Unfinished Business
Order Flow Analysis glossary · Market Mechanics & Execution
Definition
A price level at which the auction was left incomplete — the extreme of a bar shows bid volume but zero ask volume at the next tick above (or ask volume at the low but zero bid volume one tick below). The market typically returns within one to three sessions to "complete" the auction at that level. The trading rule is to mark unfinished-business levels and watch the footprint on the revisit for acceptance (price moves through with imbalances) or rejection (price reverses with opposing imbalances).
Unfinished Business in plain English
Think of a market like an auction that naturally winds down at its edges — at the very top, buying should fizzle to nothing, and at the very bottom, selling should fizzle to nothing. "Unfinished business" is when that winding-down didn't happen: the high or low of a bar still shows one side trading hard, as if the auctioneer got cut off mid-sentence. Markets tend to come back to that exact price within a session or few to finish what they started, like an unresolved chord that begs to be completed. Traders mark those levels and watch closely on the return: if price punches through, the level is accepted; if it gets slammed back, it's rejected.
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