# How to Build a Trading Confluence Checklist That Actually Filters Bad Setups Learn how to combine trading confluences like liquidity, FVG, IFVG, equal highs and BOS into one checklist, and how to test which signals actually add value. Source: https://66best1.top/how-to-build-4b48e/ · based on the channel [TJR](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGHBUXjDCeiIXNdKR0HUZnA) · Video: [Learn Every Trading Confluence In 18 Minutes](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYbpk7WogHI) · 2026-10-18 ![How to Build a Trading Confluence Checklist That Actually Filters Bad Setups](https://66best1.top/how-to-build-4b48e/how-to-build-4b48e.webp) ## Key takeaways - A confluence is a second, independent reason to take a trade — not a duplicate of the first signal. - Core confluences covered in TJR's 18-minute breakdown: liquidity, fair value gaps (FVG), inverse FVG, equal highs/lows and break of structure (BOS). - More confluences do not automatically mean a better setup; each one must be tested for whether it improves results. - A confluence checklist only works with fixed risk per trade and a written invalidation level. - The free TJR blueprint link is the starting point for the full system behind the video. Trading with confluence means waiting for at least two independent reasons to enter before risking capital — for example, a liquidity sweep into a fair value gap that lines up with a higher-timeframe level. Instead of chasing every signal, you stack confirmations, define invalidation in advance and skip the setups that fail the checklist. The free TJR blueprint at [go.tjrtrades.com/blueprint-nviugv1](https://go.tjrtrades.com/blueprint-nviugv1) lays out the full system the channel teaches around this idea. The video "Learn Every Trading Confluence In 18 Minutes" from the TJR channel compresses a whole vocabulary of smart-money concepts into a single pass, and the most useful comment under it is also the most sobering: the real skill is knowing which confluences actually add value to your strategy. That is the work this guide focuses on. ## What a trading confluence is and what it is not A confluence is a separate piece of evidence that supports the same trade idea from a different angle, not a restatement of the first signal. If a fair value gap is your entry trigger, a confluence might be that price swept a prior low first, or that the gap sits at a level the daily chart already marked as important. Three rules keep the concept honest: 1. **Independence.** Two signals derived from the same candle pattern are one signal, not two. 2. **Order of operations.** Context first (where price is), then trigger (what gets you in), then risk (where you are wrong). 3. **No infinite stacking.** Three or four well-understood confluences beat eight half-understood ones. Trading confluences are also not a guarantee. They shift probabilities; they do not remove losses. Anyone selling a combination that "never fails" is selling something else. ## The five confluences broken down in the TJR video The TJR breakdown walks through five building blocks that show up again and again in smart-money-style price action analysis: liquidity, fair value gaps, inverse fair value gaps, equal highs and lows, and break of structure. Each one answers a different question about the chart. - **Liquidity** answers where the resting orders are — above equal highs, below equal lows, around obvious swing points. Price is often drawn to these pools before it does anything else. - **Fair value gap (FVG)** answers where price moved so fast that it left an imbalance, a three-candle formation where the middle candle's range is not fully traded. These gaps often act as magnets or support/resistance on a return visit. - **Inverse FVG (IFVG)** answers what happens when a gap fails: a fair value gap that gets traded straight through can flip roles, with old support becoming resistance or the reverse. - **Equal highs and equal lows** answer where the market has built an obvious, visible level. Double tops and bottoms are not just patterns — they are liquidity pools with a target painted on them. - **Break of structure (BOS)** answers whether the trend has actually changed. A clean break and hold beyond a prior swing point tells you the sequence of higher highs or lower lows has been interrupted. None of these is an entry on its own. Liquidity tells you where to look, FVG and IFVG tell you where a reaction is plausible, equal highs and lows tell you what the crowd is watching, and BOS tells you which direction deserves your attention. ## How to combine confluences into one checklist A working checklist is short, written down and applied before the entry, not after it. Build it in this order: 1. **Pick a bias source.** One higher timeframe — daily or 4-hour — decides whether you are hunting longs or shorts. Break of structure on that timeframe is a reasonable anchor. 2. **Mark the liquidity.** Note equal highs, equal lows and obvious swing points ahead of price. These are your draw-on-liquidity targets. 