Short answer: A doji is a candle whose open and close are at or nearly at the same price, so the body is a thin line. On this page, "nearly" means a body no bigger than 5% of the candle's range (the distance from its low to its high), which is Investopedia's line, and the candle should look like a line next to the candles around it. It means buyers and sellers fought to a draw. StockCharts says that on their own, doji are "not enough to mark a reversal". It matters at a level, and the next candle decides.
Kev (Kevin Cabana, who runs the Momentum trading room) trades long only, which means every trade he takes is a long, a trade that buys a stock expecting it to rise. This page goes deeper on one pattern than our guide to reading candlestick charts and uses the same Bulkowski numbers where the two overlap. The dragonfly doji is the shape of the hammer candlestick pattern with the body shrunk to a line. A stop is the price where you exit a trade that goes against you.
Is it a doji?
The first two rows decide whether a candle is a doji. The Level and Volume rows decide whether it is a candidate for a long, and the Confirmation row decides whether that candidate is confirmed. Those three rows are this page's day-trading additions.
What is a doji candlestick?
A doji is a candle whose open and close are at or nearly at the same price, so the body is a thin line. On this page, "nearly" means a body no bigger than 5% of the candle's range, which is Investopedia's line, and the candle should look like a line next to the candles around it.
The real body is the part of the candle between the open and the close. A wick, which many charting sources call a shadow, is the thin line above or below the body that shows how far price traded beyond it. StockCharts: "Doji convey a sense of indecision or tug-of-war between buyers and sellers."
A doji gives no direction by itself. As StockCharts puts it, "Alone, doji are neutral patterns. Any bullish or bearish bias is based on preceding price action and future confirmation."
How do you tell a doji from a spinning top?
By body size. Investopedia puts the line at "up to 5% of the size of the entire candle's range". Any more than that, and "it becomes a spinning top."
The sources do not measure "nearly equal" the same way. Bulkowski, whose test results come up below, looks for open and close "within pennies of each other." This page uses the share of the range because a fixed number of pennies means different things on different charts. On a hypothetical $3 small cap (the stock of a company with a small total market value) whose 5-minute candle spans 10 cents, a 3-cent body is "a few pennies" and also 30% of the range, which makes it a spinning top by Investopedia's line.
No source we read sets an upper limit for a spinning top's body. Our hammer page covers the hammer row in full.
What are the types of doji?
This page covers five shapes: standard, long-legged, dragonfly, gravestone and four-price. They differ in where the open and close sit in the range and how long the wicks are.
Every Bulkowski cell counts which way price went on daily charts in his database. None of these rates is a win rate. His glossary defines a breakout as price piercing the top or bottom of the pattern, and a reversal as price entering and exiting in opposite directions.
Long-legged doji
Bulkowski says "The length of the shadows need not appear the same, only that they are longer than recent shadows on other candles." This page follows Bulkowski. On the long-legged doji he writes "It means nothing. Tests confirm that the breakout direction is random." The long wicks put the stop far from the entry, as the worked example shows.
Dragonfly doji
StockCharts: "Dragonfly doji form when the open, high, and close are equal, and the low creates a long lower shadow." Investopedia says an exact match of all three prices is uncommon, so this page says at or near one price.
The textbook bullish read applies after a decline. Bulkowski notes that "Dragonfly doji break out upward most often", and still writes of his tests on daily charts "It is a reversal candle, but only half the time. Random, in other words." Kev's pullback strategy guide describes a long-wick entry: "Entry comes on the next candle if it holds above the wick low, with the stop just beneath it." He does not call it a dragonfly, and reading it as one is this page's mapping.
Gravestone doji
The mirror image. StockCharts says "Gravestone doji form when the open, low, and close are equal, and the high creates a long upper shadow."
For a long-only trader the gravestone is a warning about a long you hold. At the high of a push, tighten the stop or take the exit, and take no new long until a later candle closes back above the gravestone's high. It never means a short here, and nothing on this page teaches one. On daily charts, Bulkowski finds that it signals a bearish reversal "only 51% of the time. I call that random."
Kev's 2026 strategy recap gives the exit rule for a rejection at the high: "price tries to break out and instantly rejects (topping tail) = full exit, every single time, no exceptions." A gravestone at the high is the same shape, a long upper wick, and reading it as his topping tail is this page's mapping.
Four-price doji
FXOpen describes it as "open, high, low, and close prices located at the same level". This page's read: on a 1-minute chart of a thin small cap, a flat candle often means only a print or two traded in that minute, so there is no information about buyers and sellers. Skip it.
Is a doji bullish or bearish?
Neither on its own. StockCharts: "The relevance of a doji depends on the preceding trend or preceding candlesticks." There are three cases.
