Candlestick patterns
Engulfing, hammer, morning star ... found on the bars you trade
The classic Japanese candlestick patterns, found on the futures price of the symbol you backtest - the near-month contract, rolled to the next month at each expiry - at the timeframe you choose: 5, 15, 30 or 60 minutes, daily or weekly. They follow TA-Lib's standard definitions, the ones charting platforms use: "long", "short" and "doji" are measured against the previous 5-10 candles. A pattern counts only once its last candle has closed, so a backtest never trades on a candle that is still forming.
Patterns61, TA-Lib definitions
Onnear-month futures, rolled
Timeframes5m, 15m, 30m, 60m, daily, weekly
Knownat the candle's close
The patterns
61 · tap one to copy an example requestBullishusually a turn upBearishusually a turn downEither way+1 or -1 by its directionNo directionindecision
Bullishusually read as a turn up
HammerBullishShort body near the top, lower shadow longer than the body, almost no upper shadow, body at or near the prior low.
Morning starBullishA long red candle, a short body gapping down, then a green candle closing well into the first body.
PiercingBullishA long red candle, then a long green one opening below its low and closing above its midpoint (inside the body).
Three white soldiersBullishThree rising green candles, each opening inside or near the prior body and closing near its high.
Inverted hammerBullishShort body gapping down, long upper shadow, almost no lower shadow.
Concealing baby swallowBullishFour red candles: two marubozu, a third gapping down with an upper shadow into the prior body, a fourth engulfing it.
Homing pigeonBullishA long red candle, then a short red body inside it.
Ladder bottomBullishThree falling red candles, a fourth red with an upper shadow, then a green opening above it and closing above its high.
Mat holdBullishA long green candle, a small red gapping up, two more small candles holding within the first, then a green closing at a new high.
Matching lowBullishTwo red candles closing at the same level.
Morning doji starBullishA long red candle, a doji gapping down, then a green candle closing well into the first body.
Stick sandwichBullishBlack, green trading above the first close, then red closing at the first close.
Three stars in southBullishThree shrinking red candles after a fall: a long one with a long lower shadow, a smaller one, a small marubozu inside it.
Unique three riverBullishA long red candle, a red harami making a new low, then a small green candle opening above that low.
Bearishusually read as a turn down
Shooting starBearishShort body gapping up, long upper shadow, almost no lower shadow.
Evening starBearishA long green candle, a short body gapping up, then a red candle closing well into the first body.
Dark cloud coverBearishA long green candle, then a red one opening above its high and closing below its midpoint (inside the body).
Three black crowsBearishAfter a green candle, three falling red candles, each opening inside the prior body and closing near its low.
Hanging manBearishA hammer shape at or near the prior high: short body, long lower shadow, almost no upper shadow.
Advance blockBearishThree rising green candles losing strength: bodies shrinking or upper shadows growing.
Evening doji starBearishA long green candle, a doji gapping up, then a red candle closing well into the first body.
Identical three crowsBearishThree falling red candles, each opening at the prior close, closing near their lows.
In neckBearishA long red candle, then a green one opening below its low and closing just at or above its close.
On neckBearishA long red candle, then a green one opening below its low and closing at that low.
Stalled patternBearishTwo long rising green candles, then a small green one riding on the second's shoulder.
ThrustingBearishA long red candle, then a green one opening below its low and closing into its body, but below the midpoint.
Two crowsBearishLong green, then a red that gaps up, then a red opening inside it and closing inside the first body.
Upside gap two crowsBearishA long green candle, a small red gapping up, then a red engulfing it but closing above the first close.
Bullish or bearishthe direction comes from the candles - drawn on the bullish side
EngulfingEither wayA candle whose body engulfs the prior opposite-colour body (one equal edge allowed).
HaramiEither wayA long candle, then a short body inside its body; signals a reversal of the long candle's direction.
MarubozuEither wayA long body with almost no shadows; sign = its colour.
Abandoned babyEither wayA long candle, a doji that gaps away from it (shadows included), then a candle gapping back the other way.
Belt holdEither wayA long candle opening at its extreme: green with almost no lower shadow, or red with almost no upper shadow.
BreakawayEither wayA long candle, a gap, three candles extending the move, then a fifth of the other colour closing inside the gap.
Closing marubozuEither wayA long candle closing at its extreme (almost no shadow on the closing side); sign = its colour.
CounterattackEither wayTwo long candles of opposite colour closing at the same level.
Doji starEither wayA long candle, then a doji whose body gaps away from it; signals a reversal of the long candle's direction.
Harami crossEither wayA long candle, then a doji inside its body.
High waveEither wayA short body with both shadows over twice the body; sign = its colour.
HikkakeEither wayAn inside bar, then a false breakout of it: +-1 on that bar, +-2 when a close beyond the inside bar confirms it within 3 bars.
KickingEither wayTwo opposite-colour marubozu with a gap between them; sign = the second's colour.
Kicking by lengthEither wayKicking, signed by the colour of the longer marubozu.
Long lineEither wayA long body with short shadows; sign = its colour.
Modified hikkakeEither wayHikkake after two nested inside bars, the second's close near its low (bullish) or high (bearish); +-2 when confirmed.
Rise fall three methodsEither wayRising/falling three methods: a long candle, three small counter-moves inside its range, then a long candle closing beyond the first.
Separating linesEither wayTwo opposite-colour candles opening at the same level, the second a long belt hold in the trend's direction.
Short lineEither wayA short body with short shadows; sign = its colour.
Side by side whiteEither wayUp/down-gap side-by-side green lines: after a gap, two similar green candles opening at the same level.
Spinning topEither wayA short body with both shadows longer than the body; sign = its colour.
Tasuki gapEither wayUpside/downside tasuki gap: after a gap, a candle of the gap's direction, then an opposite one partly closing the gap.
Three insideEither wayThree inside up/down: a harami (long body, then a short one inside it) confirmed by a close beyond the first open.
Three line strikeEither wayThree same-colour candles stepping one way, then a fourth that opens beyond the third close and closes beyond the first open.
Three outsideEither wayThree outside up/down: an engulfing candle, then a third that closes further the same way.
TristarEither wayThree dojis, the middle one gapping away from the other two.
Xside gap three methodsEither wayUpside/downside gap three methods: two candles with a gap between them, then an opposite one closing the gap.
Indecisionno direction of their own - a pause or a coming move
DojiNo directionOpen and close almost equal: body at most 10% of the average range.
Dragonfly dojiNo directionA doji at the top of its range: almost no upper shadow, a real lower shadow.
Gravestone dojiNo directionA doji at the bottom of its range: almost no lower shadow, a real upper shadow.
Long legged dojiNo directionA doji with at least one shadow longer than its body.
Rickshaw manNo directionA doji with two long shadows and the body near the middle of the range.
TakuriNo directionA dragonfly doji with a very long lower shadow.
What you can do with it
tap a request to copy it, then paste it into the chatEnter on a pattern, on the timeframe you trade.
Use a daily or weekly pattern as the bias, and trade it intraday.
Combine a pattern with a trend or momentum filter.
Exit on the opposite pattern.