Chapter 20 · Single Candle Patterns
Single candle patterns
Nine named forms, all built from where the body sits and how long the wicks are.
Candlestick shapes read the same on any exchange, but on NEPSE the closing price they are built from is often set inside a circuit band rather than by free trading — so a long body against the limit says the rule stopped the move, not that one side won it.
What one candle records
Every pattern below is a description of two things: how large the body is relative to the range, and where in the range that body sits. Learn those two dimensions and the names become obvious rather than memorised.
| Pattern | Shape | Conventional reading |
|---|---|---|
| Marubozu | Long body, no wicks — body-to-range near 100% | One side controlled the whole session |
| Doji | Open ≈ close — body-to-range near 0% | Neither side finished ahead |
| Dragonfly doji | Long lower wick, no upper | Sellers pushed down and were fully rejected |
| Gravestone doji | Long upper wick, no lower | Buyers pushed up and were fully rejected |
| Long-legged doji | Long wicks both sides | Large disagreement, no resolution |
| Hammer | Small body at the top, long lower wick, after a fall | Possible bottom |
| Hanging man | The same shape, after a rise | Possible top |
| Shooting star | Small body at the bottom, long upper wick, after a rise | Possible top |
| Inverted hammer | The same shape, after a fall | Possible bottom |
| Spinning top | Small body, wicks both sides, mid-range | Indecision, weaker than a doji |
Worked: is it a hammer?
The common quantitative test is that the lower wick is at least twice the body, and the upper wick is small or absent. A candle opens at Rs 214, closes at Rs 219, with a high of Rs 221 and a low of Rs 203.
- Body = 219 − 214 = Rs 5.
- Lower wick = 214 − 203 = Rs 11, which is 2.2 × the body. Passes.
- Upper wick = 221 − 219 = Rs 2, small. Passes.
- It qualifies as a hammer only if it appears after a decline. After a rise, the identical candle is a hanging man.
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