Gapping
Volume Spread Analysis glossary · Effort vs Result & Spread/Close Analysis
Definition
A bar that opens outside the previous bar's range, used by market-makers to reveal directional intent with particular clarity. Weak gap-ups occur when the market-maker marks prices sharply higher at the open (often on good news) to trigger FOMO buying and catch short-sellers' stops, then distributes into the resulting frenzy; these typically show high volume with the spread narrowing into the close. Strong gap-ups occur when the market-maker is bullish and wants to leap over an old trading range, denying locked-in traders the chance to sell at breakeven; these are accompanied by expanding volume and the market does not fall back.
Gapping in plain English
A gap is when a stock opens at a totally different price than where it closed yesterday, skipping right over the in-between prices, like a movie that jump-cuts instead of playing every frame. Market-makers use gaps on purpose to show their hand. A weak gap-up jumps the price sharply higher (often on exciting news) to bait people into buying out of fear-of-missing-out and to trigger short-sellers' safety exits, then the pros quietly sell into that excitement, so you see huge volume but the day's range shrinks toward the close. A strong gap-up happens when the pros are genuinely bullish and leap over an old price zone so trapped earlier buyers can't sell at breakeven, and here volume swells and the price simply does NOT fall back.
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