5. Single-candle patterns
Some single candles have special names because they show a clear story. Learn these six. They appear on every chart, every day.
5.1 1. Marubozu – total control
A marubozu has a big body and almost no wicks.
- Bullish marubozu (green): opened at the low, closed at the high. Buyers controlled the whole session.
- Bearish marubozu (red): opened at the high, closed at the low. Sellers controlled everything.
It shows strength. After a bullish marubozu, buyers often stay active the next day too.
5.2 2. Doji – a draw
A doji has a tiny body – open and close almost the same – with wicks on one or both sides. It means indecision. Neither side won.
A doji in the middle of nowhere means little. But a doji after a long rally says: "The buyers who were winning every day could not win today." That is a warning to pay attention.
5.3 3. Hammer – rejection of lower prices
Appears after a fall. Small body near the top, long lower wick (at least twice the body), little or no upper wick.
Story: sellers pushed the price down hard, but buyers came in and pushed it back up near the open. A possible bottom.
5.4 4. Hanging man – same shape, different place
Looks exactly like a hammer, but appears after a rise. It warns that sellers were able to push price down sharply during the session – the first sign of selling pressure at the top. It needs confirmation from the next candle.
5.5 5. Shooting star – rejection of higher prices
Appears after a rise. Small body near the bottom, long upper wick. Buyers pushed it up, sellers slammed it back. A possible top.
5.6 6. Inverted hammer
Same shape as a shooting star, but appears after a fall. Buyers tried to push higher for the first time in a while. Weak on its own – it needs a strong green candle after it to mean anything.
Hammer and hanging man look the same. Shooting star and inverted hammer look the same. What decides the meaning is where they appear – after a fall or after a rise. Context, context, context.
5.7 Practice
5.8 How to use these patterns sensibly
- Location first. A hammer at a known support level is far more meaningful than a hammer in the middle of a range.
- Wait for confirmation. For a hammer, a strong green candle the next day closing above the hammer’s high adds confidence.
- Use the candle for your stop-loss. With a hammer, the low of the wick is a natural place where your idea is wrong.
Candle patterns are like words. One word does not make a sentence. "Hammer" means something only when you read it together with the trend and the level. Pattern ratne se kuch nahi hoga – samajhna padega.
After a fall, this shape is a hammer – buyers rejected lower prices.
Same shape, different place. After a rally it is called a hanging man – a warning, not a buy signal.
If price goes below the hammer’s low, the buyers who rejected those prices have been beaten. Your idea is wrong there.
- Marubozu = full control. Doji = indecision.
- Hammer (after a fall) and shooting star (after a rise) show rejection of prices.
- Hanging man and inverted hammer share shapes with the hammer and shooting star – location decides meaning.
- Use location, confirmation and the candle’s high/low for stop-loss.
- Ek line mein: Same shape ka matlab jagah se badalta hai – hammer neeche kaam ka hai, upar wahi hanging man ban jaata hai.