Island Reversal
An island reversal forms when a gap in one direction is followed, after one or more sessions, by a gap in the opposite direction, leaving a cluster of bars stranded as an island on the chart. It marks an abrupt reversal in sentiment, with everyone who traded in the island zone left offside.
- Bias
- Bullish
- Category
- Gaps & Islands
- Scan cadence
- Every close
What has to be true for a Island Reversal to trigger
- A gap in one direction
- One or more sessions trading in that isolated zone
- A gap back in the opposite direction
- Both gaps remaining unfilled, leaving the island stranded
How PatternGrade grades it
Larger gaps on both sides and a cleaner, tighter island raise the grade.
Every scanner grades its hits A+, A or B from the pattern's own measurable structure. The grading is deterministic — the same chart always produces the same grade. It describes how closely the chart matches the pattern, not how likely anything is to happen; no hit rate or probability is attached to a grade. The reasoning is set out in the methodology.
What a Island Reversal looks like in practice
A stock gaps down from $27.10 to $24.60 on bad news and then trades between $23.80 and $25.20 for six sessions. On the seventh it gaps up from $24.90 to $27.40, above the top of that six-day cluster and back into the pre-gap range. Those six sessions now sit alone on the chart, with untraded space on both sides. That is an island.
How a Island Reversal fails
The second gap fills and price returns to the island. That collapses the pattern entirely: the isolation that defined it is gone, and what remains is a volatile two-week range. Islands are also rare and easy to over-identify. A small gap on one side and a marginal one on the other is not an island, and loose criteria produce a lot of false ones.
What this pattern is telling you
Island reversals are rare and, because they are defined by two gaps, they are usually news-driven on both ends. The signal arrives after a large move has already happened.
PatternGrade is not a financial advisor and does not give buy or sell recommendations. Targets and stops shown on a pattern are reference levels derived from its geometry, not advice.
How to scan for Island Reversal setups
PatternGrade rescans every liquid US stock (~4,500 names) for this pattern after every close and returns the hits as a graded list, with the pattern drawn on each chart, so you review setups rather than hunt for them.
Join the waitlist to be invited when sign-ups reopen and see the current Island Reversal list, or browse all 75 patterns.
Island Reversal FAQ
What is an island reversal pattern?
A group of sessions isolated by a gap on each side, one entering the zone and one leaving it in the opposite direction, marking an abrupt reversal in sentiment.
What is an island reversal?
A cluster of sessions separated from the surrounding price action by a gap on each side, pointing in opposite directions. Price gaps away, trades in isolation for a few sessions, then gaps back, leaving the intervening bars stranded like an island on the chart.
How many sessions can the island contain?
Anywhere from one to a couple of weeks. A single-session island is sometimes called a one-day reversal. The longer the island, the more people are trapped inside it, which is the argument for it mattering.
Are island reversals reliable?
They are rare, and when they occur cleanly they are among the more visually convincing reversals, because a large group of holders is trapped at prices that no longer trade. The difficulty is that clean examples are genuinely uncommon, and loosening the gap criteria to find more of them destroys what makes the pattern meaningful.
Does the second gap need to fully clear the island?
Yes. That is what creates the isolation. If the second gap only partially clears the cluster, there is no untraded zone on that side and the pattern does not apply. PatternGrade requires both gaps to be genuine.
Patterns a Island Reversal is mistaken for
- Gap Up
- A single gap. An island requires two opposing gaps with bars stranded between them.
- Breakaway Gap
- Breakaway gaps continue a move out of a range. An island's two gaps point in opposite directions and mark a reversal.
- Bearish Island Reversal
- The mirror at a top: a gap up followed by a gap down, stranding bars above the surrounding action.
- Gap Fill Reversal
- That pattern involves returning to a single old gap. An island is defined by the pair of gaps and what sits between them.
Last reviewed . Structure and grading for the Island Reversal are reviewed against the scanner's own rules.