Discover the intricacies of the Bullish Harami candlestick pattern, a promising two-candle formation signaling a potential market reversal. Learn how to identify and leverage this pattern for improved trading accuracy, especially when combined with confirmation signals.
What Is a Bullish Harami Candlestick Pattern?
The bullish harami is a two-candle reversal setup traders use to spot a potential turn after a selloff. “Harami” is Japanese for “pregnant,” which fits because the second candle’s real body sits inside the first candle’s real body.
On the chart, it’s basically the market going from heavy selling to hesitation, with buyers starting to show up.
Bullish Harami Pattern Rules
Two-candle pattern with a clear size mismatch
First candle is a large bearish body, usually closing near the lows (sellers in control)
Second candle is a small bullish body fully inside the first candle’s body (selling stalls)
Works best as a shift from a downtrend into a possible bounce or trend change
The bodies must be contained; wicks can poke outside and still count
How Does a Bullish Harami Form on a Chart?
The whole point is the contrast. Candle one shows downside momentum and urgency. Candle two is smaller and contained, which tells you sellers couldn’t keep pushing and buyers were willing to absorb supply.
That “inside body” look is what separates it from other reversal candles and makes it easy to spot in real time.
Pattern | First Candle | Second Candle | Market Context | Reversal Strength |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Bullish Harami | Large bearish | Small bullish | End of downtrend | Moderate (53-70%) |
Bullish Engulfing | Small bearish | Large bullish | Strong downtrend | Strong (70%+) |
Bullish Harami Cross | Large bearish | Doji/cross | Moderate-High |
Why Do Traders Use the Bullish Harami?
The bullish harami matters because it often shows up when sellers are running out of fuel. If it prints into a clean support zone, it can give you a tradable early heads-up that the down move is losing control.
It generally reads cleaner on daily and weekly charts than on noisy intraday timeframes, so it tends to fit swing trading and position trading better than scalping.
How Do You Trade a Bullish Harami Pattern?
How Do You Confirm a Bullish Harami?
The third candle is where the trade usually becomes real. A conservative approach is to wait for a bullish close above the harami high, because that’s the market proving buyers can push beyond the pattern.
Volume matters a lot here. If the confirmation breaks up on rising volume, it’s a cleaner signal. If it breaks on thin volume, it’s easier for price to roll back over.
Bullish Harami Confirmation Checklist
Third candle closes bullish and above the harami high
Volume expands on the confirmation candle (or stays firm on the next few bars)
Momentum lines up: RSI recovering (often through 50) and/or MACD bullish crossover
Pattern is coming after a downtrend and ideally into a support zone
Price starts reclaiming nearby resistance (prior swing high, breakdown level, or moving average)
When Does a Bullish Harami Fail?
Without confirmation, the pattern is roughly a 53% idea. With confirmation plus support alignment, it’s more like 60–70% in many backtests and trader logs. The ugly failures usually come from chop, low participation, or volatility spikes that turn the chart into a whipsaw machine.
Common failure cases:
Harami prints inside a sideways range with no directional pressure
Volume is dead during the setup and the “break”
No follow-through after the confirmation (one green candle, then sellers dump it)
Pattern forms far from any meaningful support
Best Entry and Stop-Loss for Bullish Harami Trades
A standard execution is entry after the confirmation candle closes above the harami high. Stops usually go below the pattern low (or below the first candle’s low if you want it cleaner). Size the trade off the stop distance so one bad trade doesn’t matter.
Also, the higher the timeframe, the more dependable the read tends to be.
Profit Targets for the Bullish Harami Pattern
First targets are typically the nearest resistance zone: prior swing highs, breakdown levels, or a key moving average like the 20/50-day. If price starts trending, trailing stops can keep you in the move while still protecting open profit when the tape gets messy.
When Is a Bullish Harami a Real Reversal Signal?
Does a Bullish Harami Need a Downtrend?
A bullish harami only makes sense after a real downtrend. If there’s no clear selloff leading into it, it’s just two random candles and the edge drops fast.
What you want to see is downside progress slowing, less clean follow-through, and price pressing into an area where buyers have defended before. Without that backdrop, the pattern’s stats and usefulness fall apart.
Downtrend Exhaustion Signs to Watch
Things that usually show up when a downtrend is getting tired:
Lower lows still happen, but they’re weaker and don’t travel as far
Price is tagging a known support level or a well-watched trendline
Bear candles stop getting follow-through (sell the close, then no continuation)
RSI under 30 (oversold), especially if it starts to lift
Volume fading on the down legs (less commitment from sellers)
Extended grind down with no meaningful relief bounce
What Does a Bullish Harami Mean Psychologically?
