Shapes formed by one to five candles, read as a snapshot of who is winning the tug-of-war between buyers and sellers. Every one of them is a probability at best: they carry weight only in the right context, and traders generally wait for the following candle to confirm before acting.
06 / 16
How these fit together
These patterns are all variations on one question: over the last one to five periods, who had control, and did they keep it? The number of candles is roughly the amount of evidence — a single candle is a hint, two candles are a pattern, three are a sequence — and the same shape can mean opposite things depending on what came before it. Location does most of the work: a pattern that forms at a level something else already marked, such as a neckline, a trendline or the 200-day average, is treated as far more significant than the identical shape in the middle of a range.
Hammer and hanging man are identical shapes — only the preceding trend tells them apart, and the same is true of the shooting star and inverted hammer
Engulfing → piercing / dark cloud → harami — the same story in decreasing order of strength
One candle = hint · two = pattern · three = sequence, generally in increasing order of reliability
Pattern + chart-shape level → a hammer on a double-bottom low is worth much more than a hammer anywhere else
Pattern + volume above average → confirmation; on thin volume most of these mean very little
With the trend beats against it — counter-trend reversal patterns fail far more often
Bullish patterns
10
Shapes suggesting sellers are running out of steam and price may turn up. They matter after a real decline — the same shape mid-range means very little.
Bullish1 / 10
Faded candles show what came before it.
Bullishstudied
Hammer
After a decline, a small body sits at the top of a long lower wick: sellers drove price way down and buyers hauled it all the way back. The longer the lower wick relative to the body, the stronger the signal.
Studied. This claim has been tested in published research. The measured edges are small, change between markets and periods, and often disappear once trading costs are counted.
Bullish2 / 10
Faded candles show what came before it.
Bullishstudied
Inverted hammer
After a decline, a small body at the bottom of a long upper wick. Buyers made a real push higher and couldn't hold it — but the attempt itself suggests the downtrend is losing its grip.
Studied. This claim has been tested in published research. The measured edges are small, change between markets and periods, and often disappear once trading costs are counted.
Bullish3 / 10
Bullishstudied
Bullish engulfing
A green candle whose body completely swallows the previous red one. Sellers set the tone, then buyers took the whole period back and then some — one of the more reliable reversal shapes.
Studied. This claim has been tested in published research. The measured edges are small, change between markets and periods, and often disappear once trading costs are counted.
Bullish4 / 10
Bullishstudied
Piercing line
A long red candle, then a green one that opens below the prior low but closes back above the midpoint of that red body. A near-miss version of bullish engulfing — weaker, but the same story.
Studied. This claim has been tested in published research. The measured edges are small, change between markets and periods, and often disappear once trading costs are counted.
Bullish5 / 10
Bullishstudied
Morning star
Three candles: a long red, then a small indecisive one that gaps lower, then a long green closing deep into the first body. Selling, hesitation, reversal — the classic bottom formation.
Studied. This claim has been tested in published research. The measured edges are small, change between markets and periods, and often disappear once trading costs are counted.
Bullish6 / 10
Bullishstudied
Three white soldiers
Three long green candles in a row, each opening within the prior body and closing near its own high. Sustained, steady buying — usually read as a strong continuation or the start of an uptrend.
Studied. This claim has been tested in published research. The measured edges are small, change between markets and periods, and often disappear once trading costs are counted.
Bullish7 / 10
Bullishstudied
Bullish harami
A big red candle followed by a small green one that fits entirely inside the first body. The selling pressure suddenly stopped — a pause that often precedes a turn, though it needs confirmation.
Studied. This claim has been tested in published research. The measured edges are small, change between markets and periods, and often disappear once trading costs are counted.
Bullish8 / 10
Bullishuntested
Tweezer bottom
Two or more candles that bottom out at almost exactly the same low. Price tested a level twice and held, marking it as support.
Untested. No published test of this pattern was found. It describes what traders look for, not evidence that acting on it pays.
Bullish9 / 10
Bullishuntested
Dragonfly doji
Open and close land at the top of a long lower wick, leaving almost no body. Price collapsed during the period and recovered every bit of it — after a downtrend, that's a strong hint of a floor.
Untested. No published test of this pattern was found. It describes what traders look for, not evidence that acting on it pays.
Bullish10 / 10
Bullishuntested
Bullish marubozu
A long green candle with essentially no wicks — it opened at its low and closed at its high. Buyers controlled the entire period without a single meaningful pullback.
Untested. No published test of this pattern was found. It describes what traders look for, not evidence that acting on it pays.
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Bearish patterns
10
Shapes suggesting buyers are exhausted and price may turn down. Same caveat in reverse: these count after a run-up, and confirmation beats acting on the shape alone.
Bearish1 / 10
Faded candles show what came before it.
Bearishstudied
Hanging man
The same shape as a hammer — small body, long lower wick — but appearing after a rally instead of a decline. Sellers were able to push price hard mid-period, a warning that the uptrend is getting fragile.
Studied. This claim has been tested in published research. The measured edges are small, change between markets and periods, and often disappear once trading costs are counted.
Bearish2 / 10
Faded candles show what came before it.
Bearishstudied
Shooting star
After a rally, a small body at the bottom of a long upper wick. Buyers spiked price to a new high and completely lost it by the close — one of the clearest exhaustion signals.
Studied. This claim has been tested in published research. The measured edges are small, change between markets and periods, and often disappear once trading costs are counted.
