Patterns › Bullish harami vs Bearish harami
Look-alikes
Bullish harami vs Bearish harami
They look alike, so beginners mix them up. Here is what each one means, and how often each one worked on real charts.
Bullish harami
A small candle inside a big red one. Selling is slowing down.
A bullish harami has two candles and appears after a fall. First comes a long red candle, then a small green candle whose body fits inside the red body. The word harami means pregnant in Japanese, because the small candle sits inside the big one like a baby. It shows selling is slowing down, but it does not yet show buyers are in charge.
Treating a pause in selling as proof that buyers have taken over.
Bearish harami
A small candle inside a big green one. Buying is slowing down.
A bearish harami has two candles and appears after a rise. First comes a long green candle, then a small red candle whose body fits inside the green body. It shows buying is slowing down. But a quiet moment is not the same as sellers taking over, so it needs confirmation.
Treating a pause in buying as proof that sellers have taken over.
Real odds side by side
| Pattern | Found | Target first | Stop first | Went nowhere |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bullish harami | 11,135 | 34% | 56% | 10% |
| Bearish harami | 11,397 | 36% | 57% | 7% |
Counted by the Trading Class research engine on real past candles: entry at the signal candle's close, target 1.5 × ATR(14), stop 1 × ATR(14), 12 candles to decide, a candle that touches both counts as the stop. How we count. Past data, not a forecast and not advice.