Candlestick Corner  |  JAN 2002

Working Money: The Engulfing Pattern by Sharon Yamanaka

The Engulfing Pattern by Sharon Yamanaka This major reversal pattern is simple to use. You don’t even need additional indicators. Find out how. Candlestick formations originated in 18th-century Japan, where the market action was explained in much the same way that we describe stock market sentiment today: as an ongoing battle between bulls and bears fighting for control. Compared to the bar chart, candlesticks use the same information (high, low, opening, and closing prices), but the opening and closing prices are emphasized by converting them into rectangular bodies, or candlesticks, that are closed (dark) when the close is lower than the open, and open (white) when the close is higher (Figure 1). These bodies emphasize the bullishness or bearishness of the market. One glance will give the investor an overall impression of darkness or light that can highlight a stock’s rise or fall, even when the overall trend isn’t particularly apparent. And therein lies the strength of this charting technique.

by Sharon Yamanaka