How to Trade Bearish Engulfing Patterns

Bearish engulfing patterns happen typically at the top of uptrends. They are a two candlestick pattern setup. The first candle is a small bullish candle followed by a second larger bearish candle that completely engulfs the first candle. Look for price to fail second candle and hold to confirm bearish continuation.

What Are Bearish Engulfing Patterns?

A bearish engulfing pattern consists of two candlesticks that form near resistance levels where the second bearish candle engulfs the smaller first bullish candle. Typically, when the second smaller candle engulfs the first, price fails and causes a bearish reversal.

The bearish engulfing pattern signals the possible end of a bullish trend. Confirmation is needed for this pattern to set up and break.

They are made up of two candlesticks. The first candle is a small bullish candlestick with small wicks. The second candlestick is a bearish one that engulfs the small bullish one.

The name of the chart pattern implies the what the future may bring. A bearish trend engulfing the previous bullish one to reverse it.

This pattern typically occurs at the top of a bullish trend. You can read this signal as a peak or a slowing down in it’s moves up. It’s good to consider the prices of the stock that occurred before the bearish engulfing candle as well as after it.

Bullish momentum is coming to an end when bearish engulfing candles form. This is especially relevant when second candles price opens higher than the first candles price. The more the second candle falls down, should be lower than the first candle, the more significant the downtrend signal is.

Main Points You Need to Know:

This pattern can happen on any time frame, but it is more significant if it occurs after the stock has been climbing up
The body of the stick , not the wicks is what matters The body of the declining candle must engulf the candle before it that was a green candle
In a perfect world, both candles are big candles versus the other candles around them and they have tons of volume on the volume candles below. The bigger the candles the more solid the setup
If the market is choppy, it isn’t as strong a signal. Look for trending markets to get better trade signals from this candlestick pattern

Technicals

When they occur at the top of an uptrend it’s one of the most important factors of a reversal. Bearish engulfing candles can happen anywhere on a chart but the most powerful reversal signal is when it forms at the top.

The pattern has formed at a key resistance level that the bulls can’t break. The bears don’t want price to climb anymore so they step in. The highs of the bearish engulfing candle should be the highs of the pattern.

The next candle after the bearish engulfing pattern close lower than its predecessors. That’s a pretty significant signal that the trend reversal is taking place. It should start making lower lows.