I prefer not to trade using an excessive number of candlestick patterns, as it can be confusing when making decisions. Some traders seem to think they can decipher hidden messages from the price rather than focusing on high-probability trading opportunities.
As a result, they memorize numerous patterns without truly understanding their effectiveness or the context in which they should be applied in forex trading.
Key Point
- Exhaustion and Indecision bars are among my most effective candlestick patterns for identifying both trend reversals and continuations in forex trading.
I've found that some patterns lack effectiveness without the context provided by other fundamental and technical indicators. These include support and resistance levels, moving averages, trends, and the underlying fundamentals driving these trades.
Without concrete proof that these patterns yield profits, relying solely on them can lead to failure in forex trading
Candlestick Patterns For Day Trading PDF
I will refer to only a few candlestick patterns that I tend to use. You’ll need to download the candlestick patterns cheat sheet PDF below to follow along with the visuals.
My focus will be on exhaustion candle and indecision bars only since these are the ones I look for on a daily basis. This short list of candlestick patterns is because I use only these patterns in continuation and reversal trades.
They are the most consistent in their predictive power, but only when combined with other technical and fundamental factors. They are close to being useless by themselves. I find these to be the most consistent among all the candlestick patterns
In both types of trade setups that I use, these candles essentially help find a small reversal both in the direction of a trend and exhaustion of the trend at a significant reversal.
It is better to keep it simple and use only a small selection of Japanese candlestick patterns and just the most reliable because they aren’t that reliable by themselves, to begin with. Keeping it simple helps us stay focused when making a trading decision.
I will focus on a select few candlestick patterns that I personally use in forex trading. To follow along with the visuals, download the candlestick patterns cheat sheet PDF below.
My emphasis will be on exhaustion candles and indecision bars, as these are the patterns I look for daily. I limit my list to these patterns because they are effective in both continuation and reversal trades.
These patterns offer consistent predictive power, but only when paired with other technical and fundamental analysis tools. On their own, they are nearly ineffective. Among all candlestick patterns, these are the most reliable for spotting minor reversals, whether in the direction of a trend or at a point of trend exhaustion.
For effective trading, it's best to keep it simple by focusing on a small selection of Japanese candlestick patterns, as they aren't highly reliable in isolation. Simplicity aids in maintaining focus during trading decisions.
Complementary analysis tools such as RSI, support and resistance levels, volume, and other technical and fundamental indicators enhance your trading strategy. Yet, some essential candlestick stock chart patterns provide an additional layer of insight, especially for alerting you to potential reversals.
Although widely used in stock charting, these patterns are applicable across various markets, including forex.
Candlestick charting originated in 1700s Japan for trading rice futures, and Steve Nison introduced them to the English-speaking world through his renowned book, 'Japanese Candlestick Charting Techniques.' While there are many patterns to consider, we will concentrate on a few high-probability ones
Bullish Candlestick Patterns
I will concentrate on three indecision candles and two types of exhaustion patterns: the Doji candlestick pattern, Gravestone Doji pattern, Dragonfly Doji pattern, and pin bars as exhaustion bars. These are illustrated in Figures 1 through 6 in the downloadable 'Candlestick Patterns For Day Trading' PDF.
Diagram 1 depicts a typical Doji appearing at the end of a downward trend. To confirm this reversal pattern, it must be combined with:
- trend line
- fundamental trend
- support/resistance
- round number.
Diagram 1 also highlights the necessary confluence of support levels required for a higher probability reversal in forex trading.
Diagram 2 illustrates a reversal near the bottom, close to a Gravestone Doji or Inverted Hammer candlestick. This Doji signifies a level of indecision, which, when combined with other factors depicted, enhances the probability of entering a successful long trade.
Diagram 3 presents a Pin Bar reversal at the bottom, also referred to as the Hammer candlestick pattern. In this scenario, the price attempts to move lower but exhausts itself, ultimately returning near the initial price entry point.
Bearish Candlestick Patterns
Diagram 4 in the 'Candlestick Patterns For Day Trading' PDF illustrates a typical Doji candlestick pattern occurring at the end of a rising trend. While this reversal pattern is not a guaranteed signal, it serves as a warning. To trade it effectively, combine it with trend lines, fundamental trends, support and resistance levels, or round numbers. Diagram 1 also highlights the confluence levels necessary for a higher probability reversal.
Diagram 5 depicts a reversal at the top near a Dragonfly Doji candlestick. This sign of indecision, when combined with other confluence factors, enhances the probability of a successful trade entry.
These other convergence factors include support/resistance, moving averages, trend breaks, and oversold/overbought areas.
Diagram 6 features a Pin Bar reversal at the top, also known as the Shooting Star candlestick pattern. In this scenario, the price attempts to move higher but exhausts itself, ultimately returning to the initial price entry point
Day Trading Chart Patterns
Patterns alone are insufficient for successful forex trading. Relying solely on technical techniques often leads to failure, which is why I've included additional factors to consider in your trading strategy. Below is a comprehensive list of these factors in the downloadable PDF.
