New Day Opening Gap (NDOG)

Definition

New Day Opening Gap (NDOG) is the unfilled price gap measured by the close of the 14:59 EST candle (considered the effective prior session close) and the open of the 18:00 EST candle (session open). The price range between these levels forms a gap zone, the midpoint of which is the Consequent Encroachment (CE). Price may retrace into this gap zone and especially toward the CE as it hunts liquidity.

Why It Matters

NDOG is a recurrent reference level in ICT methodology because it represents an imbalance between two session benchmarks (14:59 close and 18:00 open). Over time this zone and its midpoint (CE) tend to act as magnets for price — offering situational bias, potential reaction zones, and structured context for entries when combined with lower timeframe confirmation.

How to Identify

1. Set your chart timezone to New York time (EST/EDT).
2. Identify the close of the 14:59 EST candle — this is treated as the effective prior session close in ICT gap logic.
3. Identify the open of the 18:00 EST candle — this is the true new session open.
4. Calculate the NDOG zone as the price range between the 14:59 close and the 18:00 open when they differ.
5. Compute the Consequent Encroachment (CE) as the 50% midpoint of this gap zone using a Fibonacci 50% or simple midpoint calculation.
6. Label the high and low of the zone as NDOG_high and NDOG_low based on the larger and smaller of the 14:59 close vs 18:00 open.

How to Trade

1. Determine higher timeframe bias (bullish or bearish) using structure on the 1H/4H/Daily.
2. Use NDOG as an intraday reference: if price is above the gap and bias is bullish, look for retracements down to NDOG_low or CE for potential long setups with lower timeframe confirmation (MSS/BOS).
3. If price is below the gap and bias is bullish, treat NDOG as a potential draw on liquidity — wait for price to reclaim above the zone before considering bullish entries.
4. If bias is bearish and price is below the gap, wait for retracement up to NDOG_high or CE with bearish confirmation before selling.
5. If bias is bearish and price is above NDOG, treat the gap as draw on buy-side liquidity; wait for price to close below before considering bearish setups.
6. Always combine NDOG reference with lower timeframe confirmation (MSS/BOS, PD arrays, rejection signals) — do not trade solely on NDOG.
7. Use appropriate invalidation levels beyond NDOG extremes and structure swing levels. Target liquidity clusters and session highs/lows.

Common Confusions

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