Candle Stick Visual Reference Guide

The most comprehensive references to Candle Stick Charts are outlined in the following books:
1. Charles Bulkowski – Encycolopedia of Candlestick Charts 
2.  Steve Nison – Japanese Candlestick Charting Techniques
3. Clive Lambert – Candlestick Charts

 

Abandoned Baby, Bullish: There will be a bullish pattern with an abandoned baby if the doji has a gap before and after, where the shadows do not touch. Due to the nature of the gap in trading price, a bullish abandoned baby pattern is extremely rare.

  Abandoned Baby, Bearish: An abandoned baby bearish pattern will feature ascending candlesticks, followed by a gap before and after the doji, with the candlesticks falling immediately after. Similar to the bullish Abandoned baby pattern, this chart is very rare in practice. 
  Advanced Block: Advance block patterns have three consecutive higher closes in the stock price, with the third and final candle showing signs of weakness. At this point, the bulls have lost their momentum, with a possible slowdown in the near future.
  Above the Stomach: Above the stomach pattern highlights the beginning of a weaker reversal comparative to other signs. In this pattern, the market must open at least midway above yesterday’s trading and also close above the previous close.  
  A bullish Belt: Hold pattern appears when a candle opens at the low of the session and closes at, or near, the session highs. If a bullish belt hold appears at a low price level, look for a rally to follow.  
  Bearish Belt-Hold Line: A bearish belt hold is a long red candle that opens at the day’s highs and later closes at, or near, the lows. Like the bullish belt hold line, the a bearish belt hold pattern is considered to be a top reversal at a high price level.  
  The Bullish breakaway: The Bullish breakaway signals a reversal in fortune towards bullish behavior. The pattern begins with a large decline, a gap lower, continual losses, and then a rise back above the level set by the large decline.  
  The Bearish Breakaway: The bearish breakaway follows a similar pattern as the bullish breakaway but, instead of gaining, the bearish breakaway drops in value. However, this pattern is extremely rare and is unlikely to be seen in stock patterns.  
   The Bullish Counterattack Line: In a bullish counterattack line, the first candle features a lower close with the second candle opening sharply lower and then having the bulls push prices back up to the same close as the first candle. This pattern usually occurs in a decline.
  Bearish Counterattack Line: In contrast, the bearish  counterattack line features bullish momentum in the first candle and the second candle opening higher as a result of the bulls. However, the bears come out fighting and pull down the price so that the close matches the previous day’s bullish close.
  Bullish Engulfing: In a bullish engulfing pattern, the market must be in a clear uptrend, have the second candle “engulf” the first, and the two candles must be opposite colors.  
  Bearish Engulfing: In a bearish engulfing pattern, the market must be in a clear uptrend, have the second candle “engulf” the first, and the two candles must be opposite colors. In this trend, supply must overwhelm demand and push prices lower.
  Bullish Gapping Play: The bullish gapping play leads to a new rally out of a stalled upward trend. This is an upside window above a high price congestion band. A buy signal arises if prices gap above this consolidation. 
   

The Bearish Gapping Play: This is the bearish counterpart to the bullish gapping play and leads to a downside window after a stalled downward trend. After a sharp decline in the first candle, the market consolidates with short candles near the lows. This is a sell signal if prices gap below the consolidation candles.

 

Bullish Harami: A bullish harami pattern consists of a small bar that is completely contained within an unusually large bar. This pattern is considered the opposite of an engulfing pattern.  

