Price Action and Gap Moves

Price action and gap moves covers market-data terms for price action, price gaps, downticks, and new-high or new-low breadth.

Use this branch when the reader needs to describe specific price movement evidence. This content is educational and should not be read as a forecast or individualized trading recommendation.

What This Branch Covers

Decision Lens

These terms describe what happened in the price record. They do not explain why it happened unless the evidence also includes news, liquidity, order imbalance, corporate action, or broader market context.

Move to Session Prices and Price States when the issue is opening price, last sale, high, or unchanged data. Move to Volatility and Overbought Conditions when the issue is movement size or variability.

Evaluation Checklist

• Identify the exact price field, comparison price, lookback period, session, and data vendor.
• Check volume, spread, news, and corporate actions before interpreting the move.
• Confirm whether highs and lows are adjusted or unadjusted.
• Compare the move with a relevant benchmark or sector when context matters.
• Keep the label descriptive unless separate evidence supports a decision.

Common Mistakes

• Calling a price move a gap without checking the reference price and session.
• Treating a downtick as meaningful without volume or sequence context.
• Comparing highs and lows without a defined period.
• Ignoring adjusted data after corporate actions.
• Treating price action as a complete investment thesis.

For broader context, return to Price Action, Gaps, and Tick Moves.

In this section

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