Unfinished Business

Unfinished Business detects candles where the high or low had zero volume on one side of the trade (all buys and no sells, or all sells and no buys). These levels represent incomplete auctions — prices where the market did not find two-sided participation. Auction Market Theory holds that price tends to return to unfinished levels to “complete” the auction, making them natural price targets.

​

Auction Market Theory Background

Every trade requires a buyer and a seller. At most price levels, both aggressive buyers (lifting the ask) and aggressive sellers (hitting the bid) are present in some proportion. However, at candle extremes, the market sometimes runs out of participants on one side:

• At the candle high with only buy volume: Aggressive buyers pushed price to this level, but no aggressive sellers met them. The auction was one-sided — it is “unfinished” because the market never tested whether sellers exist at this price.
• At the candle low with only sell volume: Aggressive sellers pushed price to this level, but no aggressive buyers met them. Again, the auction is incomplete.

Unfinished auctions act as magnets for future price action. The market has a natural tendency to revisit these levels to determine whether two-sided trading will occur, effectively “finishing” what was left incomplete.

​

How Detection Works

For each completed candle, the indicator examines the highest and lowest price levels within the cluster data:

1. Check the candle high: Is the volume at the highest price level entirely on one side (all ask volume, zero bid volume)? If yes, the high is an unfinished auction.
2. Check the candle low: Is the volume at the lowest price level entirely on one side (all bid volume, zero ask volume)? If yes, the low is an unfinished auction.
3. Optional clustering: When minClusterCount is greater than 1, the indicator requires multiple candles within maxBarsBetweenClusters bars to have unfinished auctions at similar levels before generating a signal.
4. Reversal confirmation: The barsToConfirmReversal parameter optionally waits for price to move away from the unfinished level before placing the marker, confirming that the level was indeed rejected.

​

Signal Types

The indicator can show two types of levels:

​

Settings

​

Detection Parameters

​

Visual Settings

​

Reading Unfinished Business

​

As Price Targets

The most common use of Unfinished Business is as a collection of price targets. Each unfinished level represents a price where the market “owes” a visit to complete the auction:

• Unfinished highs above current price: Price may rally to these levels to test whether sellers exist there.
• Unfinished lows below current price: Price may drop to these levels to test whether buyers exist there.

When price reaches an unfinished level and two-sided trading occurs (both buys and sells transact), the auction is considered “finished” and the target is consumed.

​

As Reversal Zones

While unfinished levels are targets (price tends to go there), they can also act as reversal zones once reached. When price arrives at an unfinished level and aggressive participation from the other side appears, it often marks a turning point:

• Price rallies to an unfinished high and meets heavy selling — potential short entry.
• Price drops to an unfinished low and meets heavy buying — potential long entry.

​

Clustering Significance

When multiple candles create unfinished business at the same or similar price levels (controlled by minClusterCount and maxBarsBetweenClusters), the level gains significance. A cluster of unfinished auctions at the same price means the market repeatedly failed to find two-sided trading there, increasing the probability of a future visit.

​

Practical Usage

​

Best Timeframes

​

Session-Based Trading

Unfinished Business is particularly effective in a session-based context:

• Opening drive: During the first 30-60 minutes of a session, strong directional moves often create unfinished extremes. These become targets for the remainder of the session.
• Session highs/lows: Unfinished business at the session high or low is a strong magnet. If the high or low was set with one-sided trading, the market frequently revisits it before the session ends.
• Overnight levels: Unfinished levels from the overnight session are often completed during the regular session when liquidity increases.

​

Confluence Setups

Unfinished Business levels gain strength when they coincide with:

• Stacked Imbalance zones: An unfinished level that also has a stacked imbalance provides two independent reasons for price to react.
• Volume Profile LVN: Unfinished business at a low-volume node (gap in the profile) is a double magnet — both the incomplete auction and the thin-liquidity zone attract price.
• Absorption Alpha: When price reaches an unfinished level and absorption is detected, it suggests the auction is being completed with institutional participation.
• Round numbers / psychological levels: Unfinished business at a round number (e.g., $60,000 on BTC) adds a psychological dimension to the order flow signal.

​

Common Pitfalls

• Over-reliance as targets: Not every unfinished level will be revisited. Strong trends can leave many unfinished levels behind that are never completed. Use lookback limits to focus on recent, relevant levels.
• Ignoring volume context: An unfinished level where only 2 contracts traded is far less significant than one where 200 contracts traded one-sided. Consider the absolute volume at the level when assessing signal importance.
• Stale levels: Very old unfinished levels (from days or weeks ago) lose relevance as market conditions change. Use lookbackBars to age out old signals or manually clear them.

​

Finished Auction Tracking

Setting auctionTypeToShow to finished provides a different analytical perspective: instead of showing where price needs to go, it shows where price has already completed previously incomplete auctions. This is useful for:

• Confirming level consumption: Verify that a target was hit and two-sided trading occurred.
• Tracking market efficiency: Markets that quickly complete unfinished auctions are more efficient. Markets that leave many auctions unfinished for extended periods suggest directional imbalance.
• Post-trade review: After a session, switch to finished mode to see which of your anticipated targets were hit.