Gaps - To fill or not to fill23 Jan 2019 14:40
To Fill or Not to Fill
When someone says a gap has been filled, that means the price has moved back to the original pre-gap level. These fills are quite common and occur because of the following:
Irrational exuberance: The initial spike may have been overly optimistic or pessimistic, therefore inviting a correction.
Technical resistance: When a price moves up or down sharply, it doesn't leave behind any support or resistance.
Price Pattern: Price patterns are used to classify gaps and can tell you if a gap will be filled or not.
Exhaustion gaps are typically the most likely to be filled because they signal the end of a price trend, while continuation and breakaway gaps are significantly less likely to be filled since they are used to confirm the direction of the current trend.
When gaps are filled within the same trading day on which they occur, this is referred to as fading. For example, let's say a company announces great earnings per share for this quarter and it gaps up at open (meaning it opened significantly higher than its previous close). Now let's say, as the day progresses, people realize that the cash flow statement shows some weaknesses, so they start selling. Eventually, the price hits yesterday's close, and the gap is filled. Many day traders use this strategy during earnings season or at other times when irrational exuberance is at a high.