US stock market · price-structure setup
Gap down on S&P 500
On S&P 500 the gap down showed up 146 times. The target came first 36% of the time, the stop 64%, and 0% went nowhere within 12 candles.
Counted on S&P 500: daily candles from January 2015 and hourly candles from September 2024.
By timeframe
| Timeframe | Found | Target first | Stop first | Went nowhere |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daily | 63 | 32% | 68% | 0% |
| Hourly | 83 | 40% | 60% | 0% |
S&P 500 against the rest
| Charts | Found | Target first | Stop first | Went nowhere |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| S&P 500 | 146 | 36% | 64% | 0% |
| All US stock market charts | 4,695 | 36% | 61% | 3% |
| Every market | 10,856 | 36% | 61% | 4% |
Year by year
| Year | Found | Target first | Stop first |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 10 | 50% | 50% |
| 2019 | 4 | 25% | 75% |
| 2020 | 11 | 45% | 55% |
| 2021 | 6 | 17% | 83% |
| 2022 | 5 | 20% | 80% |
| 2024 | 11 | 27% | 73% |
| 2025 | 52 | 37% | 63% |
| 2026 | 43 | 40% | 60% |
The last 8 times
- 14 Sep 2026, 09:30 ET · hourly · stop first after 2 candles
- 10 Sep 2026, 09:30 ET · hourly · stop first after 7 candles
- 1 Sep 2026, 09:30 ET · hourly · target first after 5 candles
- 1 Sep 2026 · daily · stop first after 2 candles
- 24 Aug 2026, 09:30 ET · hourly · stop first after 2 candles
- 20 Aug 2026, 09:30 ET · hourly · stop first after 1 candle
- 18 Aug 2026, 09:30 ET · hourly · stop first after 7 candles
- 18 Aug 2026 · daily · stop first after 8 candles
Counted by the Trading Class research engine on real past candles: entry at the signal candle's close, target 1.5 × ATR(14), stop 1 × ATR(14), 12 candles to decide, a candle that touches both counts as the stop. How we count. Past data, not a forecast and not advice.
What the gap down is
Price opened below the previous candle's low. It jumped down between the two candles.
Imagine a shop that shuts at night. While it is closed, bad news spreads about a toy, so when the shop opens, the very first price is already below anything paid the day before. On a chart, a candle that starts below the bottom of the candle before it is called a gap down.
The full gap down lesson, video and quiz ›
Other patterns on S&P 500
Inside bar · Stochastic bearish cross · Stochastic bullish cross · MACD bearish cross · Gap up · Spinning top · RSI overbought drop · Doji · EMA 9/21 bullish cross · EMA 9/21 bearish cross · all of them
The gap down elsewhere
Dow Jones · Nasdaq 100 · Alibaba · Tesla · Broadcom · Oracle · Nvidia · Microsoft · Meta · Intel · Sensex · Nifty 50 · Nikkei 225 · Sony
Questions
How often does the gap down work on S&P 500?
In 146 cases on S&P 500, the target (1.5 × ATR) came before the stop (1 × ATR) 36% of the time and the stop came first 64%; 0% went nowhere within 12 candles.
What is the gap down?
Price opened below the previous candle's low. It jumped down between the two candles.