  The Bearish Harami: Like the bullish harami, the bearish harami features a small real body completely contained by a larger body. This pattern illustrates that the bear market has been slightly weakened.
  The Bullish Harami Cross: A harami cross is similar to the harami pattern, but because the cross pattern contains a doji, it is a more effective reversal signal than a regular harami pattern.
  Bearish Harami Cross: Like the bullish harami cross, the bearish harami cross is similar to the bearish harami, but because it contains a doji, it is considered a more effective bottom signal.  
  Bullish separating Lines: The bullish separating lines pattern consists of two individual candlesticks, a downward candlestick followed by an upward candlestick that opens with a gap up. In other words both candlesticks open on or near the same price. 
  Bearish separating lines:The bearish separating lines pattern consists of two individual candlesticks, an upward candlestick followed by a downward candlestick that opens with a gap down. In other words both candlesticks open on or near the same price.
  Bearish side by side white lines:The bearish side by side white lines pattern has price gap significantly lower, with buyers coming into the market as investors cover their short positions. Once the pattern finishes and all shorts are covered, the stock is free to resume its downtrend.
  Bearish doji star:The bearish Doji star pattern is a beginning sign of a reversal in the stock price as the bullish pattern begins to lose momentum with the doji forming in the second day of trading. Similar to a biker riding up a hill, as the hill reaches the top, it loses momentum and begins to fall.  
  Bullish meeting lines:The bullish meeting lines pattern has the price of the stock falling for a number of days, dropping lower, and then gapping lower before closing at the previous day’s close. This pattern is often split between a true reversal or a one day uptrend.
  Bullish meeting lines: Like the bullish meeting lines, the bearish meeting lines pattern has the price of the stock rising for a number of days, running higher, and then gapping higher againg before turning around and closing at the previous day’s close.This pattern is not truly indicative of any true pattern 
  Bullish tri star: The bullish tri star is a bullish reversal formation. This works as an excellent buy signal if the last day is in the form of a green candlestick, a gap up or a higher close. 
  Bearish tri star: The bearish tri star doji cluster is a bearish reversal formation. The formation forms as a bull market cools down and slowly starts to turn around. 
  Black spinning top:The black spinning top is the highest frequency pattern and as such, means very little to future directions for the stock. The pattern follows a stock’s open and close falling within its high and low of the day. 
  Black marubozu: The black marubozu pattern is a very simple pattern but like the spinning top, tells very little about future direction. The pattern is formed with the stock opening at the highs and
falling straight down to the day’s lows.
   Marubozu, Closing white: the closing white marubozu pattern is similar to the marubozu pattern but features the stock closing at the high of the day and instead of opening at the low, the stock trends lower early in the trading day.
   Marubozu, Closing black:The closing black marubozu pattern is the exact opposite of the closing white pattern. In this candlestick chart, the market opens and initially gains but the bears take over for the rest of the day and finish on the lows.
   Concealing Baby Swallow: The Concealing Baby Swallow Pattern is meant to begin a reversal in the stock but over the last decade, has been one of the least seen indicators. The pattern has a significant decline with the latest candlestick completing engulfing the previous day’s candlestick.
   Dark cloud cover: The dark cloud cover pattern is the beginning of a bearish reversal. In the pattern, the bulls advance the stock in the first day, only for the stock to gap higher the second day but fall to the bears at the close.
  Deliberation: In theory the deliberation model is supposed to be a bearish reversal, however, in practice, it can be used to justify a bullish continuation in over 75% of all cases. The pattern is quite easy to see with stocks continually jumping higher and closing higher on the day.  
  Doji, Dragonfly: The dragonfly doji is formed when the market opens at the highs of the day, drops significantly, and then rallies back to regain the losses before the close. However, the pattern is not a great indicator of overall market trend as should be taken with a grain of salt.  
  Doji gravestone: The doji gravestone is a bearish reversal formation that indicates an unsustainable bullish rally. Bulls run the prices up, to be slammed back down to the opening price.
   Long legged doji: The long legged doji is a formation where the opening and closing prices are equal despite price swings during the day. These formations are the most significant during strong up and down trends and suggests that markets are in equilibrium.
  Northern doji: The northern doji acts as a bullish continuation as markets are typically taking a breather after a rally. 
   Southern doji: Unlike the northern doji, this is a reversal formation. The southern doji represents market equilibrium; as the market takes a pause.
 

The doji star: In uptrend is a bearish reversal formation as bull markets lose steam. This is a relatively balanced point with indications that bulls are not fully confident in their move. 
   

Doji Star in Downtrend: A star that follows a long bearish candlestick is typically a sign that the market will turn around as sellers lose confidence in the move.

 

The evening doji star: is a bearish reversal pattern that slowly turns around. The formation starts out bullish, next consolidates with a doji, and begins to decline with a red candle. 

 

Morning Doji Star: This is the opposite of the evening doji star, signaling a bullish reversal. 

   

Upside Tasuki Gap: The upside tasuki gap is a bullish continuation pattern with a bearish candle opening within the bullish candle above the gap and closing lower to fill the gap.

   

Downward Gapping Tasuki: The downward tasuki gap is a bearish continuation pattern and is most easily initially identified by a gap down after a bullish candle in a downtrend. Following the second candle, a green candle is present representing buyers at a low price level, yet the trend continues to move downward.

   

Evening Star: The evening star is a classic bearish reversal pattern. The formation starts with a bullish candle continuing the previous trend. The second candle gaps up and then falls due to lack of conviction from the bulls and then continues to fall in the third candle.

