The short answer
A marubozu is a candle with a full body and no wicks: it opens at one extreme of its range and closes at the other. One side controlled the entire session, which makes it a statement about conviction rather than a reversal signal.
Drawn to the real proportions the formation rules describe. Lead-in candles are dimmed; the pattern itself is bracketed.
- Traditional bias Follows the trend
- Type Continuation
- Built from One candle
- Context Either direction
How to spot it
- Open and close sit at the two extremes of the candle's range.
- No upper or lower wick, or only a negligible one.
- A bullish marubozu opens at the low and closes at the high; a bearish one is the reverse.
- Direction is read from the body, and there is nothing else on the candle to read.
What it actually means
Price moved one way from the first print to the last without ever trading back through the open. There was no meaningful opposition at any point in the session. In the direction of an existing trend that is continuation with conviction; against a trend it is often the first candle of something new.
What confirms it
Continuation in the same direction on the following session, and ideally a close beyond the marubozu's own extreme.
What invalidates it
A close back through the marubozu's opening extreme, which fully retraces a session nobody contested and says the conviction was not shared.
Where people get it wrong
It is often treated as a reversal candle because it looks dramatic. It is not one; it is a conviction candle, and its meaning depends entirely on the direction it points relative to the trend. True wickless candles are also rare on liquid instruments, so most things labelled marubozu are approximations.
Common questions
- Is the marubozu bullish or bearish?
- Neither on its own. The marubozu takes its direction from the trend it appears in. Price moved one way from the first print to the last without ever trading back through the open.
- What confirms a marubozu?
- Continuation in the same direction on the following session, and ideally a close beyond the marubozu's own extreme.
- When does the marubozu stop working?
- A close back through the marubozu's opening extreme, which fully retraces a session nobody contested and says the conviction was not shared. Beyond that, it is often treated as a reversal candle because it looks dramatic.
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Formation rules follow Japanese Candlestick Charting Techniques by Steve Nison. Reviewed 2026-09-14.