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The Kicker

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Definition A kicking pattern is a gap plus a reversal, akin to a 2-2 reversal play: a long, small-wick bar closing at the extreme of its range, then an opposing kicker bar that gaps away from it, putting the first bar’s participants in an immediate loss. The gap is required. The variation is a partial gap that opens inside the top or bottom 10 to 20% of the setup bar’s range instead of fully outside it. Preference: kickers that trigger back through a previous range.

Structure: the kicking variation is a lower-timeframe (or intraday) gap plus a reversal. The setup bar is a long red or green bar closing at the top or bottom of its range: small wicks. The kicker is the opposing bar that follows. Like the hammer and shooter, it is an actionable signal built on potentially trapped participants.

The bearish kicking pattern: 2u, then the gap down

Trigger: the open of the kicking bar. The setup bar is a long, bright green 2u closing on its highs; the kicker gaps below it and drives back into the previous range. In force below the kicker’s open.

Bearish kicking pattern: a previous range, a long green 2u out on its highs, then a full gap down and a red 2d kicker driving back through the range previous range the target zone — levels of reclaim 2u 2d kicker GAP in force below the kicker’s open TheStrat.AI
2u-2d bearish kicking pattern: the long green 2u goes out on its highs, longs stay long overnight, then the kicker gaps entirely below the 2u’s range and drives back into the previous range. Every 2u long is at an immediate loss below the kicker’s open.

The bullish kicking pattern: 2d, then the gap up

Bullish kicking pattern: a previous range above, a long red 2d out on its lows, then a full gap up and a green 2u kicker driving back toward the range previous range — the target zone above 2d 2u kicker GAP in force above the kicker’s open TheStrat.AI
The mirror: a long red 2d out on its lows below a previous range, then the kicker gaps entirely above the 2d’s range. Overnight shorts are at an immediate loss above the kicker’s open, and the previous range above supplies the pivots to trade back through.

The partial-gap variation

The variation is a smaller gap, not a missing one. The kicker opens inside the top or bottom 10 to 20% of the setup bar’s range instead of fully outside it. Trigger: with a partial gap, the trigger level is the low of the prior bar: the setup bar’s low for the bearish version, its high for the bullish mirror.

Bearish partial-gap kicker: the kicker opens inside the bottom fifth of the long green setup bar’s range, still a gap down from the close 2u bottom 10–20% of the setup bar 2d kicker in force below the prior bar’s low TheStrat.AI
The kicker opens at the gray tick, inside the bottom fifth of the setup bar’s range, well below its close: a gap smaller than the full range. The trigger level is the low of the prior bar, the setup bar.
Bullish partial-gap kicker: the kicker opens inside the top fifth of the long red setup bar’s range, still a gap up from the close 2d top 10–20% of the setup bar 2u kicker in force above the prior bar’s high TheStrat.AI
The kicker opens at the gray tick, inside the top fifth of the setup bar’s range, well above its close: a gap smaller than the full range. The trigger level is the high of the prior bar, the setup bar.

Why it works

For the bullish kicking pattern: price went out on the lows on a long red bar, so shorts stay short overnight while long buyers have been sidelined by falling price. When the gap up occurs, the overnight shorts are put in an immediate loss and must buy to close, and the sidelined longs can now buy as price rises. Buyers taking the offer plus short covering speeds price up: people in losing positions coupled with natural buyers. Vice versa for the bearish pattern. The same forced short-covering mechanism drives the pivot machine gun.

Magnitude and the never-standalone rule

Never trade a kicker as a standalone signal. Kickers are powerful but too large to trade off alone: there is no sensible stop, because we always need an out and the kicker bar by itself is too big to define one. The rule: the 1, 3, and 5-minute timeframes re-confirm the kicking pattern at the open (a hammer, shooter, inside bar, or 2-2 reversal on the 1/3/5 in the kicker’s direction), and you enter using that signal’s trigger and stop mechanics. The re-confirmation lives on the fastest timeframes because the kicker is expected to go nearly instantly: losers have to get out, paired with aggressive buyers or sellers going the same direction as them. Waiting for a 30 or 60-minute confirmation misses the move the pattern exists to catch. You always want two reasons: the kicker supplies the direction and the force, the additional actionable signal supplies the entry and the out. See stop-losses for why every entry must have a defined out.

Magnitude: the kicker does not set its own target. The gap plus reversal traps an entire bar’s worth of participants, so the move it starts is gauged the same way as any continuation: the pivots of the prior range that the reversal is now heading back through (see pivot machine gun and levels of reclaim), with the broadening formation supplying the larger targets, per price discovery and the broadening formation.

Execution rules

Entry: never the kicker alone. The 1/3/5-minute timeframes re-confirm it at the open with a hammer, shooter, inside bar or 2-2 reversal in the kicker’s direction, and you enter on that fast signal’s trigger. Stop: one penny beyond that entry bar’s low or high. The kicker bar itself is too big to define an out. Target: the pivots of the previous range the move is heading back into (the levels of reclaim), read pivot-to-pivot as on the PMG. Full treatment: Types of Reversals.

Related: 2-2 Reversal · Hammer · Shooter · Pivot Machine Gun · 30-60 Gapper
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TheStrat was developed by Rob Smith. These docs are written by Alex Sopa (AlexsOptions) and quote his teaching. Work in progress: spotted an error? Tell Alex.

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