TradeIQ is an AI trading coach that watches your live charts in real time, calls out trade setups by voice, remembers your history, and helps you become a better trader. It includes a strategy library, trade journal, jargon explainer, and live chart analysis.

How does the AI Coach work?

You share your screen and the AI Coach scans your chart every 30 seconds. It identifies patterns like Fair Value Gaps, MACD crossovers, EMA confluences, and order blocks, then speaks the analysis aloud so you never have to look away from your charts.

How much does TradeIQ cost?

TradeIQ starts at $29/month for the Starter plan (strategy library, journal, jargon). The Trader plan is $79/month and adds the live AI Coach and Strategy Lab. The Pro plan is $149/month with priority AI. All paid plans include a 7-day free trial.

Does TradeIQ work for futures and options traders?

Yes. TradeIQ supports equities, futures (NQ, ES, CL, GC, and more with auto-calculated P&L), and options trading. The trade journal auto-calculates P&L for all asset types and the AI Coach understands all major markets.

Does the AI remember my trades and performance?

Yes. The AI Mentor builds a persistent profile across sessions — it tracks your setups, strengths, weaknesses, risk habits, and goals so every coaching session builds on the last one.

ICT / SMC8 min read · May 1, 2025

Fair Value Gap (FVG) Trading Strategy — Complete Guide

What is a Fair Value Gap?

A Fair Value Gap (FVG) is a three-candle pattern where price moves so fast that it leaves an imbalance — a price range that was never properly traded through. The market tends to return to fill these gaps before continuing in the original direction.

FVGs are a core concept in ICT (Inner Circle Trader) and Smart Money Concepts (SMC) trading. They represent areas where large institutions placed orders so aggressively that normal two-sided trading didn't occur.

How to identify a Fair Value Gap

Look for three consecutive candles:

Candle 1 — any candle

Candle 2 — a large momentum candle (the "impulse")

Candle 3 — a candle whose low (in a bullish FVG) is higher than candle 1's high

The gap between candle 1's high and candle 3's low is the FVG.

Bullish FVG: Candle 3's low > Candle 1's high → price gapped up, potential support on retracement

Bearish FVG: Candle 3's high < Candle 1's low → price gapped down, potential resistance on retracement

How to trade FVGs

Entry: Wait for price to retrace into the FVG zone, then look for confirmation — a rejection candle, a smaller timeframe BOS (break of structure), or a confluence with another level (order block, OTE, premium/discount).

Stop loss: Below the FVG for longs, above the FVG for shorts. A close through the FVG invalidates the setup.

Target: The previous swing high (for longs) or swing low (for shorts). Minimum 1:2 R:R.

Confluence makes FVGs stronger

The highest-probability FVG setups have 2–3 of these:

FVG at a discount (below 50% of the range) for longs, premium for shorts

FVG aligns with a higher-timeframe order block

FVG fills during the kill zone (London open 2–5am ET, NY open 7–10am ET)

Liquidity sweep just before the FVG retracement

Common mistakes

1. Trading every FVG — Not every FVG fills. Focus on FVGs at key structural levels.

2. Entering too early — Wait for price to actually reach the FVG, not just approach it.

3. Ignoring the trend — Bullish FVGs work better in uptrends. Bearish FVGs work better in downtrends.

4. Too small a timeframe — FVGs on the 1-minute chart are noisy. The 5m, 15m, and 1H are most reliable.

FVGs on futures

FVGs are particularly clean on NQ, ES, and CL because these markets move in large impulses driven by institutional order flow. The best FVG setups on NQ often coincide with the NY session open and major news events.

Put this into practice with AI coaching

TradeIQ watches your screen live and calls out these setups in real time — so you never miss them again.

Start 7-day free trial →