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Thomas Bulkowski’s successful investment activities allowed him to retire at age 36. He is an internationally known author and trader with 30 years of stock market experience and widely regarded as a leading expert on chart patterns. His four books, including the best selling Encyclopedia of Chart Patterns, have been translated into seven languages. He may be reached at

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Bulkowski's High Wave

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Market
Industrials (^DJI):
Transports (^DJT):
Utilities (^DJU):
Nasdaq (^IXIC):
S&P 500 (^GSPC):
As of 02/06/2012
12,845 -17.10 -0.1%
5,334 -34.68 -0.6%
450 -1.41 -0.3%
2,902 -3.67 -0.1%
1,344 -0.57 0.0%
YTD
5.1%
6.3%
-3.2%
11.4%
6.9%
Tom's Targets    Overview: 02/03/2012
13,100 or 12,400 by 02/15/2012
5,500 or 5,150 by 02/15/2012
470 or 440 by 02/15/2012
3,100 or 2,800 by 02/15/2012
1,375 or 1,300 by 02/15/2012
Mutt Losers: None YTD
Wilder RSI: None YTD

Written and copyright © 2008-2011 by Thomas N. Bulkowski. All rights reserved.

In my book, Encyclopedia of Candlestick Charts, pictured on the right, I explore the entire range of candlestick patterns from abandoned babies to windows (not exactly A to Z, but you get the idea), in both bull and bear markets, using almost 5 million candle lines in the tests.

The book takes an in-depth look at 103 candlestick patterns and reports on behavior and rank (3 types: reversal rate, frequency, and overall performance), identification guidelines, performance statistics (tables of general statistics, height, and volume), trading tactics (tables of statistics on reversal rates and performance indicators), and wraps each chapter with a sample trade. I share a sliver of that information below. If you like what you read here, then you will love the book. Help support this website and buy a copy by clicking on the above link.

The high wave candlestick reminds me of the long legged doji candlestick only the high wave is not a doji. Both have tall upper and lower shadows. The high wave candle can be any color, but the long legged doji has no body so it has no color.

The high wave acts as a reversal just 51% of the time (think random) and a mid list performance rank of 67, where 1 is best out of 103 candlestick types.

High Wave Important Results

Theoretical performance: Indecision
Tested performance: Reversal 51% of the time
Frequency rank: 17
Overall performance rank: 67
Best percentage meeting price target: 77% (bull market, up breakout)
Best average move in 10 days: -3.38% (bear market, down breakout)
Best 10-day performance rank: 60 (bear market, up breakout)

All ranks are out of 103 candlestick patterns with the top performer ranking 1. "Best" means the highest rated of the four combinations of bull/bear market, up/down breakouts.

The above numbers are based on hundreds of perfect trades. See the glossary for definitions.

The ideal high wave candlestick
High Wave

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High Wave Discussion

Testing the high wave candle shows that it acts as a reversal 51% of the time, which is about random, and that agrees with theory (indecision). The high wave candle appears often, giving it a frequency rank of 17 (a rank of 1 means most often, 103 means almost invisible).

Overall performance is well behind the leaders, ranking 67. The best move came after downward breakouts in a bear market. Price dropped an average of 3.38% whereas a good move would be over 6% in 10 days. The best performance over 10 days ranks 60 and that happened in a bear market after an upward breakout.

High Wave Identification Guidelines

CharacteristicDiscussion
Number of candle linesOne.
Price trend leading to the patternNone required
ConfigurationLook for tall upper and lower shadows attached to a small body. The body is not a doji (meaning that the opening and closing prices must be more than a few pennies apart.

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High Wave: Three Trading Tidbits

If you want a few bones from my Encyclopedia of candlestick charts book, here are three to chew on. The pages refer to the book where the tips appear.

  1. High wave candles that appear within a third of the yearly low perform best -- page 412.
  2. High wave candles confirmed by an opening gap tend to perform best -- page 414.
  3. Breakouts below the 50-trading day moving average tend to outperform -- page 414.

High Wave Example

The high wave candlestick on the daily scale

The high wave candlestick shown on the daily chart at point A appears in an uptrend. For that reason, I would expect the breakout to be upward and that is what happens (a breakout is when price closes either above the top or below the bottom of the candlestick).

The high wave candle has tall upper and lower shadows with a non-doji body. That means the opening and closing prices are far enough apart to show a body color.

-- Thomas Bulkowski

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See Also

Copyright © 2008-2011 by Thomas N. Bulkowski. All rights reserved. First National Bank of Dad: Sorry, closed.