Trend / Momentum
Gap and Go
A stock gaps up hard before the open on news or volume, and the trade is betting the move keeps going once the bell rings instead of filling back in.
Scan the board, then watch the open
Twelve simulated tickers, each with its own gap percentage, relative volume, float size, and catalyst. The continuation score is a weighted formula built from those four factors, explained below the table. Click watch the open on any ticker to play out its first minutes and see whether the score held.
| Ticker | Gap | Rel vol | Float | Catalyst | Score |
|---|
How it works
- The score weighs four factors. Gap size counts for 35% of the score, relative volume for 25%, float size for 20%, and the catalyst behind the move for 20%. A 30% gap on 12x relative volume with real news scores far higher than a 3% gap on 1.2x volume with no catalyst.
- Float size cuts both ways. A small float, under 20 million shares, can run further on the same buying pressure, so it adds points. A large float needs a lot more volume to move the same percentage, so it subtracts points.
- A catalyst means the gap has a reason. Earnings beats, FDA news, and contract wins count as strong catalysts. Upgrades and guidance raises count as moderate. No catalyst at all drags the score down, since a gap with no news behind it is more likely to be short covering or thin-tape noise that fades.
- The score is an odds estimate, not a guarantee. A ticker scored at 80 continues most of the time in this simulation, not every time. Watch enough opens and the scoreboard's continuation rate tracks close to the average score, but any single pick can land on either side of it.
Where this breaks
Gaps fade hard on low-float pumps with no real catalyst
The board's own math shows why this setup is the one to watch for. A small float with high relative volume but no catalyst can still land in the middle of the score range, because float and volume carry weight on their own even without news behind them. That is exactly the combination that fades hardest in practice: a stock got bid up overnight on short covering or momentum-chaser flow, with no earnings, no FDA news, and no fundamental reason for anyone to keep buying once the opening print prints. The first wave of sellers can turn the whole crowd around at once, and the stock gaps down through its own open inside the first few minutes. Watch a handful of no-catalyst tickers on this board and compare their fade rate to the strong-catalyst group. It is not close.