Gap Hunter Strategy
Gap Hunter spots stocks that open the trading day with a sharp price gap — the kind caused by overnight news, earnings, or sudden market reactions.
It highlights setups where momentum explodes right from the open and participation surges, showing that traders are repricing the asset in real time.
Designed to catch these early moves with precision, the strategy pairs price gaps with volume confirmation to filter out noise and reveal genuine opportunities worth tracking.
How It Works
A gap occurs when a stock opens significantly higher or lower than its previous closing price — leaving an empty space, or “gap,” on the chart.
These gaps signal a sudden shift in market sentiment, often triggered by earnings reports, analyst upgrades, or breaking news that changes how traders value the stock overnight.
The Gap Hunter Strategy focuses on two conditions that confirm a meaningful move:
These setups can lead to impulsive continuations or short-term corrections as the market digests the new price level.
By combining price displacement with volume acceleration, the strategy filters out false gaps and identifies genuine breakouts worth watching right from the market open.
These gaps signal a sudden shift in market sentiment, often triggered by earnings reports, analyst upgrades, or breaking news that changes how traders value the stock overnight.
The Gap Hunter Strategy focuses on two conditions that confirm a meaningful move:
- Gap % > 3 — the opening price moves more than 3% away from the previous close, indicating a significant sentiment change.
- Volume Ratio (20d) > 1.5 — trading volume exceeds 150% of the 20-day average, confirming that the move is supported by strong participation.
These setups can lead to impulsive continuations or short-term corrections as the market digests the new price level.
By combining price displacement with volume acceleration, the strategy filters out false gaps and identifies genuine breakouts worth watching right from the market open.
How It Looks in the pi-Rate Screener
The example below shows the pi-Rate Screener generated on October 31, 2025, filtered to highlight stocks that met the Gap Hunter criteria — a strong opening gap confirmed by above-average trading volume.
Key columns include:
By combining these fields, you can see how gap-driven setups often continue their initial direction or fill partially before stabilizing — a valuable insight for both breakout and short-term reversal traders.
Key columns include:
- Gap % — the price difference between the previous close and today’s open. Values above 3 % indicate significant sentiment shifts.
- Volume Ratio (20 d) — compares current trading volume with the 20-day average; readings above 1.5 confirm strong participation.
- Signal Score — shows how many of the 10 Pi-Rate strategies aligned on the same day.
- Price Performance % — reflects how those stocks performed as of November 7, 2025, roughly one week after the screener was created.
By combining these fields, you can see how gap-driven setups often continue their initial direction or fill partially before stabilizing — a valuable insight for both breakout and short-term reversal traders.
Historical Transparency
Unlike most market screeners that only show current data, pi-Rate gives you full historical visibility into both indicator values and strategy flags.
Every daily screener is archived and available through a shared Google Drive, allowing you to review any past market snapshot — exactly as it appeared on that day.
This means you can study how Gap Hunter signals evolved after the initial open, track whether gaps held or filled, and verify how volume and sentiment played out over time.
The Price Performance % column reflects the percentage change in each stock’s closing price — measured from the end of the trading day when the screener was created to the most recent available price (delayed by approximately 20 minutes).
All current prices are retrieved directly from Google Finance, ensuring transparency and accuracy of the data source.
With this level of visibility, pi-Rate becomes more than just a screener — it’s a living archive of market reactions, letting you analyze how morning volatility transforms into multi-day trends.
Every daily screener is archived and available through a shared Google Drive, allowing you to review any past market snapshot — exactly as it appeared on that day.
This means you can study how Gap Hunter signals evolved after the initial open, track whether gaps held or filled, and verify how volume and sentiment played out over time.
The Price Performance % column reflects the percentage change in each stock’s closing price — measured from the end of the trading day when the screener was created to the most recent available price (delayed by approximately 20 minutes).
All current prices are retrieved directly from Google Finance, ensuring transparency and accuracy of the data source.
With this level of visibility, pi-Rate becomes more than just a screener — it’s a living archive of market reactions, letting you analyze how morning volatility transforms into multi-day trends.
Try It Daily
The Pi-Rate Screener updates every morning, covering over 6,300 U.S. stocks from NASDAQ, NYSE, and AMEX.
All 80+ indicators are pre-calculated and verified — no code, no setup, no formulas.
Just download, filter, and start exploring fresh market signals every day.
All 80+ indicators are pre-calculated and verified — no code, no setup, no formulas.
Just download, filter, and start exploring fresh market signals every day.
👉 Learn more and access your daily screener at getpirate.io
