US stock market · price-structure setup
Gap up on S&P 500
On S&P 500 the gap up showed up 177 times. The target came first 40% of the time, the stop 49%, and 11% 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 | 52 | 46% | 46% | 8% |
| Hourly | 125 | 38% | 50% | 12% |
S&P 500 against the rest
| Charts | Found | Target first | Stop first | Went nowhere |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| S&P 500 | 177 | 40% | 49% | 11% |
| All US stock market charts | 5,183 | 41% | 53% | 6% |
| Every market | 12,768 | 40% | 54% | 6% |
Year by year
| Year | Found | Target first | Stop first |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 5 | 20% | 80% |
| 2018 | 4 | 25% | 75% |
| 2019 | 7 | 57% | 29% |
| 2020 | 9 | 33% | 56% |
| 2022 | 4 | 50% | 25% |
| 2023 | 4 | 75% | 25% |
| 2024 | 14 | 43% | 50% |
| 2025 | 69 | 41% | 49% |
| 2026 | 60 | 38% | 48% |
The last 8 times
- 21 Sep 2026, 09:30 ET · hourly · target first after 2 candles
- 17 Sep 2026, 09:30 ET · hourly · went nowhere
- 16 Sep 2026, 09:30 ET · hourly · target first after 2 candles
- 11 Sep 2026, 09:30 ET · hourly · stop first after 7 candles
- 3 Sep 2026, 09:30 ET · hourly · target first after 1 candle
- 27 Aug 2026, 09:30 ET · hourly · target first after 3 candles
- 25 Aug 2026, 09:30 ET · hourly · went nowhere
- 21 Aug 2026, 09:30 ET · hourly · target first after 2 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 up is
Price opened above the previous candle's high. It jumped up between the two candles.
Imagine a shop that shuts at night. While it is closed, everyone hears great news about a toy, so when the shop opens, the very first price is already above anything paid the day before. On a chart, a candle that starts above the top of the candle before it is called a gap up.
The full gap up lesson, video and quiz ›
Other patterns on S&P 500
Inside bar · Stochastic bearish cross · Stochastic bullish cross · MACD bearish cross · Spinning top · Gap down · RSI overbought drop · Doji · EMA 9/21 bullish cross · EMA 9/21 bearish cross · all of them
The gap up 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 up work on S&P 500?
In 177 cases on S&P 500, the target (1.5 × ATR) came before the stop (1 × ATR) 40% of the time and the stop came first 49%; 11% went nowhere within 12 candles.
What is the gap up?
Price opened above the previous candle's high. It jumped up between the two candles.