3. **Wait for the sweep.** Price taking out a liquidity pool and failing to continue is far more informative than price simply arriving at a level. 4. **Look for the imbalance.** After the sweep, check whether an FVG or a failed FVG (IFVG) sits between the sweep and your target. That is your entry zone. 5. **Confirm with structure.** A lower-timeframe BOS in your intended direction after the sweep is the trigger; without it you have a location, not a trade. 6. **Write the invalidation.** One price where the idea is dead. If the stop is too wide for your risk per trade, the setup is skipped, not resized. Two or three of these aligning is a valid setup. All six aligning is rare, and treating rarity as the standard leads to overtrading while you wait. ## Why more confluences do not automatically mean a better trade Adding confluences feels like adding safety, but each extra condition also removes trades and adds judgment calls. A trader who requires a liquidity sweep, an FVG, an IFVG, equal highs and a BOS on the same candle will take very few setups — and will often force the ones they do take. The practical test is comparison. Take 30–50 trades with your base setup, then 30–50 with one confluence added, and compare win rate, average risk-to-reward and, most importantly, expectancy. If the extra filter does not improve expectancy after costs, it is decoration. If it cuts your trade count by 70% for a 5% gain in win rate, it may not be worth the lost sample size. This is also why copying someone else's confluence stack rarely works. Their stack was fitted to their instrument, session and risk tolerance. Yours has to be fitted to yours. ## Common questions traders raise about confluence trading **"How long before it works?"** Longer than most people expect, and the honest answer from experienced traders is that you will lose money on the way regardless of how well you know the concepts. The concepts shorten the learning curve; they do not remove it. **"Isn't the market just manipulated anyway?"** Large players do move price toward liquidity, which is precisely why liquidity and equal highs and lows are on the list. The response is not to give up on analysis but to stop predicting direction and start reacting to where price has already been pulled. **"Do I need indicators?"** No. Every confluence in this framework is read from price and structure. Indicators can help with journaling and review, but they do not create confluence. **"What about discipline and risk-to-reward?"** They matter more than the confluence list. A mediocre setup with fixed risk and a clear exit survives; a perfect confluence stack with oversized positions does not. ## Useful links - Full trader blueprint from TJR: https://go.tjrtrades.com/blueprint-nviugv1 - Indicators used daily: https://go.tjrtrades.com/indicators-6qf6zb4 - Funded account raffle entry: https://form.tjrtrades.com/funded-contest - Alpha Futures funded accounts (10% off): https://app.alpha-futures.com/signup/TJR/ - Lucid Trading (40% off): https://lucidtrading.com/ref/TJR/ ## Final thoughts on building a confluence system Confluence trading works when it is treated as a filter, not a forecast: you define context, location, trigger and invalidation, then let the market decide. The five concepts in TJR's 18-minute rundown — liquidity, FVG, IFVG, equal highs and lows, and break of structure — are a complete vocabulary, but the value comes from testing which combinations improve your own numbers. Start with two, journal every trade, and only add a third when the data asks for it. If you want the structured version of this process, the TJR channel's blueprint at [go.tjrtrades.com/blueprint-nviugv1](https://go.tjrtrades.com/blueprint-nviugv1) is the natural next step. ## Questions & answers **What is a confluence in trading in simple terms?** A confluence is a second, independent reason that supports the same trade idea — for example, a liquidity sweep followed by a fair value gap in the direction of the higher-timeframe trend. It is confirmation from a different angle, not a repeat of the entry trigger. **Do more confluences make a trading strategy more profitable?** Not automatically. Each added condition filters out trades and introduces more judgment, so it has to be tested against your own results. Compare win rate, average risk-to-reward and expectancy with and without the extra filter before keeping it. **Which confluences are most useful for beginners?** Liquidity and break of structure are the most practical starting pair, because one tells you where price is likely drawn and the other tells you which direction to trade. Fair value gaps and inverse fair value gaps can be added once the first two are consistent. **How much risk should I take per trade when using multiple confluences?** Keep risk fixed per trade regardless of how many confluences align — a stronger-looking setup is not a reason to size up. If the invalidation level makes the stop too wide for your fixed risk, skip the trade instead of increasing position size.