Concept
Common Gap
Common Gap is a Chart & Candlestick Patterns concept. The Library holds 1 implementations, each one a working definition you can pull into Quant.
Top Common Gap indicators
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What is a Common Gap?
A common gap (also called an area or pattern gap) is the unremarkable member of the classical gap taxonomy: it opens inside an established trading range or a still-forming pattern, on unexceptional volume, without breaking any structural boundary. In candlestick vocabulary any gap, this one included, is called a rising or falling window; the term does not distinguish gap types. Because nothing about the auction changed, the classical expectation is that it fills quickly and carries little forecasting weight.
The label is partly retrospective. A gap earns 'common' from where it occurs (inside structure) and from what fails to follow it (no volume expansion, no follow-through). It functions as the null hypothesis of gap analysis: the classification a gap keeps until location, volume, or continuation argue for breakaway, runaway, or exhaustion instead.
How traders use it
- Fill-side trades: because a common gap sits inside a range with no new commitment behind it, traders treat the gap fill as the base case and fade back toward the window.
- As a discipline filter: classifying a gap as common prevents treating every gap open as a breakout signal, which matters in instruments that gap routinely.
- Minor level bookkeeping: until filled, the gap's edges serve as small intraday references inside the range.
Related concepts · Gap taxonomy
Concept family
Chart & Candlestick Patterns
84 concepts mapped · 46 in the Library
Common Gap FAQ
Do common gaps always fill?
No. Classical texts say most fill quickly, and inside a range that is the sensible default, but it is a tendency, not a rule. A common gap that refuses to fill while volume and follow-through build is telling you the classification was wrong, and the gap should be re-read as breakaway rather than faded.
What is the difference between a common gap and a breakaway gap?
Position and evidence. A common gap opens inside an established range on ordinary volume and tends to fill; a breakaway gap opens through the boundary of a structure on expanded volume and tends to run. Since both begin as an open beyond the prior bar's range, the distinction only firms up as follow-through arrives or fails.
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