GTAT daily 3After hitting the first target for a quick gain recently, GTAT made a large news-induced gap at the open today on a deal to sell sapphire material to Apple but has so far fallen back to key support.  Consider a stop just above today’s high of 10.60 if short.

Gaps are unavoidable events with any type of trading other than day trading (where all positions are closed out by the end of each day).  Sometimes they go they way of your trade, sometimes against you.  My preference on any gap that goes against a short position is to wait until the order imbalances at the open moderate and then place a stop just above the peak high in the stock.  Sometimes the stock will power higher after the initial thrust, taking out your stop, but very often the opening gap proves to be an over-reaction with the stock moving lower afterwards.  Essentially a trader has two choices when caught on the wrong side of a gap:  1) Immediately close the position, thereby guaranteeing a loss or large give-back of any imbedded gains or 2) Set a stop above the initial reaction high, which will result in either a slightly larger loss (or give-back) or the gap is faded and the trade continues to play out, allowing for a better exit price and in some cases, the original profit target to be hit.  Updated daily chart: