Openings & gaps Both
Opening gap rejected
Opening gap that returns to the old range. The gap fails to attract continued participation.
Read the sequence.
01 / OBSERVE → DECIDE
- ContextOpening gap that returns to the old range
- PressureThe gap fails to attract continued participation
- SetupOpening gap that returns to the old range. Require rejection or acceptance at the marked structure.
- DecisionConfirmation after returning inside the prior range
The decision map
02 / QUICK REFERENCE- Location
- Opening gap that returns to the old range.
- Evidence
- The gap fails to attract continued participation.
- Trigger
- Confirmation after returning inside the prior range.
- Invalidation
- Break beyond the failed opening extreme.
- First objective
- Prior close or nearest internal magnet.
- Pass when
- Expecting every opening gap to fill.
03 / THE FULL ARGUMENT
Thesis & participant logic
Supplied study draft · adapted Brooks-style prose, not a quotation from Al Brooks
ES opened above resistance, but the first breakout failed and price returned into the prior day’s range. Overnight buyers are trapped, and the gap may become a vacuum toward the prior close. I will sell after bearish confirmation inside the old range. My thesis is wrong above the failed opening high. I will target the prior close or another internal magnet.
Mirror this for a gap down that is rejected and reclaimed.
04 / FROM IDEA TO A PLAN
Manage the thesis, not the need to be right.
Before entry
Write the structural invalidation and first realistic objective. Size to the loss you have already accepted, including costs and possible slippage. If the stop is unaffordable, reduce size or pass.
After entry
Reassess follow-through against the evidence above. Do not widen the stop or add because price “has gone too far.” A bounce to your average entry is not a market thesis.
At the objective
Prior close or nearest internal magnet. Decide ahead of time whether to exit or retain a defined remainder. Continue only while structure and follow-through support the trade.
During review
Record the entry-time chart, planned risk, maximum adverse excursion, actual exit, and whether the thesis was invalidated. Judge the decision separately from the outcome.