What is Marubozu?
In short
A long-bodied candle with little or no wicks. One side (buyers or sellers) controlled the period from open to close.
A marubozu is a candle whose body covers almost its entire range. The upper and lower wicks are tiny or missing altogether. The Japanese word means "bald" or "shaved": the candle has no "hair" (wicks).
How to read it
- Green (bullish) marubozu — price opened at the low and closed at the high. Buyers were in full control for the whole period.
- Red (bearish) marubozu — price opened at the high and closed at the low. Sellers dominated throughout.
A perfect marubozu is rare in practice, so many traders count a candle as a marubozu when the body takes up more than roughly 90–95% of the range.
Why it matters
A marubozu is a candle of strength, not reversal. It often appears on a breakout day, after major news or at the start of a trend. A high-volume green marubozu leaving a consolidation adds conviction to the move.
Limitations
A marubozu on its own is not an entry signal. A huge green marubozu after a long rally is sometimes the last push of exhausted buyers. Always judge the candle in context — trend, levels and volume.
The body shows who won, the wicks show what was rejected. Marubozu: a full body with almost no wicks. Spinning top and doji: a small body, indecision. Hammer and dragonfly doji: lower prices were rejected. Shooting star and gravestone doji: higher prices were rejected.
Example
Illustrative numbers: a stock has traded between $48 and $50 for several weeks. One day it opens at $50.00, trades down to $49.95, up to $53.05, and closes at $53.00.
- Body: $53.00 − $50.00 = $3.00
- Range: $53.05 − $49.95 = $3.10
- Body share: $3.00 ÷ $3.10 ≈ 97%
The wicks are just 5 cents each. This is a green marubozu that broke through the $50 resistance. If volume is well above average, the signal is stronger. Over the next days price may come back to retest $50 — many traders wait for exactly that retest to enter.
Mistakes and tips
Don't label every long candle a marubozu: the wicks must be genuinely small relative to the body.
Chasing right after a marubozu closes is risky — price often gives back part of the body. If your stop sits at the middle or the low of the candle, size the position accordingly.
Pay more attention to a marubozu at a key level and on high volume; one in the middle of a range tells you little.
Frequently asked questions
- What does a marubozu candle mean?
- That one side — buyers or sellers — dominated the entire period. It shows the strength of the move but does not guarantee the next day will go the same way.
- What is the difference between a marubozu and a regular long candle?
- A regular long candle can have noticeable wicks. A marubozu has almost none: price opened at one extreme of the period and closed at the other.
Learn it in the Academy
This term is covered with hands-on examples and a quiz in these lessons of the interactive course.
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