Harami Cross Candlestick Pattern: What It Looks Like and What It Means
A harami cross is a two-candle pattern: one large candle, then a doji tucked inside its body. A doji opens and closes at almost the same price, so it has almost no body and signals indecision. Since the second candle is a doji, not just a small candle, a harami cross is read as a stronger sign of stalling than a plain harami. It marks uncertainty, not a decision.
How It Forms
A candle records one period of trading with a body (the box from the open to the close) and wicks (the thin lines out to the high and the low). A close above the open makes the candle bullish, and a close below makes it bearish. A bullish reversal is a possible turn from falling to rising, and a bearish reversal is the reverse.
The pattern needs a long candle at the end of a trend. The next period opens and closes within that body and ends almost where it began: a standoff between buyers and sellers. After a fall the large candle is bearish and this is the bullish version; after a rise it is bullish and this is the bearish version.
Candle by candle, the drawing's prices are made up:
| Candle | Open | High | Low | Close |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $39 | $41 | $33 | $35 |
| 2 | $35 | $37 | $29 | $31 |
| 3 (long) | $31 | $32 | $14 | $16 |
| 4 (doji) | $22.50 | $28 | $19 | $23.50 |
| 5 | $25 | $32 | $23 | $30 |
Candle 3's body is $15 tall, from $31 down to $16. Candle 4 opens at $22.50 and closes at $23.50, a body of just $1, well inside that range. Its wicks reach $19 below and $28 above. Candle 5 closes at $30, higher than the doji's close.
How to Read It
- The doji's wicks. They show how far the price travelled each way ($19 to $28 in the drawing) before it closed near its open.
- The extreme. The pattern reads best at the end of a long run, where a pause counts most.
- The follow-up. A doji is indecision, not a committed reversal, so the pattern still needs a confirming candle.
What to Watch For
A harami cross alone proves nothing. A stall can resolve either way or fade into a flat stretch; the next candle says more than the pattern does.
Two shapes get mixed up with it:
- A plain harami has the same arrangement, but its inside candle merely has a small body, so the difference is that candle's shape.
- A lone doji has the same shape. What makes the harami cross is the large candle before it, so the difference is that candle, not the doji.
Free or Premium
Harami cross is an extended pattern. Its chart marker is part of Rapunzl Premium, shown once the opt-in for 10 advanced patterns is on. In Rapunzl's Stock Scanner, it is free to find through the pattern filters.
Try It in Rapunzl
On a Candlestick or OHLC chart, the route is Customize Chart → Chart Indicators → Levels, Patterns & AI Charts, where you switch on Pattern Markers and the opt-in for the 10 advanced patterns. Markers point up (▲) for bullish detections and down (▼) for bearish ones.
In the Stock Scanner, the Bullish candlestick and Bearish candlestick filters both let you pick Harami Cross. Ideas are ready-made screens, and "Bullish candlestick today" is one to try: company stocks that formed a bullish pattern on the latest day of trading, with a warning that many such patterns do not lead to a rise.
A 15-Minute Class Activity
Draw It Both Ways. Pairs need graph paper and a pencil. Every price here is made up.
- 4 minutes. Draw the bullish version on a scale of $10 to $40: a long candle that opens at $38 and closes at $22, and a doji that opens at $29 and closes at $30, with wicks from $25 to $34. Check that the doji's body sits inside $22 to $38.
- 3 minutes. Draw the bearish version: a long candle that opens at $14 and closes at $30, and a doji that opens at $22 and closes at $23, with wicks from $18 to $27.
- 3 minutes. Swap drawings and check three things: a long body, a doji body inside it, and wicks on both sides of the doji. Then add a confirming candle to each.
- 2 minutes. Redraw the bullish drawing's second candle with a $5 body (open $26, close $31) and name the pattern. (A plain harami: the inside body is visible, not a line.)
- 3 minutes. Exit ticket: in one sentence, say why a doji inside a big candle is a stall and not yet a turn.
Related Patterns
- Harami: the same arrangement with a plain small candle inside.
- Doji: the single candle that sits inside a harami cross.
- How to Read a Candlestick Chart: why a thin body and long wicks matter.
- Support and Resistance Levels: why the place a stall appears matters.
Frequently Asked
Questions
The inside candle. A harami has a small candle inside the large one, and a harami cross has a doji there, a candle with nearly equal open and close.
Either. After a fall, with a bearish large candle, it is read as a possible bullish reversal; after a rise, with a bullish large candle, as a possible bearish one.
No. A doji shows indecision, so the pattern is a hint that works best with a confirming candle after it.
Put Pattern Reading in Your Lessons With Rapunzl
For a pattern unit, request a demo for a walk-through of Rapunzl's charts and simulator. Students learning at home can start with the parents page.
Indicators, patterns and examples in this article are for education and are not investment advice or a recommendation to buy or sell any security.
By Myles Gage, CEO & Co-Founder at Rapunzl.