Lesson T3.4 · 4 of 6 · Japanese candlesticks
Two-candle patterns: engulfing, harami, piercing and tweezers
A two-candle pattern compares the second day with the first: it engulfs it, sits inside it or pushes past its midpoint. Location matters too: a bullish pattern comes after a fall, a bearish one after a rise. In tests, some called the direction almost 8 times in 10, others no better than a coin toss.
Terms in this lesson
- Candlestick chart
- The chart that shows the open, close, high and low price for each day.
- Stop-loss
- An order that sells automatically if the price falls to a level you choose.
Bullish and bearish engulfing patterns
Definition
What is an engulfing pattern?
The second candle has a bigger body that completely covers the first one, in the opposite direction.
Bullish engulfing: after a fall, a small falling candle, then a big rising one that opens below its close and closes above its open. Bearish engulfing is the mirror image, after a rise. Only the bodies count, not the wicks.
- Engulfing
- Confirmation
The price falls for 20 days, from about 109 to about 100. A small falling candle (from 100.01 to 99.31) is followed by a big rising one that opens at 98.91 and closes at 102.21, covering its whole body. The next day the price closes at 103.31, then climbs towards 106.5.
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Create a free accountHarami and harami cross
Definition
What is a harami?
A big candle, then a small one whose body sits inside the big one’s body.
“Harami” means “pregnant” in Japanese: the small candle sits inside the big one like a baby. Bullish harami: after a fall, a big falling candle, then a small one. Bearish harami: after a rise, a big rising candle, then a small one. When the small candle is a doji, the pattern is called a harami cross.
- Harami
The price falls towards 99. A big falling candle drops from 98.66 to 95.56, and the next day a small rising candle, between 96.46 and 97.16, sits inside its body. The price then drifts up towards 100.
Piercing pattern and dark cloud cover
Definition
What are the piercing pattern and dark cloud cover?
The second candle opens beyond the first and closes past the middle of its body.
Piercing pattern, after a fall: a falling candle, then a rising one that opens below its low and closes above the middle of its body, but below its open. Dark cloud cover, after a rise: a big rising candle, then a falling one that opens above its high and closes below the middle of its body. If the second candle covered the whole body, it would be an engulfing pattern.
- Dark cloud cover
The price rises towards 106. A big rising candle climbs from 102.80 to 105.80. The next day the price opens at 106.45, above its high, and closes at 103.70, below the middle of its body (104.30). The price then falls towards 101.
Tweezers and the kicker pattern
Definition
What are tweezers?
Two candles in a row with the same low (bottom) or the same high (top).
A tweezers bottom appears after a fall: two days stop at the same price, as if there were a floor there. A tweezers top appears after a rise, with the same high. The shape of the candles matters less than the shared level.
The price falls towards 94. Two candles in a row, one falling and one rising, share the same low, 92.94. After them the price drifts up towards 97.6.
Definition
What is a kicker?
Two big candles with no wicks, in opposite directions, separated by a gap.
Bullish kicker: a bearish marubozu, then the price opens above its open, leaving a gap, and rises all day. It shows a sudden change, usually after news. The bearish kicker is its mirror image. It is very rare: for frequency, the bullish kicker ranks 100th of 103 in Bulkowski’s list.
- Kicker
The price falls towards 99. A big falling candle with no wicks drops from 99.21 to 96.61. The next day the price opens at 100.01, above it, and rises with no wicks to 102.81; it then climbs slowly towards 105.
| Pattern | What followed in tests | Rank (of 103) |
|---|---|---|
| Bullish engulfing | turned up: 63% | 84 |
| Bearish engulfing | turned down: 79% | 91 |
| Bullish harami | turned up: 53% | 38 |
| Bearish harami | rise continued: 53% | 72 |
| Piercing pattern | turned up: 64% | 13 |
| Dark cloud cover | turned down: 60% | 22 |
| Tweezers bottom | fall continued: 52% | 44 |
| Tweezers top | rise continued: 56% | 81 |
| Bullish kicker | turned up: 53% | 96 |
| Bearish kicker | turned down: 54% | 102 |
Where it says “continued”, the pattern was wrong more often than right. The rank is Bulkowski’s overall performance ranking (1 = best).
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 (bullish and bearish engulfing, harami, harami cross, piercing pattern, dark cloud cover, tweezers bottom and top, bullish and bearish kicking), accessed 29 October 2026; meaning of “harami”: Wikipedia. The charts are teaching diagrams, not real prices.