Any inefficient price move where one side overwhelmed the other — the parent concept of the FVG.
An Imbalance is any price region where buying or selling was so one-sided that normal two-way trade didn't occur. Fair Value Gaps are the most common form, but imbalances also include gaps between sessions and single-candle spikes. Markets seek efficiency, so imbalanced regions act as magnets — price revisits them to 'rebalance' trade. Marking imbalances gives you the map of where price is likely to return before continuing.
Efficient markets auction both ways. When they don't, the unfinished business draws price back. Imbalances are that unfinished business.
The 8:30 CPI spike rips 30 points in one candle with zero pullback. That whole candle is an imbalance. Over the next two hours, price methodically retrades the entire range.
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