Candle Patterns — reading buyer vs seller dominance

Candle patterns aren't magic. They're shortcuts to read who's in control — buyers or sellers — right now. Two categories matter most.

Reversal patterns at extremes

🔥 Engulfing

One candle entirely "eats" the previous one. Bullish engulfing = green candle wraps a red one (buyers took over). Bearish = red wraps green (sellers won).

Strongest at the end of a trend or at a key support/resistance level. Mid-range engulfings = noise.

🔨 Hammer / Shooting Star

Hammer: long lower wick, small body at top. Sellers tried to push down, buyers slammed it back up. Bullish at bottoms.

Shooting Star: opposite — long upper wick, small body at bottom. Bearish at tops.

⭐ Doji

Open and close almost identical — body is a sliver. Pure indecision. At a top or bottom = warning bell. In the middle of a trend = ignore.

3-candle confirmation patterns

🌅 Morning / Evening Star

Morning Star: big down candle → small indecision candle → big up candle. Sandwich pattern signaling a bottom. Three-bar reversal.

Evening Star: opposite — green, indecision, big red. Top reversal.

🐦 Three Soldiers / Crows

Three consecutive candles in same direction with rising/falling closes. Three Black Crows = strong selling pressure. Three White Soldiers = strong buying. No questions asked when these print at structure.

Twin patterns

🪞 Tweezer Top/Bottom

Two candles touching the same high (top) or low (bottom). Roof or floor — buyers/sellers tested twice and failed.

📦 Inside Bar + volume drop

Candle entirely inside previous one + volume drops below average. Pause before next move.