This indicator uses a histogram to represent "fair value gaps" ("FVG"). FVG is a popular pattern among modern traders.
This document describes the purpose of the script and discusses the conceptual meaning of "fair value," as well as the connotations attached to it.
█🚀 Based on the previous script - improved clarity
This indicator is a modified version of the "Three Bar Gap (Simple Price Action - with 1 line plot)" indicator, which is also available as open source and can be applied to a chart as a complementary tool along with this indicator.
Differences:
█🚀 Candlestick patterns - revisited
This script calculates the displacement of highs and lows over three consecutive bars.
█🚀 Parameters
Core Functionality
The purpose of this indicator is to generate bins representing the magnitude of FVGs in the form of a histogram to facilitate the visualization of price movements.
The act of "finding FVGs" does not require any inputs, but users can still customize the colors of the bins to indicate the direction of movement.
Auxiliary functionality: “Key level finder” by searching for large FVGs
The following inputs are optional, in fact, the entire feature can be toggled on/off.
In this example, setting the lookback at 20 means the script will generate a signal if the current histogram bin is taller than all previous bins over the past 20 bars.
█🚀 Applications
█🚀 FAQ: Does it repaint?
No. And please continue reading.
Bins are plotted with a one-bar delay. It only takes one bar for the FVG to become confirmed. Lag is beneficial because it clarifies the need for traders to wait for the bar to close and for the signals to become confirmed before entering or exiting a trade. Experienced traders know that prices tend to retrace, so there is no need to chase. An added bar of delay proves to be useful.
█🚀 Opinion: The term “fair value” can be misleading
Those who come from traditional finance may find the term "fair value gap" somewhat insulting. When encountering the phrase, it can feel like a group of aliens from "Planet Technical Analysis" have intrusively landed on your planet and assertively redefined what "fair value" is supposed to mean.
So, what does "fair value" mean in the realm of technical analysis?
In the world of corporate finance, "fair value" is a subjective estimate of what buyers and sellers are hypothetically willing to pay or accept. Buy-side and sell-side analysts use their own methodologies to determine what constitutes "fair value". These approaches may be based on income, asset, or market comparables. Regardless of the approach used, subjectivity is inherent, and results depend on fundamental data provided by the numbers on financial statements. Valuations are unrelated to candlestick patterns.
When dealing with financial statements, finance professionals who are non-market-participants, such as those working in group reporting practices for reporting issuers, or those hired as external auditors, as required by regulators, may also question what constitutes "fair value". The main concerns always revolve around the assumptions used in valuation models; these are inputs that ultimately require management's judgment, and if not critically questioned, valuations as reported in the statements could end up becoming materially bogus. Both IFRS and U.S. GAAP define "fair value" with the same intended meaning in terms of definitions. We will not delve into the details here. The main point is that "fair value" from a financial reporting perspective has nothing to do with candlesticks.
If a price is already quoted in an actively traded market, you can refer to it to obtain what is known as "mark-to-market". This involves simply referring to the bid or ask price on the reporting date, and you're done - there's no need to read candlesticks!
"Fair value" is a neutral term used by finance professionals in all domains. It is not meant to imply that something is actually "fair." Paying the "fair value" for an asset can still result in overpaying or underpaying for what the asset is worth, depending on different model assumptions. The point is, candlesticks are irrelevant to the analysis of what is considered "fair value" in the realm of traditional finance.
That being said, there is no definitive answer as to why people refer to this pattern as a "fair value gap". It's like one of those oddball interview questions asking you to explain why tennis balls are fuzzy. Whatever answer you give, it's important to note that the subject itself is trivial.
Emphasis of matter on why "fair value" can be misleading
The previous paragraphs were not intended to attack ideas from the realm of technical analysis, nor to assert the true meaning, or lack of meaning, of the term "fair value". Words are constantly evolving. If the term "fair value gap" becomes more widely used to describe the displacement of highs and lows over three bars, then let's call it a "fair value gap".
To be clear, I argue that the term "fair value gap" should not be given a positive connotation. Traders should interpret the word "fair" neutrally. Although these signals occur frequently, if you trade every time there is a signal, you will overtrade and incur astronomical transaction costs over the long run, which can lead to losses.
█🚀 Conclusion:
In the end, what matters is how you apply FVG to trading. As mentioned in the "Applications" section above, traders should look for large FVGs - indicated by tall histogram bins - to identify key levels.
This document describes the purpose of the script and discusses the conceptual meaning of "fair value," as well as the connotations attached to it.
█🚀 Based on the previous script - improved clarity
This indicator is a modified version of the "Three Bar Gap (Simple Price Action - with 1 line plot)" indicator, which is also available as open source and can be applied to a chart as a complementary tool along with this indicator.
Differences:
- The previous version introduced a "Threshold filter" to reduce the number of lines plotted on charts. This filter introduced two additional parameters for users to consider (ATR length and multiplier). These parameters made the indicator more complicated than intended.
- To address this issue of having too many lines in the former version, I proposed a spin-off on this version: It's to consider plotting the magnitude of the FVGs on a histogram instead of using lines on a price chart. In my opinion, a histogram is more suitable for decision-making because it lays out data points side-by-side as bins, which makes comparisons much clearer.
- Minor FVGs are expected to have smaller bins compared to their neighboring bins, and in extreme cases, the bins will become seemingly invisible due to the auto-adjusted scale of the y-axis. Therefore, there is no need to filter out any data, and all FVGs can be included in this spin-off version.
█🚀 Candlestick patterns - revisited
This script calculates the displacement of highs and lows over three consecutive bars.