  The Morning Star: The morning star formation starts with a long bearish candle as a continuation of a bearish trend followed by a downward gap. A small bullish candle forms after the gap as bulls start to take advantage of the new low price. The third candle is confirmation that the trend has reversed to a bullish trend. 
  Falling Three Methonds: The falling three methods is a bearish continuation formation that initiates with a long bearish bar. After the bearish bar, small consecutive indecisive bars form an uptrend. The indecisive bars do not necessarily have to be bullish. After the slight uptrend, a full bearish bar brings the market back to the downtrend.
   Falling Window: A falling window is present when the previous low’s wick is above the following bar’s upper wick. This formation suggests that the market may have exhausted its falling trend.
  The Hammer: A hammer is a bullish reversal pattern with a wick more than twice as long as the body. Analysts typically do not differentiate the color of this candle as the most important quality is that the body of the candle is consolidated at the top of the bar. A hammer signifies weakening in bearish sentiment. 
  The Inverted Hammer: The bullish inverted hammer is a reversal setup that takes place at the end of a downtrend. The candle takes its shape when bulls rally during the day but were unable to sustain buying. The bears take over and the candle closes near the lows. The bullish reversal is confirmed by a bullish candle the next day.
The Hanging Man: The hanging man typically presents a bearish reversal opportunity. The formation indicates an exhausted trend with a large sell off after the open, to rise later in the day and close near the highs of the day. Analysts are not worried about the color of the hanging man.
High Waves: High waves are a sign of indecision and can lead to a reversal. they consist of two large legged doji that indicate that the market is in a relative equilibrium state.
The Homing Pigeon: The homing pigeon is a bullish reversal formation characterized by a large bearish candle at the end of a down trend, followed by an engulfed bearish candle.
Identical Three Crows: The identical three crows formation is a bearish reversal signal if spotted correctly. Traders should watch for a bullish candle at the end of a rally followed by two consecutive red candles, opening around the previous candle’s close.
The Kicking Bullish: The bullish kicking pattern hints that the market is heading into a rally. The previous market trend is not significant when identifying this pattern.
The Kicking Bearish: The bearish kicking pattern hints that the market is heading lower. The previous market trend is not significant when identifying this pattern.
The Last Engulfing Top: The last engulfing top is a bearish reversal candle formation. The formation can be identified by a small bearish candle in an upward trend, engulfed by a larger bullish candle in the following period.
The Last Engulfing Bottom: The last engulfing bottom is a bullish reversal candle formation. The formation can be identified by a small bullish candle in a downward trend, engulfed by a larger bearish candle in the following period.
The Long White Day: The long white day candle indicates bullish sentiment. The long white day does not have long shadows and typically leads to further upside movement.
The Long Black Day:The long black day candle indicates bearish sentiment. The long black day does not have long shadows and typically leads to further downside movement.
The In-Neck Pattern:The in neck pattern is a bearish continuatio
n pattern characterized by a bullish candlestick with a close at or above the close of the previous bearish candle. This should occur in a downward trend and typically indicates a continuation of the trend if the following candle breaks the bullish candle’s low.
The Mat Hold: The mat hold formation is similar to the rising three method formation as they are both bullish continuation patterns interrupted by a slight bearish trend. The mat hold formation is different in that the third day in the downtrend is fully engulfed in the body of the initial bullish candle.  
The Matching Low: The matching low candlestick formation indicates a new support level and typically leads ti a bullish reversal. After the first bearish candle, the market opens higher to then trade down and test the previous lows. A buy signal is present if the third day is bullish.
The Piercing Pattern: The piercing pattern indicates a reversal to the upside after a bearish trend. The downward gap leading to a bullish candle indicates that the bears have run out of steam and that the markets are starting to head in the opposite direction.
The Marubozu, Opening White: The opening white marubozu is a bullish candle without a downward shadow. This indicates that the market moved up after the open without making new lows. Prices continued to rise throughout the period to make new highs and then settle below the new highs. This candle is characteristic of the typical bullish day or period.
The Marubozu, Opening Black: The opening black marubozu is a bearish formation indicating that the market went straight down after the opening of the candle. The marubozu is characterized by its long bearish body with a wick to the downside, indicating that new lows have been tested.
The Rickshaw Man: The rickshaw man indicates lack of conviction in the market. During this candle, new lows and highs are tested with both the open and the close of the period located near the center of the bar.
The Rising Window: Rising windows are bullish continuation formations where a new window is opened to the upside. The window formed should be used as a new support for the upward trend.
The Rising Three Methods: The rising three methods is a bullish continuation formation with a slight bearish period during an upward trend. The formation starts with a long bullish candle, followed by a period of three consecutive bearish small candles, each lower than the previous. After testing a downward trend, the buyers come back in to form a long bullish candle to continue the original bullish trend.
The Shooting Star: A shooting star is a bearish reversal formation indicating a change in momentum. This candle indicates that new highs have been tested and that the rally is unsustainable.
Side-by-Side White Lines: Side-by-side white lines indicates a bullish continuation with an upward gap above a bullish trend followed by two bullish candles, the second making new highs.
The Stalled Pattern: The stalled pattern picks the top of an upward trend. The trend slowly starts to fade and indicates a reversal. The loss of momentum indicates a loss in bullish momentum as candlesticks get smaller and smaller.

