Candle shapes and patterns
Doji, hammer, shooting star, engulfing, and a widget to build your own candle.
Six shapes you will meet everywhere
Traders have named the recurring candle shapes. None of them is a guarantee; they are hints about who was in control during the period, and they matter most at important price levels. Here are the six you will see most often.
Strong green (marubozu)
Long body, almost no wicks. Buyers dominated from open to close.
Example: a coin announces a major exchange listing and closes the day up 12% near its high, one solid green bar.
Strong red (marubozu)
Long red body, almost no wicks. Sellers dominated the whole period.
Example: negative regulation news hits and the price slides all day, closing at the low.
Doji
Open and close nearly equal, wicks both sides. Perfect indecision.
Example: after a week-long rally, a doji appears: buyers and sellers fought to a draw. Many traders tighten alerts here.
Hammer
Small body on top, long lower wick. Sellers pushed down, buyers slammed it back up.
Example: during a dip, price falls 8% intraday but closes almost unchanged. At a support level, dip buyers pay attention.
Shooting star
Small body at the bottom, long upper wick. Buyers tried, sellers rejected the highs.
Example: price spikes 10% toward a resistance level but closes back near the open. The rally attempt failed, for now.
Spinning top
Small body, wicks both sides. A tug of war with no clear winner.
Example: several spinning tops in a row form a quiet range, the calm that often precedes a breakout in either direction.
Two-candle patterns worth knowing
Pairs of candles tell richer stories. The most watched pair is the engulfing pattern: the second candle's body completely swallows the first one's, signalling that control may have flipped.
Bullish engulfing
A red candle followed by a bigger green one that covers it entirely.
Example: at the bottom of a decline, one green candle opens below yesterday's close but finishes above yesterday's open. Buyers took the wheel, and often a bounce follows.
Bearish engulfing
A green candle followed by a bigger red one that covers it entirely.
Example: after a long rally, one red candle erases two days of gains in one session. Profit-takers arrived. Many traders set a below-price alert as protection.
Build your own candle
Move the sliders and watch the candle change shape. The label below tells you what traders would call your candle and what it usually suggests.
Open: 40
Close: 70
Upper wick length: 10
Lower wick length: 10
Standard bullish candle
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Educational content, not financial advice. Chart patterns and
strategies are hints, never guarantees. Markets are risky and nothing here
is a recommendation to buy or sell anything. Never invest money you cannot
afford to lose.