ICT Fair Value Gaps (FVG)
Marks ICT fair value gaps – three-candle price imbalances – as boxes that run until price returns to them, and shows when they are completely filled.
What you see
Each fair value gap (FVG) is a box that starts at the candle completing the gap:
- Green: a bullish gap price has not returned to yet. It extends to the right edge of the chart.
- Red: a bearish gap price has not returned to yet.
- Orange: a gap price has touched but not filled. The box ends at the touching candle.
- Filled gap: a faint green or red box up to the first touch, followed by a faint grey box up to the candle that filled it completely.
How it works
An FVG is a three-candle pattern:
- Bullish: the low of the third candle is above the high of the first candle. The gap is the range between the first candle's high and the third candle's low.
- Bearish: the high of the third candle is below the low of the first candle. The gap runs from the third candle's high to the first candle's low.
A gap only counts if its height is at least min. Size % of the third candle's close. After that, each gap is followed candle by candle. A bullish gap is touched when a low reaches its top and filled ("killed") when a low reaches its bottom; a bearish gap is touched when a high reaches its bottom and filled when a high reaches its top.
With Detect All Timeframes on, the search also runs on groups of consecutive chart candles (see the TF Multiplier settings). Groups are counted from the first loaded candle, not aligned to clock time, and gaps of all group sizes are drawn together. With Merge overlapping FVGs on, overlapping gaps of the same direction become one zone.
How to read it
In ICT terms an FVG marks a fast, one-sided move that left little two-way trading. Price often comes back to such gaps: an untouched bullish gap is a potential support zone, an untouched bearish gap a potential resistance zone, and the first touch is where traders watch for a reaction. A gap that price trades straight through has lost that role.
The minimum size is a percentage of price, so a value that suits daily charts hides most gaps on minute charts – lower it there.
Using it in strategies
The open gaps are available as outputs in the Trade Setup and in WickScript: bullTop / bullBottom describe the open bullish gap nearest to the close, bearTop / bearBottom the nearest open bearish gap – empty while there is none. bullNew / bearNew are 1 on the candle that completes a new gap, and bullOpen / bearOpen count the open gaps (zones with Merge overlapping FVGs).
A gap appears from its third candle and leaves the outputs on the candle that fills it, so backtests never see it early. Typical uses: enter long when the low dips into the nearest bullish gap (low below bullTop) with the stop under bullBottom, or filter shorts to candles below an open bearish gap. In WickScript: use indicator "ICT FVG" with minSizePercent 0.1 as fvg, then fvg.bullTop.
Settings
Open the settings with the slider icon next to the indicator (Indicators, F3). Numeric settings can be swept as Step 1 / Step 2 parameters when you run a strategy.
Inputs
| Setting | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| min. Size % | Number | 1 | Minimum gap height as a percentage of the third candle's close. 0 shows every gap. (min 0) |
| TF Multiplier Steps Quantity | Number | 1 | Number of candle-group sizes searched when Detect All Timeframes is on: groups of 1, 1 + width, 1 + 2 × width … candles. 1 searches the chart candles only. (min 1) |
| TF Multiplier Steps Width | Number | 1 | Step between the group sizes. With width 4 and quantity 3, gaps are searched on single candles, on groups of 5 and on groups of 9 candles. (min 1) |
| Detect All Timeframes | On/off | on | Also search groups of chart candles (see the two TF Multiplier settings). Off: chart candles only. |
| Merge overlapping FVGs | On/off | on | On: overlapping gaps of the same direction are drawn as one zone. The zone takes its shape from the candle where a gap joins it or one of its gaps is filled, so it never shows a later price range early. Off: every gap is drawn on its own. |
Styles
| Setting | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Line Color | Color | #64fbcf |
Outputs
These values can be used in Trade Setup triggers, filters and exits (see Trade Setup) and in WickScript.
| Output | In WickScript | Description |
|---|---|---|
| bullTop | bullTop | Top of the open bullish gap nearest to the close (the close itself may be inside it). |
| bullBottom | bullBottom | Bottom of that gap – it is filled once a low reaches it. |
| bearTop | bearTop | Top of the open bearish gap nearest to the close – it is filled once a high reaches it. |
| bearBottom | bearBottom | Bottom of that gap. |
| bullNew | bullNew | 1 on the candle that completes a new bullish gap, otherwise 0. |
| bearNew | bearNew | 1 on the candle that completes a new bearish gap, otherwise 0. |
| bullOpen | bullOpen | Number of open bullish gaps (zones when merged). |
| bearOpen | bearOpen | Number of open bearish gaps (zones when merged). |
Use in WickScript
use indicator creates this indicator inside a script, with settings by their ID. Each output is a field of the name after as. See WickScript indicators.
wickscript 1
indicator "ICT Fair Value Gaps (FVG) from the list" on chart
use indicator "FVG" with minSizePercent 1 as myFvg
show myFvg.bullTop as line "bullTop"