Bearish3 / 10
Bearishstudied
Bearish engulfing
A red candle whose body completely swallows the previous green one. Buyers set the tone, then sellers erased the whole move — the mirror image of bullish engulfing.
Studied. This claim has been tested in published research. The measured edges are small, change between markets and periods, and often disappear once trading costs are counted.
Bearish4 / 10
Bearishstudied
Dark cloud cover
A long green candle, then a red one that opens above the prior high but closes below the midpoint of that green body. A failed breakout — the weaker cousin of bearish engulfing.
Studied. This claim has been tested in published research. The measured edges are small, change between markets and periods, and often disappear once trading costs are counted.
Bearish5 / 10
Bearishstudied
Evening star
Three candles: a long green, a small indecisive one that gaps higher, then a long red closing deep into the first body. Buying, hesitation, reversal — the classic top formation.
Studied. This claim has been tested in published research. The measured edges are small, change between markets and periods, and often disappear once trading costs are counted.
Bearish6 / 10
Bearishstudied
Three black crows
Three long red candles in a row, each closing near its own low. Persistent, methodical selling rather than a single panic — often read as the start of a sustained downtrend.
Studied. This claim has been tested in published research. The measured edges are small, change between markets and periods, and often disappear once trading costs are counted.
Bearish7 / 10
Bearishstudied
Bearish harami
A big green candle followed by a small red one contained entirely within it. Buying momentum stalled abruptly — a pause that can precede a turn down.
Studied. This claim has been tested in published research. The measured edges are small, change between markets and periods, and often disappear once trading costs are counted.
Bearish8 / 10
Bearishuntested
Tweezer top
Two or more candles that peak at almost exactly the same high. Price tested a ceiling twice and failed, marking it as resistance.
Untested. No published test of this pattern was found. It describes what traders look for, not evidence that acting on it pays.
Bearish9 / 10
Bearishuntested
Gravestone doji
Open and close land at the bottom of a long upper wick, leaving almost no body. Every bit of the period's rally was given back — after an uptrend, a strong hint of a ceiling.
Untested. No published test of this pattern was found. It describes what traders look for, not evidence that acting on it pays.
Bearish10 / 10
Bearishuntested
Bearish marubozu
A long red candle with essentially no wicks — it opened at its high and closed at its low. Sellers controlled the entire period without a single meaningful bounce.
Untested. No published test of this pattern was found. It describes what traders look for, not evidence that acting on it pays.
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Indecision & continuation
6
Neither side in control, or a trend pausing before it resumes. Mostly these are the shapes that argue for waiting rather than acting.
Indecision & continuation1 / 6
Indecisionstudied
Doji
Open and close are nearly identical, leaving a cross. Buyers and sellers fought to a draw — meaningful mainly at the end of a strong move, where a stalemate suggests the trend is running out of fuel.
Studied. This claim has been tested in published research. The measured edges are small, change between markets and periods, and often disappear once trading costs are counted.
Indecision & continuation2 / 6
Indecisionuntested
Long-legged doji
A doji with long wicks on both sides. Price swung violently in both directions and settled right back at the open — maximum uncertainty, often around news.
Untested. No published test of this pattern was found. It describes what traders look for, not evidence that acting on it pays.
Indecision & continuation3 / 6
Indecisionuntested
Spinning top
A small body with wicks of similar length above and below. Like a doji but with a little directional tilt; a cluster of them usually means the market is drifting sideways.
Untested. No published test of this pattern was found. It describes what traders look for, not evidence that acting on it pays.
Indecision & continuation4 / 6
Continuationuntested
Rising three methods
A long green candle, then a few small red ones that drift down without breaking below it, then another long green pushing to new highs. The uptrend catching its breath rather than reversing.
Untested. No published test of this pattern was found. It describes what traders look for, not evidence that acting on it pays.
Indecision & continuation5 / 6
Continuationuntested
Falling three methods
A long red candle, a small upward drift that stays inside its range, then another long red breaking lower. The downtrend pausing before it continues.
Untested. No published test of this pattern was found. It describes what traders look for, not evidence that acting on it pays.
Indecision & continuation6 / 6
Gapstudied
Gap
Empty space between one candle's range and the next — price jumped without trading in between, usually on overnight news or earnings. Gaps often act as magnets, with price later returning to “fill” them.
Studied. This claim has been tested in published research. The measured edges are small, change between markets and periods, and often disappear once trading costs are counted.
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How to read the evidence tag
Every entry here carries one of three tags. The tag rates the evidence behind the claim the entry makes — not how popular the tool is, how old it is, or how confident the people teaching it sound. Close to half of the entries on this site sit on the weakest tier — including every one of the eighteen Smart Money Concepts, which are drawn here in the same ink as Wilder’s ADX and deserve to be told apart from it. That is the honest position rather than an oversight.
defined33 entries
True by arithmetic. This entry describes a calculation or a piece of terminology, and makes no claim about what price will do next. Nothing here can be wrong except a typo.
studied56 entries
The predictive claim attached to this entry has been tested in peer-reviewed research. Being on this tier does not mean it works — across the literature these edges are typically small, unstable between markets and periods, and often gone after costs.
untested87 entries
Widely taught and widely believed, but no published test of the claim was located while building this page. Treat it as a description of what traders do, not as evidence that doing it pays.
The line between studied and untested is drawn by whether a peer-reviewed test of the specific claim could be found, and those tests are listed on the Sources page under “Evidence and base rates”. If you know of a published test of something tagged untested, the tag is wrong and should change — that is the point of labelling it at all.