Gap

A gap is a discontinuity between successive traded price areas, leaving a range with little or no recorded trading on the selected chart.

Gaps often appear after news, market closures, thin liquidity, or abrupt changes in supply and demand. They matter operationally because stop orders can activate beyond their selected levels and market orders may execute far from the prior quote. Technical analysts classify gaps in several ways, but no classification guarantees that price will return to fill the empty range after the event.

A gap can bypass a planned exit price and cause a loss larger than the amount implied by the stop distance.