Candlestick Patterns Cheat Sheet (Ultimate Guide)

A cheat sheet for candlestick patterns is a convenient tool, allowing you to quickly identify the patterns you see on a candlestick chart and whether they’re usually interpreted as bullish or bearish patterns.

Our candlestick pattern cheat sheet will help you with your technical analysis. For example, the candlestick patterns included in the cheat sheet can help you identify reversal signals, bullish and bearish candle types and more.

candlestick pattern cheat sheet

If you find it more convenient to print out your learning materials, here’s our printable candlestick patterns cheat sheet in PDF form.

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Candlestick chart basics

A candlestick chart is a type of price chart used to describe the price movements of stocks, derivatives, commodities, cryptocurrencies and other tradeable assets. Candlestick charts trace their origins back to Japan, most likely in the late 1800s. 

Today, candlestick charts are commonly used, even by traders and investors who are not necessarily trying to analyze candlestick patterns. If you go to a website like TradingView or check a cryptocurrency’s price on a crypto exchange, the default chart style will most likely be a candlestick chart.

Candlestick charts provide several points of information on what happened to the price of an asset in a specified time interval. 

Each candlestick is divided into three sections — The body, the upper shadow, and the lower shadow. The body of the candlestick tells us the opening and closing price of the selected time interval. 

In the shadow sections, we can see the highest and lowest prices achieved during the time interval. The shadow sections are also sometimes called “wicks”. For example, you might have heard crypto traders say something like “Did you guys see that massive BTC wick on Binance?”. 

In most cases, a candlestick where the close is lower than the open is colored red, while a candlestick where the close is higher than the open is colored green. Some charts can use a different scheme, but the important thing to understand is that any candlestick chart will have a visual way of distinguishing between bearish and bullish candles.

Candlestick chart explained

We can clearly explain how candlestick charts work using a simple example. Let’s say that that we are looking at a candlestick chart for the Bitcoin price that uses a 1 hour interval.

For the sake of simplicity, let’s say that we begin recording the price at 12:00 PM, when the price of Bitcoin is at $30,000. Right after the start of the candle, the Bitcoin price drops to $29,800. Then, it recovers and reaches a peak of $33,500. Finally, the price of Bitcoin drops a bit and is at $30,200 by 13:00 PM. 

Here’s the information our candle will display after we move on to the next candle:

  • Open: $30,000
  • Close: $30,200
  • High: $33,500
  • Low: $29,800

Since our candle’s close is higher than its open, it will be colored green.

Important candle types

Now, let’s take a look at some important candle types. We’ll be covering the Doji, Hammer and Shooting star candle types. Of course, there’s also other types of candles, and the candle types can be subdivided further into more specific categories.

Doji

A Doji candle is a candle with a very small body. In other words, it’s a candle where the open and close prices are very close together. Doji candles are typically interpreted as signaling a trend reversal. Sometimes, it’s also analyzed as a sign of indecision in the market.

There’s several different types of Doji candles — examples include the Dragonfly Doji, the Gravestone Doji and the long legged Doji.

Doji candlesticks

Hammer

The Hammer candle is a type of candle that’s usually interpreted as signaling a bullish price reversal. The Hammer candle has a long lower wick, a small body, and a small (or no) upper wick. You might have noticed that the Dragonfly Doji and the Hammer look quite similar. The difference between the two is that Hammer candles have a larger body.

Hammer candlestick

Shooting Star

The Shooting Star is a candlestick that is characterized by a long upper wick, a short (or no) lower wick, and a relatively small body. It is usually interpreted as a bearish candlestick, as it tells us that the price rose significantly during the time interval, but was eventually pushed back towards its open price.

Shooting star candle

Candlestick patterns

Now, let’s go through a selection of some of the most commonly analyzed candle patterns.

Bullish candlestick patterns

Hammer

Hammer candle pattern

Bullish engulfing pattern

Bullish engulfing candlestick pattern

Piercing line

Piercing line candlestick pattern

Inverted hammer

Inverted hammer candlestick pattern

Morning star

Morning star candlestick pattern

Morning doji star

Morning doji star

Bullish harami

Bullish harami candlestick pattern

Bullish engulfing cross

Bullish belt hold

Bullish belt hold candlestick pattern

Three white soldiers

three white soldiers candlestick pattern

Bullish meeting line

Bullish meeting line candlestick pattern

Tower bottom

tower bottom candlestick pattern

Three stars in the south

Three stars in the south candlestick pattern

Bearish candlestick patterns

Hanging man

Hanging man candlestick pattern

Bearish engulfing pattern

Bearish engulfing candlestick pattern

Dark cloud

Dark cloud candlestick pattern

Shooting star

Shooting star candlestick pattern

Evening star

Evening star candlestick pattern

Evening doji star

Evening doji star candlestick pattern

Bearish harami

Bearish harami candlestick pattern

Bearish harami cross

Bearish harami cross candlestick pattern

Bearish belt hold

Bearish belt hold candlestick pattern

Upside gap two cross

Upside gap two cross candlestick pattern

Three black crows

Three black crows candlestick pattern

Bearish meeting line

Bearish meeting line candlestick pattern

Dumpling top

Dumpling top candlestick pattern

Tower top

Tower top candlestick pattern

Advance block

Advance block candlestick pattern

Bearish breakaway

Bearish breakaway candlestick pattern

Things to keep in mind when you’re analyzing candlestick patterns 

If you’re just getting started with analyzing candlestick patterns, it’s not recommended to apply your analysis to real trades. Trading is difficult and risky already, and there’s no reason to increase the risk even further by trying to apply a skill that you haven’t mastered yet.

Instead, you should use a platform that offers a demo trading mode, or simply analyze price charts on platforms like TradingView and try to predict how the market will play out based on its current candlestick patterns. This approach will give you a risk-free way to learn candlestick patterns at your own pace. 

Also, you should keep in mind that analyzing candlestick patterns is far from an exact science. Patterns that are considered bullish are not always followed by positive price action, and the reverse is true for patterns generally regarded as bearish.

As you spend more time analyzing the charts, you’ll become better at identifying contexts in which you can apply your knowledge of candlestick chart patterns with confidence, and contexts in which the conventional wisdom of candlestick chart analysis might not be the most suitable. 

The bottom line

Candlestick pattern analysis could certainly help you take your trading to the next level. However, it takes some time to become comfortable with this kind of chart analysis, which is why it’s not recommended to put your capital at risk while you’re learning. Hopefully, our candlestick cheat sheet has provided a good starting point in your jearney to master candlestick analysis. 

If you’re also interested in other styles of technical analysis, make sure to check out our introduction to forex line trading.

Source: https://coincodex.com/article/35704/candlestick-patterns-cheat-sheet/