Harami pattern

A harami is a pattern built from two candles, where the first candle has a large body continuing the existing trend, and the second candle has a much smaller body that sits entirely within the range of the first candle's body. The word harami comes from an old Japanese term for pregnant, describing how the small second candle appears to sit tucked inside the larger first candle like a belly.

A bullish harami forms after a downtrend, with a large red candle followed by a small candle, often green, contained inside it, signaling that the strong selling pressure behind the first candle has suddenly stalled. A bearish harami forms after an uptrend, with a large green candle followed by a small contained candle, signaling that strong buying pressure has abruptly lost momentum. In both cases, the sharp contraction in range from a large candle to a small one signals hesitation and a potential pause or reversal in the prevailing trend.

A harami is generally considered a weaker reversal signal than an engulfing pattern, which shows the opposite dynamic, a small move followed by a large one that fully overtakes it, since a harami only shows momentum stalling rather than the other side actively taking control. Traders typically look for confirmation over the next session or two, and some also watch for a related variation called a harami cross, where the small second candle is a doji, which is read as an even stronger sign of indecision following the prior trend.