The Star in Uptrend: The star in uptrend is a bearish reversal formation that takes place after an uptrend.

The Star in Downtrend:The star in downtrend formation is a bullish reversal formation that is identified by a bullish candle without a downward wick at the bottom of a downtrend. The star at the bottom of the trend indicates a possible reversal.
The Stick Sandich: The stick sandwich is a bullish reversal formation identified by three candlesticks forming a support level and then trading upward after a bounce off the support.
The Takuri Line: The takuri line should have a downside wick that is at least two times as long as the body of the candle. This formation identifies that the current period has strong bearish forces, but not enough to bring the close to the downside of the candle.
Three Black Crows:The three black crows pattern is bearish and is used to predict a reversal to the downside. The formation is identified by three consecutive bearish bars after a rally. Each bar in the three bar sequence should be lower than the previous candle in the formation.
The Three White Soldiers: Three white soldiers is a bullish reversal formation confirmed by three consecutive bullish bars, each higher than the previous day. This formation should confirm more bullish moves to come.
Three Inside Up: Three inside up is a bullish reversal formation. The first part of the pattern starts with a bullish harami formation, confirming the reversal with a bullish candlestick on the third day.
Three Outside Up: This is a bullish reversal pattern starting with a bearish candlestick. The next candle is bullish and engulfs the first candle and the third candle continues the bullish trend up.
The Thrusting Pattern: The thrusting pattern is a bearish continuation pattern characterized by a green candlestick that starts below and closes within the previous red candlestick.
The Tweezers Bottom and Hammer: This is a bearish reversal pattern recognized by a tweezers bottom with a hammer testing new lows. The tweezers can be formed by two bodies, wicks or doji.

The Tweezers Top: Tweezers tops indicate a pullback after testing the period highs.

The Tweezers Bottom: This is a bullish reversal pattern where new lows are tested twice.
The Tweezer Top and Harami Cross: This is a bearish reversal formation formed at the top of an uptrend. Doji candles represent indecision and in this case represent the bulls uncertainty in maintaining the bullish trend.
The Tweezer Top and Shooting Star: Tweezers top and shooting star is a bearish reversal formation when a tweezers top is joined by a bearish shooting star. This is recognized by a bullish candlestick at the top of an uptrend followed by a bearish shooting star candlestick that tests the previous candlestick’s high.
The Tweezers Bottom and Hammer: Tweezers bottom and hammer is a bearish reversal pattern identified by a hammer that tests the prior bearish candlestick’s lows.
The Tweezer Bottom and Piercing Pattern: Tweezers bottom and piercing pattern is a bearish reversal pattern recognized by a bullish piercing candlestick with a tweezers bottom when its low matches the low of the previous candlestick.
Two Black Gapping Candles: Two black gapping candles is a bearish continuation pattern identified by a red candle followed by a new red candle opening within the previous candle and closing lower.
The Two Candle Shooting Star: The two candle shooting star is a bearish reversal pattern where an upward trending candle is followed by a bullish price gap followed by new highs. The second candle then retreats and closes green at a price below the period highs.
The Two Crows: Two crows is a bearish reversal formation when the market is in an uptrend. The first candlestick is green, followed by a gapped up red candlestick and then another red candle that opens within the body of the second day and closes within the candle of the first day.
The Umbrella Lines: This is a reversal doji pattern consisting of two candles without upper wicks. This represents a bullish reversal at the bottom and a bearish reversal at the top.
The Unique Three-River Bottom: The unique three river bottom is a very rare bullish reversal formation identified by a black candlestick, followed by another black candlestick with a close higher than the previous. The last candle is green and indicates that the market has lost selling pressure.
The Upside Gap Three Method:This is a bullish continuation pattern characterized by two long green candlesticks separated by an upward gap and followed by a black candlestick. The final candlestick represents profit taking.
The Upside Tasuki Gap: The bullish upside tasuki gap formation is a continuation formation of two long white candlesticks separated by an upward gap. The two white candles are followed by a black candlestick that partially closes the gap between the first two. The black candle is the result of profit taking.
The Upside-Gap Two Crows:The bearish upside gap, two crows is a reversal formation after a prior bullish pattern. This formation is initially identified by a long white candlestick on the first candle followed by two black body candles. The second black candle should engulf the first to complete this formation. This indicates that the new highs of the period cannot hold.
The Marubozu, White:The white marubozu is a bullish single candlestick pattern that does not have candle wicks. The candle opens at the lows and closes at the highs.
The White Spinning Top: The white spinning top is an indecisive candle, where the upper and lower wicks are longer than the body’s length. This candle shows that the market mover sharply in both directions before staying within a middle range.