// continuation · single candle · we skip this one

Marubozu: a wickless candle we skip.

A marubozu is a single candle with no wicks (or near-zero wicks) — the open is the high or the low, and price moved one direction all session without retracing. Most candlestick references describe it as a strong continuation signal. Our live data says otherwise — so Thesis detects it, then deliberately doesn't trade it.

// shape

Long real body, no wicks (or vanishingly small ones).
Bullish marubozu: open = low, close = high.
Bearish marubozu: open = high, close = low.
Body color shows the direction of the conviction.

// what it signals (in theory)

What a marubozu is supposed to mean.

The traditional reading: one side controlled price for the entire session, with no successful counter-attempt. A bullish marubozu in an uptrend says "buyers in command, no sellers willing to step in even briefly." A bearish marubozu in a downtrend says the equivalent for sellers. Most references treat it as a continuation signal — the trend just confirmed itself, expect more.

That story is intuitive. It just doesn't play out reliably on the timeframes our universe trades.

// why thesis skips it

Why we deliberately don't trade marubozu.

Continuation patterns ask "will momentum extend?" That's a hard question. Reversal patterns ask "is this exhaustion?" — a question with structurally richer information (oversold/overbought, news absorption, support/resistance interaction). The reasoning layer we run on top of patterns has more to work with on reversals.

Specifically for marubozu: by the time the candle closes, the move has already happened. Entering at the close means buying the top (or shorting the bottom) of the bar. The next session often either gaps in our favor (no entry edge — anyone could see the marubozu) or reverts (the marubozu was the climax). Neither outcome compensates for the round-trip costs we have to clear on small position sizes.

Our detector still recognizes marubozu candles — they're useful context for the AI layer when reading other patterns nearby — but the pre-filter rejects them as standalone trade triggers. If the statistics shift on different data, we'll re-enable them. For now, reversals only.

// what we trade instead

Reversal patterns — where the asymmetry lives.

Bullish reversals like hammer, bullish engulfing, and morning star have asymmetric payoffs: when they work, the reversal can run for many bars. The bearish counterparts — shooting star, bearish engulfing, evening star — carry similar asymmetry on the short side.

See all candlestick patterns for the full taxonomy.

// related patterns we also skip

Three white soldiers →

Three large bullish candles — bullish continuation, also disabled.

Three black crows →

Bearish counterpart — three large red candles in succession.

Rising three methods →

Five-candle bullish continuation pattern — also disabled.

All candlestick patterns →

Full reference — what we trade and what we skip.

Marubozu: a wickless candle we skip.

What a marubozu is supposed to mean.

Why we deliberately don't trade marubozu.

Reversal patterns — where the asymmetry lives.

See the patterns we do trade — live.