Quote from IronFist:
What is the difference between dark hammer patterns and white hammer patterns? One of the definitions for "hammer" I found on line said:
A small body (white or black) that closes near its high with a long lower shadow.
...which made me think that as long as the shape was right, it didn't matter if it was a black or a white body.
When you say "dark" hammer pattern you mean because it was a red candle and not green, right?
Hi IronFist,
Everybody uses a different color scheme on their charts.
To properly answer your question I will answer it via your chart color scheme.
A hammer line can be red or green via your chart.
Further, it's important you recognize my use of the words Line and Pattern.
There's a huge difference between a line and a pattern.
A line is only talking about one single candlestick.
A pattern is talking about a candlestick line and the price action around it that involves the intervals before and after the line.
Thus, a pattern involves more than one candlestick line.
In my opinion, it involves a minimum of three intervals and than the line for a minimum total of 4 intervals.
Thus, you had a Dark Hammer Line only but not a Bullish Dark Hammer Pattern because the price action before the Red Hammer Line did not give bullish confirmation nor the price action after the red line.
Yes, it does matter greatly between a Red Hammer Line and a Green Hammer Line on your chart.
The green hammer line has more of a shift in supply/demand and more of a shift in volatility in comparison to the red hammer line if both have the exact same body length and the exact same lower shadow length.
However, that info alone doesn't determine if its Bullish or Bearish as a trade signal.
Quote from IronFist:
Even here it says for a bullish hammer pattern that the color of the body is not important.
http://www.hotcandlestick.com/directory/Bullish Hammer.htm
I must be missing something obvious...
You misinterpreted the information at that website.
The website does not use the word Pattern and it is talking about a Line via using the phrase...
as with any single candlestick, confirmation is required.
Thus, a line is not a pattern.
Also, the website is
incorrect when it saids the color of the body is unimportant due to the fact the supply/demand and volatility levels is different between the two as explained above.
That difference requires one of them (red hammer line) to have more confirmation in comparison to the green hammer line.
Once again, the website is incorrect nor does it describe that surrounding price action that determines if the hammer line is involved in a Bullish Pattern.
Therefore, without the explanation of the price action before and after the Hammer Line...
View the website as many others like it as
general and subjective explanations.
Simply, don't use that website for information about bullish or bearish
patterns because there's no discussion about such unless you want to become one of those traders that saids Japanese Candlestick patterns aren't reliable.
Summary, if the website or book doesn't talk about the price action before the Hammer Line, doesn't talk about what caused the formation of the pattern...
It's not reliable for info to determine trade decisions.
Mark
(a.k.a.
NihabaAshi) Japanese Candlestick term