SCOB: Single Candle Order Block
Also known as: SCOB, single candle rejection, sweep and reclaim candle, one-bar order block
What is it?
A single candle order block is one candle that both takes liquidity and rejects it: its wick runs the high or low of the candles beside it, and its body closes back inside the prior range. The whole order block is that one candle rather than the usual last down-close or up-close candle before a displacement leg. The logic is the sweep and the reclaim happening in the same bar. A bullish SCOB spikes below a short-term low, sweeps the stops resting there, and closes back above it - the wick is where the liquidity was taken and the body is where the position was built.
One candle does both jobs: the wick to 1.0834 takes the stops under the 1.0842 low, and the 1.0851 close reclaims it - making 1.0850 to 1.0834 the block price returned to before running 28 pips.
You mark the candle's open-to-low range as the block and treat a later return into it as the entry area, with invalidation below the wick. On EUR/USD 5-minute, a candle wicked to 1.0834 - eight pips under the 1.0842 session low - and closed at 1.0851, above the low it had just swept. The 1.0850 to 1.0834 range became the block; price returned to 1.0847 forty minutes later and ran to 1.0879, with the stop 3 pips below the wick at 1.0831. The pattern earns its place because it is fast: you get a defined block and a tight invalidation from one bar, instead of waiting for a full displacement leg to print.
That speed is also the risk. A single candle carries far less evidence than a displacement, so an SCOB with no swept liquidity underneath it and no higher-timeframe array behind it is just a candle with a wick. Your capital is at risk on every one of these.
Why it matters: It gives you a defined order block and a tight invalidation from one candle, so you can act on a sweep the same bar it happens instead of waiting for a full leg.
It compresses a liquidity sweep and an entry zone into a single bar, so the invalidation is tight - but the evidence behind it is thin enough that a bad one fails immediately.
Real-world example
On EUR/USD 5m, one candle wicked to 1.0834 under the 1.0842 session low and closed at 1.0851; price returned to 1.0847 and ran to 1.0879, with the stop 3 pips under the wick.
How SignalBots handles it
SignalBots signals arrive with the entry, stop and target already defined, so a fast intrabar setup like this reaches your platform or Telegram with the invalidation attached rather than needing to be drawn after the candle closes. See /risk-warning.
Pro tip
Only take a single candle order block where the wick actually ran a marked high or low - without swept liquidity beneath it, you are trading a long wick rather than a block.
Common pitfalls
Marking any candle with a big wick as an SCOB, when the pattern requires the wick to sweep a specific prior high or low and the body to close back inside it.
Frequently asked questions
Do I mark the whole candle or just part of it?
Mark from the candle's open to the extreme of its wick for a bullish block, and from open to wick high for a bearish one. The body edge is the first touch area and the wick end is the invalidation.
How is it different from a normal order block?
A normal order block is the last opposing candle before a displacement leg, so it needs the leg to confirm it. A single candle order block carries both the sweep and the rejection in one bar and can be marked as soon as that bar closes.
Which timeframe is best for it?
It is most used on 1- to 15-minute charts, where sweeps happen inside a session. On higher timeframes the same shape exists but the invalidation is wide enough that the tight-stop advantage disappears.
Does the candle have to close back inside the range?
Yes, that close is the whole point. A wick that sweeps a low but closes below it has not reclaimed anything, and the level it broke is more likely to keep acting as resistance.
What invalidates a single candle order block?
A close beyond the wick extreme. Once price closes below a bullish block's low, the sweep has been overrun rather than defended, and the zone should be treated as gone rather than retested.
Trading involves substantial risk of loss. Historical and backtested results do not guarantee future performance. Read the full risk warning.