Incorporate meditation, visualization, daily news intake, and fundamental analysis into your trading routine. While some traders successfully combine volume with technical analysis, it's important to recognize that technicals alone are inadequate.
Meditation and visualization are particularly crucial for day trading due to the intense, stressful decision-making involved. In contrast, long-term trading or investing is typically more precise and less stressful.
Repetition
If I seem repetitive in emphasizing the need to move beyond technicals like candlestick chart analysis, it's not because I consider them useless. Rather, on their own, they are insufficient for achieving reliable trading success.
The PDF below provides more insights into combining candlestick patterns with other essential elements in forex trading. Please take a look
FAQ
This guide is about downloading the best candlestick patterns for day trading PDF for bullish and bearish moves. It provides information on various candlestick chart patterns for beginner traders.
The best candlestick PDF guide is a comprehensive guide that provides valuable information about various candlestick patterns and how to use them in trading strategies.
A time frame in candlestick patterns refers to a specific time period used to analyze a security's price action. It can be short-term, such as daily or hourly, or long-term, such as weekly or monthly.
A signal in candlestick patterns refers to a specific pattern or formation that indicates a potential change in price direction. It can be a bullish or bearish signal.
A signal in candlestick patterns refers to a specific pattern or formation that indicates a potential change in price direction. It can be a bullish or bearish signal.
: A beginner in trading is new to trading and has limited experience with a price chart.
An exit in trading refers to the point at which a trader closes a position to realize a profit or minimize a loss.
A weekly candlestick pattern is a candlestick pattern that is formed based on the price action of security over one week.
An entry in trading refers to the point at which a trader opens a position in the market.
Candlestick chart patterns are specific patterns formed by the price action of a security on a candlestick chart. They can be used to analyze the market and identify potential opportunities for trading.
To recognize bullish engulfing patterns, look for a small bearish candlestick followed by a larger bullish candlestick that completely engulfs the first candlestick. This pattern indicates a potential bullish reversal in the market. Try a specialized indicator such as Chartprime to help locate them quickly and easily.
Many thanks for publishing such an insightful and comprehensive article about candlestick patterns. I find that this post provides me with a lot of helpful information. Your website was a great source of information for me. These patterns using candlesticks that are described in this essay will be very essential to me in the future. Keep publishing like this. I will most certainly pass this along.
Day trading is something I haven’t tried yet and I would definitely be in need of a few visuals before I even attempt it, as I’ve heard from plenty of others how stressful it can be. On the other hand, just about all of my current stocks are set up for the long-term, which I agree is far, far less stressful than the day trades. That said, I can definitely use a few PDFs to sort of give me a bit of an idea as to how day trading works and what to look for as I assume it’s a little bit of a different strategy than going long-term.
You can apply some of the same ideas to swing trading. I go over some of the types of candlesticks and their meaning dealing with mostly reversal candlestick patterns. These patterns include Doji candlesticks, shooting star candlestick pattern, inverted hammer candlestick, etc. Day trading in some cases just applying the same technicals to lower time frames.
Don’t forget to have a hierarchy of factors to take into consideration. Before all else, I take into account the direction of the trends in the longer-term time frames and their support/resistance and then work down from there. Even more importantly, I zero in on the particular currency pair or instrument indicated by the short term sentiment.
I have used the candlestick patterns for day trading in the forex markets in the past. I followed a few good teachers online as they explained the ‘ins and outs’ of the patterns. I agree, using them to see a reversal of a pattern coming [due to exhaustion] is merely a part of the entire picture. When working with this with forex, I found it to be vital that I used RSI as well. Thinking that the pattern could “predict” movement, rather than the “probability” of the pattern is key, I agree. Good explanation here.
Hi,
Thank you for this article on candlestick patterns which both interesting and informative. Although your thrust is that these must be used sparingly and in conjunction with other trading methods for them to be effective. I see the your point entirely and wonder how these in days gone by worked by themselves without any other trading methods as they where unavailable then and wonder what your view on that is? I know there are people in Japan until today use the candlestick method solely however they are also masters at this form of charting and with constant use are actually able through the psychology of markets and trading combined actually get results. It is no easy feat to remember all the patterns and indeed combination of patterns let alone understand the psychology they are portraying. Thus I agree with your suggestion to use sparingly with other methods to obtain best results. Thanks again for this useful article.
Rami
I think there’s more to trading than reading candlestick patterns. Bullish and bearish candlestick patterns are insufficient when deciding on high probability trades. One must combine them first with higher time frame support and resistance and trendlines.
These are just some of the methods I used as a means of confluence to determine when to enter a trade.
