There are three types of single bearish candlestick patterns

a)                  Black marubozu

b)                  Hanging man

c)                   Shooting star

a)      Black marubozu

Typically, a black marubozu pattern has a long black body with no shadows either on the upper end or on the lower end.

The black marubozu shows that the opening price is the same as the low price and the closing price is the same as the high price.

Therefore, it is a very strong bearish candle, as it indicates that the bearish pressure took control of the entire session.

Usually, the black marubozu is seen on charts as the first part of a bearish continuation or a bearish reversal pattern.

How to identify a black marubozu

• It has a long black body
• Neither the upper shadow nor the lower shadow is present b)      Hanging man

The hanging man looks just like a hammer. However, they are entirely interpreted differently based on past price action. Typically, a hanging man is a hammer seen at the top of an uptrend.

When the market is on an uptrend, the appearance of a hanging man shows that the bearish pressure is starting to overcome the bullish pressure.

The long lower shadow indicates that the bears were able to drive prices lower during the session. Bulls had energy to drive the price back up somehow but only near the open.

Therefore, the formation of a hanging man should raise the alarms that there is no bullish pressure left to give the required momentum to continue raising the price.

How to identify a hanging man

• The length of the long lower shadow is about two or three times of the real body
• It has a small or totally lack the upper shadow
• The real body is found at the upper end of the trading range
• You should not lay much emphasis on the color of the real body

Just like other candlestick patterns, a hanging man indicates indecision and uncertainty and therefore need verification.

c)       Shooting star

The shooting star looks just like an inverted hammer. However, it is a bearish reversal pattern that appears when the market has been on an uptrend.

The shape of a shooting star shows that the price opened at its low, but managed to pull back to the bottom.

And, this implies that bulls tried to bring the price up, but bears jumped in and defeated them.

Therefore, this is a clear bearish signal because the bullish pressure has died off to give room to the bearish pressure.

How to identify a shooting star

• The length of the upper shadow is about two or three times of the real body
• It has a small or totally lack the lower shadow
• The real body is found at the upper end of the trading range
• You should not lay much emphasis on the color of the real body

In the figure below, a gap existing between the preceding candlestick and the shooting stick is one of the confirmations. In forex trading, the gap theory states that gaps are always filled.

The doji and the big bearish candlestick after the shooting star is another confirmation that price has indeed changed the trend.

Remember that you should also watch if fundamentals are in your favor before entering a trade.

In general, a confirmation is something that gives you more reasons to enter a trade.

 Summary

The three main types of bearish candlestick patterns are the black marubozu, the hanging man, and the shooting star.

Generally, the patterns appear at the top of an uptrend, indicating that the bearish pressure is starting to overcome the bullish pressure.