- After a run of big green candles. Our candlestick guide says "A doji after a long run of big candles tells you the run is stalling." For a long-only trader that is a warning on a long you hold and gives no reason to buy. Bulkowski's northern doji "acts as a continuation 51% of the time" on daily charts.
- After a run down. StockCharts adds "further strength is required to confirm any reversal." A doji here that also passes the Level row is a candidate for a long, and nothing happens until the next candle. On daily charts, Bulkowski's southern doji is a bullish reversal "just 52% of the time."
- Inside a flat range. Our candlestick guide: "A doji in the middle of a choppy range tells you nothing." Bulkowski's tip is "Ignore gravestone doji in congestion areas". Several dojis in a row are a pause that the break decides. Kev's price action guide says "Tight ranges are traps until they confirm." The line does not mention a doji, and applying it to a row of dojis is this page's reading.
Where does a doji matter for a day trader?
At a level. Our support and resistance guide says "Support and resistance are price levels on a chart where a stock tends to pause or reverse." A doji at a level is a stock pausing there.
Besides support, the checklist's Level row names three places for a long-only day trader: VWAP, the premarket high and the low of a pullback. Our VWAP guide says "At Momentum, we never fight VWAP: if price sits under the line, we wait for it to change or we pass." A doji at any of the three means wait for the next candle. It is never an entry by itself.
How does a long-only trader read a doji?
- Find the level. A doji at support, VWAP, a premarket high or the low of a pullback is a candidate. A doji in open space or in the middle of a flat range is not.
- Wait for the next candle. Sources set different bars. This page uses a close above the doji's high, because Bulkowski measures a breakout from "a close above the top of the candlestick", so it is also the event his figures count. Price trading below the doji's low before that close is the failure, as in the checklist. On a 5-minute chart, this page gives that close the next candle or two.
- Put the stop under the low. Investopedia: "If entering long on a bullish reversal, a stop loss can be placed below the low of the dragonfly." This page applies the same stop to every doji. The catch is distance: Investopedia says "too large a stop-loss may not justify the potential reward of the trade."
- Size from the stop. Momentum's 1-2-3 rule from the chatroom page: "risk no more than 1% of the account, never enter without 2:1, and stop for the day after 3 losses." A 2:1 reward to risk means the distance from entry to target is at least twice the distance from entry to stop. Our position size guide gives the sizing formula: "Position size is your dollar risk divided by your risk per share."
A hypothetical worked example
Every number here is made up, on a made-up small cap on the 5-minute chart. This is hypothetical and not a trade, with no forecast and no result. It computes risk only, with an account of $20,000, so 1% risk is 0.01 x $20,000 = $200. Each doji prints at VWAP inside a pullback, so each passes the Level row.
Doji A is a standard doji: open $4.20, high $4.30, low $4.10, close $4.21. The range is $0.20 and the body is $0.01, which is 5% of the range, exactly at Investopedia's line, so it counts. The next candle closes at $4.32, above the $4.30 high. Doji B is long-legged: open $4.20, high $4.45, low $3.95, close $4.20. The next candle closes at $4.47, above the $4.45 high.
B's risk per share is $0.53 / $0.23 = 2.30 times A's, so the same 1% buys 377 shares instead of 869. Price needs $1.06 of room above B's entry before the 2:1 rule allows the trade, against $0.46 for A. That is a reason to skip a valid long-legged doji intraday: its long wick can put the stop so far away that the trade cannot meet 2:1.
The cost of waiting. Entering at doji A's own $4.21 close would risk $4.21 - $4.09 = $0.12 per share, or 1,666 shares. Waiting for the close above the high adds $0.11 of risk per share. In exchange you get evidence that buyers took the level back.
The slippage check. Our stop-loss guide says "A stop-loss limits your loss, but it doesn't guarantee the exact price you'll get." If doji A's $4.09 stop filled at $4.04, the loss would be ($4.32 - $4.04) x 869 = $243.32, or 1.22% of the account, over the 1% plan.
Why is a 1-minute doji on a small cap mostly noise?
Because a 1-minute chart prints a lot of candles. A regular US session runs from 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET, which is 390 minutes, so 390 one-minute candles and 78 five-minute candles. From 9:30 to 11:00 a.m. alone that is 90 one-minute candles and 18 five-minute candles. More candles means more doji-shaped candles with no level under them.
On a thin, low-float stock (one with few shares available to trade), a 1-minute candle with a tiny body is often just a minute when few shares traded, so there was no standoff to read. Check the volume bar under it, and read the 5-minute chart first. Our candlestick guide states the trade-off: "a 1-minute chart prints hundreds of candles a day." It also says "On intraday charts, lean harder on the level, the volume and a confirming candle."
