Candlestick Patterns Cheat Sheet: 15 Patterns Every Trader Should Know

Candlestick patterns are one of the most overused and under-contextualized tools in retail trading. They're not magic reversal signals on their own — they're confluence factors that mean far more combined with market structure, volume, and level context than in isolation. Here's the reference, with that caveat built in.

Part 1. Bullish Reversal Patterns

1. Hammer

Small body near the top of the range, long lower wick. Signals rejection of lower prices after a downtrend — more meaningful at a known support level than in open air.

2. Bullish Engulfing

A large bullish candle fully engulfing the prior bearish candle's body. Suggests a sharp shift in control from sellers to buyers.

3. Morning Star

A three-candle pattern: large bearish candle, small-bodied indecision candle, then a large bullish candle. Signals exhaustion of selling pressure followed by confirmed reversal.

4. Piercing Line

A bullish candle that opens below the prior bearish candle's close but closes above its midpoint. A weaker cousin of the bullish engulfing.

5. Three White Soldiers

Three consecutive bullish candles with higher closes and small wicks — strong, sustained buying, though extended runs of this pattern can also mark short-term exhaustion.

Part 2. Bearish Reversal Patterns

6. Shooting Star

Small body near the bottom of the range, long upper wick, appearing after an uptrend. Signals rejection of higher prices.

7. Bearish Engulfing

The inverse of bullish engulfing — a large bearish candle swallowing the prior bullish candle's body.

8. Evening Star

The bearish mirror of the morning star: bullish candle, indecision candle, then a large bearish candle.

9. Dark Cloud Cover

A bearish candle opening above the prior bullish candle's close but closing below its midpoint.

10. Three Black Crows

Three consecutive bearish candles with lower closes — sustained selling pressure.

Part 3. Indecision / Continuation Patterns

11. Doji

Open and close nearly identical. Signals indecision — meaningful mostly as a warning sign after a strong directional move, not as a standalone signal.

12. Spinning Top

Small body with wicks on both sides. Similar indecision signal to the doji, slightly less extreme.

13. Inside Bar

A candle whose full range sits inside the prior candle's range — often a pause/consolidation before continuation, especially within a strong trend.

14. Rising Three Methods

A large bullish candle, followed by a few small bearish/consolidating candles that stay within its range, then another large bullish candle. A continuation pattern, not a reversal.

15. Marubozu

A candle with no wicks at all — the open and close are the high and low. Signals one-sided conviction for the entire period, useful as a strength confirmation on breakouts.

Part 4. Score the Whole Setup, Not Just the Candle

Here's how to weight a candlestick pattern properly instead of trading it in isolation:

1. Note the pattern, but don't act on it alone — log the surrounding context (support/resistance level, volume, higher-timeframe trend) alongside it.
2. Run the full setup through the Void Engine, which weighs the candle as one of 12+ variables instead of the only signal.
3. Journal the outcome tagged by pattern name — over enough trades, you'll see which patterns actually carry weight in your markets and which ones don't.
4. Let pattern detection tell you objectively whether "bullish engulfing at support" is actually profitable for you, instead of relying on how confident it felt in the moment.

Part 5. How Much Weight to Actually Give These

Candlestick patterns work best as one input among several — location relative to support/resistance, volume confirmation, and higher-timeframe trend all matter more than the shape of a single candle in isolation. Traders who treat a bullish engulfing candle in the middle of a range with no volume as a high-conviction signal are usually the ones journaling the most confusing losses. Score the whole setup, not just the candle.

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