CISD: Change in State of Delivery
Also known as: CISD, CSID, change in the state of delivery, delivery state change
What is it?
A change in state of delivery - CISD - is a candle-level confirmation that price has stopped delivering in one direction and started delivering in the other. You mark it from the candles that produced the extreme, not from a swing point. On a EUR/USD 15-minute chart the final leg down is four consecutive down-close candles, opening at 1.0900, 1.0882, 1.0866 and 1.0852. The highest of those four opens is 1.0900, and that is your bullish CISD level.
The four down-close candles open at 1.0900, 1.0882, 1.0866 and 1.0852; the highest open, 1.0900, is the CISD level, and the close at 1.0915 confirms it.
Price then sweeps the 1.0844 low, prints 1.0836, and two candles later closes at 1.0915 - back above 1.0900. That close is the CISD. A bearish CISD is the mirror image: mark the opens of the up-close run that made the high, and wait for a close back below the lowest of them. The difference from a break of structure is what has to happen before the signal fires.
A break of structure needs a prior swing point taken out, which usually costs you another leg of price before you are allowed in. A CISD needs only a close back through the opening of the move that made the extreme, so it triggers earlier and on a much finer grain. That is the trade-off in both directions: you get an earlier entry and a tighter stop, and you also get more signals that fail. Most traders only act on one immediately after a liquidity sweep, and your capital is at risk on every one of them.
Why it matters: A CISD confirms the turn one candle-close after the sweep, so you can enter with a stop just under the low instead of waiting for a full break of structure.
It decides whether you enter at the sweep low or forty pips later on the structure break, which changes the reward-to-risk of the entire trade.
Real-world example
On EUR/USD 15-minute the final down-close run opened at 1.0900. Price swept the 1.0844 low down to 1.0836, then closed at 1.0915 - fifteen pips back above the CISD level.
How SignalBots handles it
SignalBots forex signals publish the entry together with its invalidation level, which is what a CISD entry needs most - a fixed price at which the reversal stops being valid, rather than a judgement call at the candle close. See /risk-warning.
Pro tip
Mark the CISD from candle opens, never from wicks or bodies - the open of the first candle in the down-close run is usually the level, and it is the one most traders mis-mark.
Common pitfalls
Marking the whole down leg instead of the final run of same-direction candles, which sets the level far too high and turns every ordinary pullback into a false trigger.
Frequently asked questions
Is CISD the same thing as CSID?
Yes. The letters get transposed constantly, and both spellings point at the same concept: a change in the state of delivery. Searching either one returns the same model, so treat them as one term.
Which timeframe should I mark the CISD on?
Mark it on the timeframe where the sweep happened and take the close on that same timeframe. A 15-minute CISD confirmed by a 1-minute close is a different signal, fires far more often, and most of that extra frequency is noise.
How is a CISD different from a change of character?
Change of character is the broad label for the first sign a trend has turned, and traders normally confirm it with a swing break. CISD is one specific mechanical way to call that same turn, so it usually prints before the change of character is visible.
Does a wick through the CISD level count?
No. The model is built on the close, because the open of the down-close run has to be reclaimed on a closing basis. A wick above 1.0900 followed by a close back below it leaves the state of delivery unchanged.
Where does the stop go on a CISD entry?
Below the low of the sweep - 1.0836 in the EUR/USD example, not below the 1.0844 level that got taken out. If price trades back through the sweep low, the reversal you confirmed has failed and the setup is done.
Trading involves substantial risk of loss. Historical and backtested results do not guarantee future performance. Read the full risk warning.
