Dragonfly Doji

What is the Dragonfly Doji?

The Dragonfly Doji is a special Doji variant: open and close are essentially equal AND at the high of the candle's range. The lower wick is long; there is no upper wick (or negligibly small).

The pattern signals that during the session, sellers pushed price aggressively lower, but buyers stepped in and drove it all the way back up to the open. The fact that the close perfectly matches the high makes it more decisive than a Hammer (which has a small body, not a Doji-style flat one).

How to identify a Dragonfly Doji

Three requirements:

1. The body is a Doji (open and close virtually identical). 2. The body is at the very top of the candle's range. 3. The lower wick is at least 2x the size of the (tiny) body. 4. The upper wick is non-existent or less than 5% of the lower wick.

Position at a downtrend bottom and horizontal support is what activates the bullish reversal signal. In other contexts the Dragonfly Doji is less reliable.

How to trade the Dragonfly Doji

Standard rules.

Confirmation entry: Enter long on a close above the Dragonfly Doji's high. Stop loss below the Dragonfly's low. Target at previous swing high or 1.5-2x stop distance.

Aggressive entry: Enter long on a 50% retracement of the lower wick during the next candle. Tighter stop, higher whipsaw rate.

The Dragonfly Doji is one of the strongest single-candle bullish reversal patterns when it forms at a clear horizontal support level. The complete rejection of lower prices (close at the high) signals decisive buyer control by session end.

More patterns and definitions in the forex glossary, or see them stacked on real charts in the trading blog.

Dragonfly Doji FAQ