Gap
NeutralReliability: MediumAlso called · window, gap up, gap down
An empty area between the previous close and the next open.
How to spot it
- There is a void on the chart where no price traded
- Equities gap at the open; crypto gaps on sharp moves
Why this shape forms
A stretch of price where no trading happened at all. That is why returning to it meets thin support or resistance.
Where it actually means something
Created when information arrives while the market is closed, so they are common in equities and comparatively rare in markets that trade around the clock.
What else to check
Watch over the following days whether it fills. Gaps early in a move often stay open; gaps late in a move fill often.
This means you're wrong
Once the gap fills (price returns), the related scenario is over.
The mistake beginners make
Believing "gaps always fill". Plenty of gaps never do.
Easy to confuse with
The claim that all gaps get filled is not true. The filled ones are simply the ones you remember.
Real examples from the community
Patterns are probabilistic tendencies, not guarantees. This is not investment advice.