Mastering FVG and OB: Your guide to imbalances and tradesEthereum / TetherUSBINANCE:ETHUSDTTrade_Logic_AILet’s talk about one of my favorite “simple but not easy” setups: FVG + OB, or in human language – imbalance → return → continuation. You’ve seen it a hundred times, you just didn’t know it has a name. Price flies in one direction, leaves a “gap” in the candles, comes back later to that zone, taps it like a trampoline and then continues the move. That’s the whole idea. Now let’s break it down so you can actually trade it – not just admire it in hindsight. 1. What’s an FVG in normal-people terms Fair Value Gap = imbalance = a spot where price moved too fast and didn’t trade “properly” in between. On a chart it’s usually: - a strong candle - with almost no overlap between its wick and the wicks of the previous/next candle Visually it feels like price “teleported” a bit. That vacuum is where liquidity is missing. Markets hate that. They like balance. So price often comes back later to “fill” or partially mitigate that gap. You don’t need a complicated script here – your eyes are enough: see a big impulsive candle with a clear block of empty price between neighboring candles → that’s your FVG. 2. What’s an Order Block in this context Order Block = the last “opposite” candle before a strong move. - For a bullish setup: the last bearish candle before a strong move up - For a bearish setup: the last bullish candle before a strong move down The story behind it: Big players accumulate or dump there, then launch the move. When price revisits that block later, those big guys often defend their zone. Again, keep it simple: Strong impulse + clear last opposite candle before it = potential OB. 3. The setup logic: imbalance → return → continuation Let’s take a bullish example. Step 1 – Imbalance (FVG) Price chops around, then suddenly: - big bullish candle blows through recent highs - leaves a clean FVG under current price - and that big candle was launched from a small bearish candle (our potential bullish OB) So we have: - OB below - FVG wrapped around / near that OB - impulsive move away That’s the “imbalance” phase. Step 2 – Return (the juicy part) Price usually doesn’t just go vertical forever. It: - stalls - pulls back - and often returns to the FVG / OB area Here’s where most beginners get wrecked: They buy the top of the impulse and then panic-sell when price pulls back to… the exact level where smart money is entering. Your job isn’t to chase the candle with the biggest body. Your job is to wait for price to revisit your zone. Patience is the only free edge in this market. For a bullish setup I personally look for: - price retracing into the FVG - ideally tagging the OB or its upper half - slowing down there: smaller candles, wicks, rejection, maybe a small structure shift on lower timeframe Step 3 – Continuation If the story is real, not a fake: - price reacts from the OB/FVG zone - resumes in the original direction - takes out recent highs (bullish) or lows (bearish) That “continuation” is the part you want to ride. 4. How I structure it (very basic blueprint) Bullish version: 1) Identify a strong move up with: - clean FVG under price - clear last bearish candle as OB 2) Mark the FVG and OB zone 3) Wait for price to pull back into that zone 4) On touch / rejection: - entry near the OB/FVG - stop below the OB low - target the high that the impulse created, and then maybe extension Bearish – just flip everything: - impulse down - FVG above price - last bullish candle as OB - pullback into that block + FVG - continuation down 5. Common beginner mistakes - Treating every little gap as a holy FVG Not every three-candle gap is a setup. I care about those created by a strong, meaningful impulse that breaks something: a range, a high/low, a clear level. - Entering on first touch with zero context Are we trading into a higher-timeframe level against you? Are we in the middle of nowhere? M1 FVG inside H4 chop is not the same as M1 FVG aligned with H4 trend. - No invalidation idea If price slices through your OB like butter and closes beyond it – your idea is cooked. Exit. “Maybe it will come back” is not risk management. 6. Timeframe combo that helps For learning: - mark FVG + OB on higher timeframes (H1, H4) - refine entries on lower (M5, M15) Higher timeframe = story. Lower timeframe = timing. Later, when your eye is trained, you’ll see them everywhere. And you’ll ignore 90% of them – that’s the real skill. 7. Final thought This whole FVG + OB thing is not magic. It’s just a structured way of saying: “Price moved too fast from a place where big orders likely sat. If it comes back there and shows me respect, I’ll join the original move.” Maybe I’m wrong, but most traders don’t lose because the setup is bad – they lose because they can’t wait for the “return” part and they marry the trade when the “continuation” fails. Spot the imbalance. Wait for the return. Trade the continuation. Everything else is noise.