- A) Down move: When the high of the recent-confirmed bar is lower than the low of the previous-previous candle.
- B) Up move: When the low of the recently-confirmed bar is higher than the high of the previous-previous candle.
█🚀 Parameters
Core Functionality
The purpose of this indicator is to generate bins representing the magnitude of FVGs in the form of a histogram to facilitate the visualization of price movements.
The act of "finding FVGs" does not require any inputs, but users can still customize the colors of the bins to indicate the direction of movement.
Auxiliary functionality: “Key level finder” by searching for large FVGs
The following inputs are optional, in fact, the entire feature can be toggled on/off.
█🚀 Applications
- Tall histogram bins = key levels.
- Traders should observe key levels for entry or exit opportunities.
- It is important to note that this indicator was designed for standard time-based charts.
- On a separate note, FVGs will not appear in Renko charts with fixed-size bricks. This is because the bricks align with their neighboring bricks. When the bricks are fixed, any displacement between highs and lows within less than or equal to three bars will be zero.
- The concept of a "gap" is used to illustrate that price follows a jump-diffusion process, and time intervals can be assigned arbitrarily on the x-axis without needing fixed intervals. This idea was briefly discussed in the previous script's write-up.
█🚀 FAQ: Does it repaint?
No. And please continue reading.
Bins are plotted with a one-bar delay. It only takes one bar for the FVG to become confirmed. Lag is beneficial because it clarifies the need for traders to wait for the bar to close and for the signals to become confirmed before entering or exiting a trade. Experienced traders know that prices tend to retrace, so there is no need to chase. An added bar of delay proves to be useful.
█🚀 Opinion: The term “fair value” can be misleading
Those who come from traditional finance may find the term "fair value gap" somewhat insulting. When encountering the phrase, it can feel like a group of aliens from "Planet Technical Analysis" have intrusively landed on your planet and assertively redefined what "fair value" is supposed to mean.
So, what does "fair value" mean in the realm of technical analysis?
In the world of corporate finance, "fair value" is a subjective estimate of what buyers and sellers are hypothetically willing to pay or accept. Buy-side and sell-side analysts use their own methodologies to determine what constitutes "fair value". These approaches may be based on income, asset, or market comparables. Regardless of the approach used, subjectivity is inherent, and results depend on fundamental data provided by the numbers on financial statements. Valuations are unrelated to candlestick patterns.
When dealing with financial statements, finance professionals who are non-market-participants, such as those working in group reporting practices for reporting issuers, or those hired as external auditors, as required by regulators, may also question what constitutes "fair value". The main concerns always revolve around the assumptions used in valuation models; these are inputs that ultimately require management's judgment, and if not critically questioned, valuations as reported in the statements could end up becoming materially bogus. Both IFRS and U.S. GAAP define "fair value" with the same intended meaning in terms of definitions. We will not delve into the details here. The main point is that "fair value" from a financial reporting perspective has nothing to do with candlesticks.
If a price is already quoted in an actively traded market, you can refer to it to obtain what is known as "mark-to-market". This involves simply referring to the bid or ask price on the reporting date, and you're done - there's no need to read candlesticks!
"Fair value" is a neutral term used by finance professionals in all domains. It is not meant to imply that something is actually "fair." Paying the "fair value" for an asset can still result in overpaying or underpaying for what the asset is worth, depending on different model assumptions. The point is, candlesticks are irrelevant to the analysis of what is considered "fair value" in the realm of traditional finance.
That being said, there is no definitive answer as to why people refer to this pattern as a "fair value gap". It's like one of those oddball interview questions asking you to explain why tennis balls are fuzzy. Whatever answer you give, it's important to note that the subject itself is trivial.
Emphasis of matter on why "fair value" can be misleading
The previous paragraphs were not intended to attack ideas from the realm of technical analysis, nor to assert the true meaning, or lack of meaning, of the term "fair value". Words are constantly evolving. If the term "fair value gap" becomes more widely used to describe the displacement of highs and lows over three bars, then let's call it a "fair value gap".
To be clear, I argue that the term "fair value gap" should not be given a positive connotation. Traders should interpret the word "fair" neutrally. Although these signals occur frequently, if you trade every time there is a signal, you will overtrade and incur astronomical transaction costs over the long run, which can lead to losses.
█🚀 Conclusion:
In the end, what matters is how you apply FVG to trading. As mentioned in the "Applications" section above, traders should look for large FVGs - indicated by tall histogram bins - to identify key levels.
Versionshinweise:
New feature: Ability to make bars associated with insignificant FVGs more transparent.
Clarification:
// This indicator uses a bar chart*** to represent "fair value gaps" ("FVG").
// *** Typo: Contrary to what the name in the original write-up suggests, This is a bart chart (not a histogram)***
// Histograms are used to represent the distribution of a dataset. On the other hand, bar charts are used to compare discrete values (In this case, we are displaying the magnitude of the FVG).
Clarification:
// This indicator uses a bar chart*** to represent "fair value gaps" ("FVG").
// *** Typo: Contrary to what the name in the original write-up suggests, This is a bart chart (not a histogram)***
// Histograms are used to represent the distribution of a dataset. On the other hand, bar charts are used to compare discrete values (In this case, we are displaying the magnitude of the FVG).
Versionshinweise:
- Change: Display bar chart values as percentile rank instead of absolute value. Absolute values can be difficult to read when the scale is stretched.
- New feature: A histogram that shows the distribution of magnitudes. This histogram is located at the last bar, on the right-hand side.
- New feature: A histogram that shows the distribution of magnitudes. This histogram is located at the last bar, on the right-hand side.