Event Continuity
Timeframe continuity is built on opening prices, the reference levels where each participation group started. An event during the trading day creates one more reference level of the same kind. The rule: the continuity level for any event is the price at the time the news occurred. It stays solid for the rest of the day. Treat it as if the day had reopened at that price.
It works because news changes the perception of participants and the level of aggression for buying and selling. Everyone trading after the release has new information the morning participants did not, so the pre-event opens are stale positioning, and the event price is the level the newly informed crowd is above or below.
Known and unknown events
Known events are scheduled: weekly oil inventory numbers, Fed minutes and FOMC announcements, earnings releases. Unknown events are unscheduled news that hits during the trading day. Both create an event continuity level the same way; the only difference is that known events can be mapped in advance.
When a scheduled release lands on a timeframe boundary, the event level and the timeframe’s continuity level are the same price. Weekly oil and gas inventory numbers come out at the bottom of the hour (the moment of the flip), so the event level is also the new 60-minute continuity level, and it stays important the rest of the day.
Using event levels
Map the scheduled events each morning before the open, so the new levels do not surprise you. In the trade, read control against the event price exactly as against an open (last sale above it, buyers control; below it, sellers) and take actionable signals around the event levels. An event level either confirms or conflicts with the four opens like any other participation group’s reference: aligned, it adds evidence toward full timeframe continuity; opposed, it is conflict until one side resolves.
On the chart
On the tape: SPY, June 17 2026, an FOMC day. The 2:00 ET decision prints the day’s widest hourly bar, and the price at the moment of the release becomes the level that governs the rest of the session.
Frequently asked
Where exactly is the event continuity level?
At the price the instrument traded the moment the news occurred, not the post-news high or low and not the next bar’s open.
Do earnings gaps create event continuity levels?
Earnings are a known event, and the release price is the event level. When earnings hit outside market hours, the reaction expresses itself at the next open; see the 30-60 gapper for trading that gap.
Related: The Flip · Uncoupling · Full Timeframe Continuity
Back to: Opening Price →
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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