What it looks like
Open and close are at the same price, or almost, and both sit at the bottom of the candle. There is a long upper wick and little or no lower wick. It matters most after a rise.
What it means
Buyers pushed price up during the candle, then sellers brought it all the way back to the open. Buyers gained nothing. It is one of the gentler signals: a hint the rise is tiring and no more than that.
How to trade it
- 1
Do not trade it on its own.
- 2
Confirm: wait for a candle that closes below the gravestone doji's low.
- 3
Enter: sell on that close, with a stop just above the doji's high.
- 4
Target: aim for 2 times the stop, or the nearest swing low.
- 5
Example: on the US30 5 minute chart a gravestone doji has a 30 point upper wick. The next candle closes below its low; you sell with a 33 point stop above the high and aim 66 points lower.
A close above the gravestone doji's high. Buyers have pushed through the rejection.
Where it works best
At a ceiling after a rise: a prior swing high, the previous day's high, a pivot or a round number.
WickSpeak finds the gravestone doji automatically on any chart and names it on the candles that made it. Next to the name it writes what the pattern is, how to trade it and what proves it wrong, so you never have to guess the rule. In Playbook you can use the gravestone doji, or any of the 146 patterns, as a condition alongside up to 12 conditions on any of 12 timeframes, then backtest it on past candles with your costs.
Common mistakes
- Selling before a candle closes below its low.
- Reading it as bearish at the bottom of a fall.
- Placing the stop inside the upper wick.
Related patterns
Questions traders ask
Is a gravestone doji bearish?
After a rise it is a mild bearish hint. It becomes a sell only once a candle closes below its low.
Gravestone doji or shooting star: which is stronger?
Both show rejected higher prices. The shooting star has a small body near the low; the gravestone has almost none. We treat the gravestone as the gentler hint that needs a confirming close.
Can a gravestone doji appear in a downtrend?
Yes, but there it means little. Its message is about a rise running out, so it matters after a rise and at a ceiling.
What proves a gravestone doji wrong?
A close above its high, which shows buyers have taken back the rejected prices.