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Written and copyright © 2008-2009 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 long black day is like many other candles: ordinary. It acts as a continuation of the existing price trend 53% of time, but it excels at being all over the place, like
commercials from politicians as election day nears. Overall performance ranks 19th out of 103 where 1 is best, so it holds up well on that score.
Important Results
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Theoretical performance: Continuation
Tested performance: Continuation 53% of the time
Frequency rank: 9
Overall performance rank: 19
Best percentage meeting price target: 62% (bull market, up breakout)
Best average move in 10 days: 6.3% (bear market, up breakout)
Best 10-day performance rank: 8 (bull 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.
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 Long Black Day
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Discussion
The long black day is a candlestick that is, well, long and black. It acts as a continuation of the price trend 53% of the time, matching theory with reality. It occurs frequently, ranking
9th and overall performance ranks 19th. In all cases, the tally is out of 103 candlestick types with 1 being best.
Since it is a tall day, the measure rule price target falls short of exciting. Only 62% of the time does price move far enough after the breakout to reach the target. However, after
an upward breakout in a bear market, price soars 6.3%, on average, over the next 10 days, but the best performance rank is 8, and it belongs to the long black day after an upward breakout
in a bull market.
Identification Guidelines
| Characteristic | Discussion |
| Number of candle lines | One. |
| Price trend leading to the pattern | None required. |
| Configuration | A tall black candle, which I define as a body three times the average body height of recent candles, has shadows shorter than the body. |
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.
- Long black days that appear within a third of the yearly low perform best -- page 491.
- Upward breakouts from long black days that reverse an existing downtrend tend to do well -- page 490.
- Long black days within a third of the yearly low act often as continuations of the primary trend -- page 493.
Example
The chart shows two long black days, A and B, on the daily scale. Both appear in a downward
price trend and both breakout downward. A breakout occurs when price closes either above the top or below the bottom of the candlestick.
Each candle is tall and black with shadows shorter than the body. In this example, both act as continuations of the existing downward price trend.
-- Thomas Bulkowski
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