Because phase labels are almost always applied after the fact, when the shape is already visible. A rule you can only apply in hindsight cannot be pre-registered, and anything that cannot be pre-registered cannot be honestly evaluated here.