Candle Pattern Guide

A candle is a compact description of an interval: open, close, high, low, and the relation between body and wick.

Classic Candle Patterns (Core)

Doji

Open and close are very close. Market indecision usually precedes a continuation break or reversal candidate.

Use with volume, trendline, and momentum confirmation.

Hammer / Shooting Star

Long lower wick (hammer) or upper wick (shooting star) indicates rejection pressure around the open-end area.

Use with support/resistance and higher-timeframe trend context.

Hanging Man / Inverted Hammer

Hammer-family variants where context matters. Hanging man follows rises; inverted hammer follows declines and can hint at rejection.

Use with support/resistance and higher-timeframe trend context.

Bullish / Bearish Engulfing

A large candle fully covers the prior candle body. It often appears at pressure transition points.

Use with candlestick sequence and volume expansion.

Morning Star / Evening Star

Three-candle reversal structure. It becomes meaningful when the middle candle shows high indecision.

Use with gap behavior, prior trend angle, and breakout filter.

Harami (Bull/Bear)

The second candle body stays inside the prior body. It can signal absorption and a potential reversal candidate.

Use with key levels and next-candle follow-through confirmation.

Harami Cross

A harami variant where the inside candle is a doji. It highlights indecision and needs confirmation.

Use with trend context, volume, and reclaim/failed-break behavior.

Marubozu (Bull/Bear)

A long body candle with little to no wick. It represents decisive control during that interval and is best judged by context.

Use with trend direction, volatility regime, and follow-through confirmation.

Advanced / Special Patterns

Three Outside Up / Three Outside Down

Engulfing followed by confirmation. It is stronger near key levels and after extended directional moves.

Three Line Strike

A strong opposite candle offsets multiple prior candles. It often flags high volatility and requires confirmation.

Belt Hold (Bull/Bear)

Strong body candle opening near an extreme with minimal opposite wick. It can mark decisive control in that session.

Inside Bar (Mother/Inside)

Range contraction where the new candle stays inside the prior range. Useful as a volatility compression hint before breakout.

Three White Soldiers / Three Black Crows

Three successive strong candles in one direction indicate persistent trend conviction after pullback absorption.

Three Inside Up / Three Inside Down

Nested continuation structure. Significance grows when accompanied by volume expansion.

Abandoned Baby

Gap-based reversal motif. It appears more clearly in markets with overnight segmentation and wide spread events.

Piercing Line / Dark Cloud Cover

Two-candle reversal pattern where the second candle penetrates deep into the prior body. It is stronger near key levels.

Tweezer Top / Tweezer Bottom

A paired high/low rejection pattern. Matching extremes often signal absorption, especially after extended runs.

Bullish / Bearish Kicker

A sharp sentiment flip where an opposite candle opens with strong displacement. Treat as high-energy reversal only with confirmation.

Dragonfly Doji / Gravestone Doji

Doji variant with extreme wick imbalance. It highlights aggressive rejection and often needs next-candle follow-through.

Spinning Top

Small body with wicks on both sides. It flags balance and is most useful as a trend exhaustion hint near levels.

Rising Three Methods / Falling Three Methods

Continuation pattern where small counter candles stay within the prior body, followed by trend resumption.

Chart Patterns (Price Action)

Double Top / Double Bottom

A repeated test of resistance/support. Break confirmation matters more than the symmetry.

Head and Shoulders / Inverse

A distribution/accumulation structure. Neckline reaction and retest behavior determine quality.

Wedge

Compression channel with converging trendlines. Break direction is clearer with volume expansion.

Flag / Pennant

A continuation pause after strong displacement. Best read with impulse strength and retest logic.

Cup and Handle

A rounded base with a shallow pullback before breakout. Confirm with structure and liquidity.

Range Breakout (Box)

A repeated horizontal balance zone. Breakout validity improves with sweep-and-reclaim behavior.

How to Adjust Periods

  • Volatile macro news window — Shorten candle lookback for responsiveness, but reduce size by volatility filter to avoid whipsaw.
  • Quiet consolidation period — Use slightly longer confirmation windows to avoid false flags and low-quality spikes.
  • Trending sessions — Use directional filters and avoid over-adjusting period during sustained momentum moves.