I have been looking for trading advice due to current market uncertainties and found your site. Your video presentation and blog on Candlestick Pattern trades is helpful. The concept that you keep things simple with such C*******k trades is clearly a wise approach. Fascinating that the approach has a Japanese origin. For anybody serious about trading your site offers some practical and useful advice for which I am grateful. What has been your average return since you started using this approach? And when do you see market confidence returning? Where do you see the best opportunities in current market conditions?
I don’t use candlesticks and price action alone. I use it in combination with support and resistance zones as well as the fundamentals. There are certain patterns that I find especially helpful at reversal points. These are the ones I emphasize in the article above.
These can be useful on any time frame and so are applicable to swing trading as well. The markets have changed since you posted this response. It seems for the most part they’ve turned risk on, which favors the antipodean pairs and disfavors the save havens.
I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about the current opportunities and opportunities to come amidst this time of global uncertainty. It’s interesting to consider how (and why) certain businesses are failing right now while others are receiving more demand than ever. For those that have the ability to do so, this time will present a significant investment opportunity. What I learned from your article is to keep it simple, focus on higher probability patterns, and avoid stress with longer-term trades or investments!
The key is a higher probability setup which means lining up the candlestick pattern with a longer time frame and shorter time frame trend. Focusing on the fundamentals helps me find these more powerful trending currencies. Some traders use all sorts of different candlestick patterns; Bearish Harami, Bearish Harami Cross, Bullish Harami, Bullish Harami Cross, Dark Cloud Cover, Dark Cloud Cover, Dark Cloud Cover, Evening Doji Star, Evening Star, Gravestone Doji, Hammer, Hanging Man, etc. You can see how easy it is to become overloaded. I stick to only a few of these as highlighted in the PDF download below.
Thank you for this amazing and great information about Candlestick Pattern for day trading. I have often heard that Japanese are very good at it but had no idea how it work until I read your Article . But please I have a question to ask . Which Candle stick is actually more reliable since there are many types.
I tend to use the candlesticks as continuation patterns at support and resistance. What’s most important is to find the trend that is consistent in both the longer and then your shorter entry time frame. Then find points of resistance in a downtrend and support on an uptrend.
Finally, use your candlestick to narrow down your point of entry. Test it yourself, but I find pin bars and indecision bars to be the best triggers for your entry. Engulfing bars are a close second only because they do not always allow as good an entry as the previous candlesticks mentioned.
Hi! I’m a newbie in the trading world but I have quickly arrived to this conclusion you mentioned here: patterns are not enough. I thought I could make it only paying attention to patterns and have learnt it the ugly way. I’m really interested in all the valuable points you still have ahead. Thank you very much!
What you need are candlestick patterns explained with examples using fundamentals news, trend lines and key levels. I’ll try to provide future articles with this. In the meantime see my articles on money management to remind yourself of the key fundamental things you should practice to become profitable.
I first familiarized myself with the drumstick patterns when I met with a friend who was telling me about forex. I didn’t know that it has been used in some other aspects of life as well. I must say that it is very beautiful to see that you can give the awesome information that I have gotten here. I see that there are some different strategies to take when doing this. I will like to try it
Candlestick chart patterns in forex such as the inverted hammer candlestick, doji candlestick pattern, pin bars, and even some indecision bars all have something in common. They all tend to have extended wicks. When found at key levels, in the direction of a trend backed up by fundamental news, these wicks can be powerful clues of a trend continuation and good point of entry.
Candlestick chart analysis is not as complicated as some people make it out to be. Only with a combination of something like support and resistance are these most profitable chart patterns actually valid.
WOW, great content!
I love to invest in Crypto. but I didn’t have a place to get information until I found this place.
After I read your PDF I got a clear idea about candlestick patterns. that PDF has visuals patterns. Those visuals helped me to clearly understand the patterns.
Realy appreciate sharing valuable content. Keep it up!!
Remember, although it’s great to know profitable bullish candlestick patterns and bearish candlestick patterns, you are the key to your trading success. Focus on preserving your capital and trading the patterns with key levels and news fundamentals. Preserving your capital is addressed here:
https://andiamolireforex.com/forex-and-money-management/
https://andiamolireforex.com/forex-risk-management-example/
Hello John, I must commend your honesty in this post. Investing in cryptocurrency and forex have been one of the coolest means to having some money without stress like so many people. However when it comes to keeping track of ones wallet and making sure he doesn’t run at loss, its been an issue for lots of people and this have been my reason for not investing in any just yet. Hearing about candlestick seem like a really nice means to educating people more about their buying and investing, and I’ll love to learn more about it. Thanks for sharing.
Candlesticks patterns are only some of the pieces of the puzzle as indicated above. I go into some day trading strategies which incorporate other factors than simply candlestick patterns in this article:
https://andiamolireforex.com/best-day-trading-strategies-using-price-action-patterns-pdf/
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