What happens to a doji around a halt?
Read nothing into a doji that spans a halt. A trading halt is a pause, and Investor.gov says "Securities exchanges, not the SEC, determine whether to impose a trading halt or delay in a stock." One mechanism is the Limit Up Limit Down (LULD) plan, which sets price bands above and below a stock's average price over the preceding five minutes. A Limit State starts when the best bid or offer reaches a band without crossing it, and the plan's rule is "If the market does not exit a Limit State within 15 seconds, the primary listing exchange declares a five-minute Trading Pause."
A candle that spans a pause and a gapped reopen can open and close near the same price, with wicks drawn by the reopen gap. It looks like a doji or a long-legged doji, and no trader could have traded through it. Our halted stock guide says "You cannot trade a stock while it is halted." Kev's rule in that guide: "I never buy blind into the resume."
How reliable is a doji?
Near random on daily charts. Only one primary source we found gives tested doji figures. Bulkowski's ThePatternSite reports results for each type he tests, "based on hundreds of perfect trades." His summary of the family, on his gapping down doji page: "In fact, none of the doji candlesticks are what traders expect. To me, they mean nothing at all." and, on daily charts, "Performance is about random or near random (around 50% to 59%)." This page does not cover his two gapping dojis, where price gaps up or down and then forms a doji. On daily charts they sit nearest the top of that range: his gapping up doji is a "Bearish reversal 57% of the time" and his gapping down doji a "Bullish reversal 56% of the time".
Three limits apply. His examples are daily charts, and about his candle statistics he writes "my statistics are based on the daily charts". He calls his measurement basis "perfect trades", and his figures say nothing about entries, stops, slippage or size. And none of his figures is a win rate. A win rate would need entries, stops, exits and costs, and no published test we found gives one for dojis on intraday small caps.
Two academic abstracts are the closest we found to an intraday or small-cap test. By our paraphrase of the abstract, Fock, Klein and Zwergel tested candlestick patterns on intraday data from the DAX stock index future and the Bund interest rate future (Journal of Derivatives, 2005) and found no evidence that the patterns predicted price, alone or with other common indicators such as momentum. Marshall, Young and Rose wrote in a 2007 working paper abstract "We find that these strategies are not generally profitable when applied to large U.S. stocks." The doji is not singled out in either abstract.
What patterns use a doji?
A doji can also be one candle inside a longer pattern. The morning doji star and the harami cross are two examples. Our candlestick guide covers the multi-candle patterns, and a three-candle result is a different number from a doji result.
Frequently asked questions
What does a doji candle mean?
A doji is a candle whose open and close are at or nearly at the same price, so the body is a thin line. On this page, "nearly" means a body no bigger than 5% of the candle's range, which is Investopedia's line, and the candle should look like a line next to the candles around it. It means buyers and sellers fought to a draw. The level it forms at and the next candle give it meaning.
Is a doji bullish or bearish?
Neither on its own. After a decline at a level, it is a candidate for a long, and after a run up it is a reason to tighten the stop on a long you hold. Before any new long, wait for a later candle to close above the doji's high. On daily charts, Bulkowski calls every doji type he tests "random or near random".
What does a gravestone doji mean for a long?
A gravestone doji has its open, close and low at or near one price, with a long upper wick and little or no lower wick. On a long you hold, a gravestone at the high of a push is a reason to tighten the stop or take the exit. Take no new long until a later candle closes back above its high. For a long-only trader, it is never a signal to short.
What is a dragonfly doji?
A candle with open, close and high at or near one price, a long lower wick and little or no upper wick. It is the hammer shape with the body shrunk to a line. It needs a level and a close above its high. Bulkowski finds a reversal 50% of the time on daily charts and calls that random.
Do dojis work on 1-minute or 5-minute charts?
No published test we found measures dojis on intraday small caps, so there is no intraday figure to give. The shape reads the same on either chart, but a 1-minute chart prints far more doji shapes with no level under them. Read the 5-minute chart first and check the volume bar.
How reliable is a doji candlestick?
Bulkowski finds 50% to 52% for the dragonfly, gravestone, long-legged, northern and southern doji on daily charts in his sample, and calls the whole family "random or near random". That counts which way price broke out of the candle. It says nothing about intraday small caps or about any trader's results.
Watch the open with Kev
Kev trades the open live on stream in the Momentum trading room and calls out his entry and his stop as he takes each trade, so you get the reasoning behind every trade. Membership includes the live stream and its recordings, the Momentum Scanner, the Momentum Journal, and the nightly and pre-market watchlists. Start your 7-day free trial. Free for 7 days, then $197 a month. Cancel anytime.
This content is for educational purposes only and is not financial advice. Trading involves significant risk and may not be suitable for all traders.
