Extending the BRSE with Wick-Defined Structural Boundaries: A Four-Hour Gold Evaluation

This study extends the previously published BodyRange State Engine (BRSE) framework by evaluating whether wick-defined structural boundaries materially alter the behavior of the original body-range architecture when applied to four-hour gold data. The baseline implementation retains the original BRSE concept in which completed Heikin-Ashi candle bodies define the operative market structure. The proposed Wick-Boundary Extension, denoted BRSE-WBE, instead uses the complete Heikin-Ashi candle range to establish structural boundaries while retaining completed-body confirmation for valid boundary violations. Both implementations preserve the same deterministic, long-only state-engine architecture, four-hour frequency, standard Heikin-Ashi body-direction classification, completed-bar discipline, real-price execution convention, fixed position sizing, and no-look-ahead requirement. The empirical evaluation covers 1 January 2020 to 1 January 2026 using TVC:GOLD data in TradingView, an initial capital of 5,000 USD, and a fixed research exposure approximately equivalent to 0.01 standard lot of gold. Over the full 2020–2026 window, baseline BRSE generated 2,017.60 USD of net PnL, corresponding to 40.35%, while BRSE-WBE generated 1,931.97 USD, corresponding to 38.64%. Baseline BRSE recorded the lower full-period maximum drawdown, 2.81% versus 3.19%. BRSE-WBE completed substantially fewer trades, 232 versus 331, while recording a higher profit factor, expected payoff, win rate, and Sharpe ratio. The findings indicate that extending BRSE from body-defined to wick-defined structural boundaries materially changes trade frequency and efficiency characteristics without producing uniform superiority across all return and risk measures. The results are specific to the selected 2020–2026 evaluation window and do not establish guaranteed future returns, perfect market timing, independent verification, or institutionally scalable execution.