Lesson T3.1 · 1 of 6 · Japanese candlesticks
Doji and spinning top candlesticks: what indecision candles mean
A doji opens and closes at almost the same price; a spinning top has a small body with wicks longer than the body. Both show indecision. In Thomas Bulkowski’s tests, the price then went up or down almost like the toss of a coin: 50-52% of the time.
Terms in this lesson
- Candlestick chart
- The chart that shows the open, close, high and low price for each day.
- Support and resistance
- Prices at which a stock has often stopped falling or stopped rising.
What is a doji and what types of doji are there
Definition
What is a doji?
A candle whose open and close are at almost the same price.
The body looks like a horizontal line. The wicks show how far buyers and sellers pushed the price during the day. The story: both sides pushed hard, but by the close the price was back where it started.
- Standard doji
- Long-legged
- Dragonfly
- Gravestone
A sideways market around 100. Four candles have a body like a line: one with short wicks, one with long wicks on both sides, one with a long wick only below and one with a long wick only above.
| Type | What it looks like | What it says |
|---|---|---|
| Standard doji | Short wicks above and below | Balance on a quiet day |
| Long-legged doji | Long wicks above and below | A big fight with no winner |
| Dragonfly doji | Long lower wick, no upper wick | Sellers drove the price down, buyers brought it back to the high |
| Gravestone doji | Long upper wick, no lower wick | Buyers drove the price up, sellers brought it back to the low |
The dragonfly looks like a letter T, the gravestone like an upside-down T.
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Create a free accountA doji after a rise and a doji after a fall
A doji in the middle of a sideways market tells you almost nothing. It matters more after a clear trend: after many days of rising prices, a doji shows that buyers are no longer pushing with the same strength.
- Doji
- Confirmation
The price rises for 20 days, from about 90 to 101. A doji appears with its open and close at about 101.4 and its low at 100.35. The next day a falling candle closes at 99.45, below the doji’s low, and the price then drifts down towards 95.5.
What is a spinning top candlestick
Definition
What is a spinning top?
A candle with a small body and wicks longer than the body.
It is named after the toy that spins on the spot. Unlike a doji, it has a visible body: the open and close are not equal, just close together. It can be rising or falling, and the colour matters little. Like the doji, it shows a day with no winner.
- Spinning top
The price falls towards 102. A candle with a small body and long wicks on both sides appears, and the next day a falling candle closes at 100.07, below its low; the fall continues towards 97.
Dojiopen almost equal to close
- The body is a line
- Almost perfect balance
Spinning topsmall body, long wicks
- The body is visible but small
- Hesitation, slightly weaker
Doji and spinning top: what the statistics show
Thomas Bulkowski tested each candlestick pattern on US stocks and ranked it against 102 other patterns. The results for the indecision candles:
| Candle | What the price did next | Rank (of 103) |
|---|---|---|
| Doji after a rise | kept rising 51% of the time | 83 |
| Doji after a fall | turned up 52% of the time | 78 |
| Long-legged doji | trend continued 51% of the time | 37 |
| Dragonfly doji | reversed 50% of the time | 98 |
| Gravestone doji | turned down 51% of the time | 77 |
| Rising / falling spinning top | reversed 50% / 51% of the time | 69 / 73 |
The rank is Bulkowski’s overall performance ranking: 1 is the best pattern, 103 the worst.
Lessons are educational. They are not a recommendation to buy or sell. Investing involves risk and you can lose money. Sources: Thomas N. Bulkowski, thepatternsite.com (northern doji, southern doji, long-legged doji, dragonfly doji, gravestone doji, white and black spinning top), accessed 29 October 2026. The charts are teaching diagrams, not real prices.