The Four Hard Gates

A high score with a failed gate is not a weaker signal — it is NO signal. Gates are vetoes. The system enforces four:

Gate 1 — HTF bias alignment

Counter-trend signals are hard-blocked. If the higher timeframe is bull, no shorts fire. If bear, no longs. The same EMA stack that pays 2 score points also holds veto power: the score version rewards alignment, the gate version forbids opposition. You can disagree with the tide in your head; the system will not let you do it in a signal.

Gate 2 — Risk-Reward ≥ 1.2

Computed from the proposed TP1 and SL before the signal is allowed to exist. If the structure forces a stop so wide that TP1 cannot pay at least 1.2× the risk, the setup is mathematically unattractive no matter how pretty the chart is — blocked.

Gate 3 — Cooldown

Same-side signals must wait a minimum gap. One sweep event = one trade thesis; without a cooldown, a churning market re-fires the same idea five times and turns one planned loss into five unplanned ones.

Gate 4 — CME gap respect

The system will not signal counter-gap while an open weekend gap is exerting pull. The 1-point score version rewards a clean field; the gate version refuses to fight a magnet.

Why vetoes instead of penalties: a penalty can be outvoted by other dimensions. These four conditions represent cases where the trade is structurally broken, and structurally broken setups should not be rescuable by a good BBWP reading.