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ICC Terminal › Trading tools › Candlestick patterns

Candlestick patterns and what they mean

Each candle shows the open, high, low and close of its period. Some shapes repeat where buyers or sellers change their minds. Below are the common ones in pictures, and a checker that names the pattern in your own candles.

Enter up to three candles, oldest first (prices from your chart).

Pattern in these candles
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The patterns in pictures

HammerA small body at the top and a long lower shadow after a fall: sellers pushed down, buyers took it back.
Shooting starA small body at the bottom and a long upper shadow after a rise: buyers were pushed back.
DojiOpen and close almost equal: buyers and sellers in balance, often before a change of pace.
Bullish engulfingA rising candle whose body covers the whole body of the falling one before it.
Bearish engulfingA falling candle whose body covers the whole body of the rising one before it.
Morning starThree candles after a fall: a long red one, a small one, then a strong green one closing in the first's body.
Evening starThe top version: a long green candle, a small one, then a strong red one closing in the first's body.
Three white soldiersThree rising candles in a row, each opening inside the last and closing higher.
Three black crowsThree falling candles in a row, each opening inside the last and closing lower.
Bullish haramiA small green body inside the big red body before it: selling slows down.
Piercing lineAfter a red candle, a green one opens lower and closes above the middle of the red body.
Dark cloud coverAfter a green candle, a red one opens higher and closes below the middle of the green body.

Patterns are context, not signals

A hammer in the middle of nowhere means little. The same hammer at a weekly pivot, a 61.8 % Fibonacci level or a London killzone low, with large speculators adding longs in the COT report, is a reason to look closer. Always place the stop beyond the pattern's extreme.

Questions

Which candlestick pattern is the most reliable?

None works on its own. Engulfing candles and stars at a clear support or resistance level, with the trend and the positioning behind them, are worth more than any shape in the middle of a range.

Do candlestick patterns work on gold and forex?

Yes, on any market with real open, high, low and close prices. Higher time frames (4 h, daily) give fewer and cleaner signals.

What is the difference between a hammer and a hanging man?

The shape is the same; a hammer appears after a fall (possible turn up), a hanging man after a rise (possible turn down).

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Education only, not financial advice. Results are estimates: brokers differ in contract sizes, spreads, commissions and swaps. © ICC Terminal.