The first candle is sellers pressing their advantage. The second candle is the “wait a second” moment—selling can’t extend, and buyers are finally willing to step in. That’s not the same thing as a confirmed reversal, though.
Most of the time it’s indecision first, then you need price to prove buyers can actually take control.
Why Does a Bullish Harami Work Best at Support?
It tends to work better near key support because that’s where bids have shown up before. Those levels are the real battlegrounds—if a harami forms there, you’re not just trading candles, you’re trading a location.
That’s where you’ll see the higher hit rates (often quoted around 60–70% with confirmation).
How Reliable Is the Bullish Harami Pattern?
Location is everything. A harami at strong support with a solid confirmation candle and volume behind it is a different trade than the same pattern in the middle of a downtrend. When it prints randomly, you’re closer to coin-flip territory (around 53%).
Add support and real follow-through, and the odds improve.
What Indicators Work Best With a Bullish Harami?
Best Momentum Indicators for Bullish Harami Confirmation
The harami is stronger when momentum agrees. An RSI dip under 30 can set the stage, but the better clue is divergence—price makes a lower low while RSI makes a higher low.
MACD crossing up (especially while still below zero) can add weight that the downside cycle is fading. Volume is the final tell: more volume on up candles suggests real demand, not just short covering.
RSI, MACD, Volume, and SAR Signals to Combine
RSI: Below 30 and/or bullish divergence supports a turn
MACD: Bullish crossover hints momentum is rotating up
Volume: Rising volume on green candles confirms buyers are active
Parabolic SAR: Dots flipping below price can help confirm direction
How to Use Confluence to Improve Bullish Harami Setups
Confluence is where this pattern earns its keep. If the harami shows up at support and you also have a double bottom, a hammer, or a clean trendline break, the setup is usually easier to hold.
Moving average reclaim (like price getting back above the 20-day EMA) can also be a practical “trend is shifting” filter. Higher timeframe levels matter most; lower timeframes are better for tightening entries and stops.
How to Improve Bullish Harami Accuracy With Confirmation
On its own, a bullish harami is a moderate edge at best. Add volume + momentum confirmation and you often push into the 60–70% territory. When it’s also at a major support level and the higher timeframe agrees, the quality improves again.
Keeping a trade journal helps here. Track which combinations actually work for your market—BTCUSD doesn’t behave like EURUSD, and a thin small-cap stock doesn’t trade like Apple. Your data will tell you what confirmations are worth waiting for.
Bullish Harami Limitations and Common Mistakes
In live trading, the bullish harami can be messy. Low liquidity distorts candles. High volatility makes patterns look perfect and then instantly fail. Gaps can also throw off the “contained body” look and make the setup harder to judge in the moment.
Situations that often reduce reliability:
Gap opens that create oversized bodies and weird relationships between candles
News spikes, flash crashes, or earnings moves that wreck normal price structure
Thin markets where a few orders can repaint the whole candle
Choppy tape where you get multiple reversals that go nowhere
Macro flow matters too. If the broader market is in risk-off and the trend is aggressively down, a single harami can get steamrolled. Check the index, sector, and correlated pairs before you treat it like a standalone green light.
Risk management is non-negotiable. Don’t trade a bullish harami by itself. Use support/resistance, confirmation candles, multiple timeframes, and at least one momentum/volume filter. Keep targets realistic, and place stops where the setup is clearly wrong.
Best way to think about it: the bullish harami is an early warning, not a promise. When it lines up with location, confirmation, and disciplined execution, it becomes a solid piece of a repeatable trading plan.
How Can Reviewing Bullish Harami Trades in a Journal Improve Your Results Over Time?
The bullish harami is most useful when you treat it as a testable idea: did it form after a real downtrend, did it appear at support, and did confirmation (third candle, volume, momentum) actually follow through? A trading journal turns those questions into measurable feedback. By logging each setup—timeframe, location vs. support/resistance, confirmation details, entry/stop placement, and outcome—you can separate “pretty patterns” from conditions that consistently produce clean bounces. Over time, your notes make it easier to refine rules, such as requiring a close above the harami high, filtering out choppy ranges, or adjusting stops when volatility expands. If you want a structured way to track PnL, screenshots, and setup metrics, using Rizetrade trading journal analytics and performance tracking dashboard can help you review patterns like the harami with the same discipline you apply to execution.