Concept
Volume Imbalance (VI)

The Body Gap That Fills More Easily Than a True FVG

Bodies, not wicks, leave the gap — a softer imbalance that fills more often than it holds.

Written guide~1 min readBeginner

Before you start: Easiest read alongside Fair Value Gap — same idea, a looser version.

Part of the My Edge Official framework — refined through thousands of hours of chart study.

Not every gap on the chart is a Fair Value Gap. When candle bodies fail to overlap but their wicks still do, you get a softer, more fragile version — the Volume Imbalance.

What's Inside
  1. Core Idea
  2. Why It Exists
  3. How Professionals Read It
  4. Practical Application
Free to read. Add it to your library to keep it at hand and take notes.

Core Idea

A Volume Imbalance forms when the body of one candle doesn't overlap with the body of the adjacent candle, even though their wicks do overlap. In a Fair Value Gap even the wicks of the first and third candle fail to overlap, which is why an FVG is the stronger imbalance.

Why It Exists

Because the wicks overlap, there was still some two-sided trading through the zone — the imbalance is real, but weaker than a true FVG. It marks a spot where trade occurred with a one-sided volume signature rather than a full price vacuum.

How Professionals Read It

Before using a Volume Imbalance, assess: its size relative to the surrounding candles, whether it sits inside a larger Fair Value Gap or stands alone, position relative to other PD Arrays, and timeframe.

Higher priority if the Volume Imbalance: forms during clear displacement, overlaps a Fair Value Gap from the same leg, and sits inside a higher-timeframe zone.

Lower priority if: it's isolated, forms without displacement, or contradicts higher-timeframe context.

Practical Application

⚠️ Treat a Volume Imbalance as the lower-conviction cousin of a Fair Value Gap — expect it to be tapped more completely, and more often, before price actually respects it.

How to Use It

In practice:

  1. Compare candle bodies, not wicks, to confirm it's a Volume Imbalance and not a full Fair Value Gap.
  2. Check whether it overlaps a Fair Value Gap from the same move — overlap raises its priority.
  3. Expect a fuller fill than a typical FVG before looking for continuation.
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