Short answer
What is a marubozu candle?
A marubozu is a candle that is almost all body, with little or no wick at either end. A bullish marubozu opens at its low and closes at its high; a bearish one opens at its high and closes at its low. It shows one side in control for the whole period. By the 50% rule it is an exciting candle, often a zone's leg in or leg out.
Key takeaways
- A marubozu has a long body and little or no wick. The name is Japanese for a close-cropped or bald head.
- A bullish (green) marubozu opens at the low and closes at the high; a bearish (red) marubozu opens at the high and closes at the low.
- An opening marubozu has no wick at the open end and a closing marubozu has none at the close end; many traders read the closing type as the stronger one.
- By the 50% rule a marubozu is the textbook exciting candle, because its body is close to 100% of its range.
- At a zone it is the leg in or the leg out. A green marubozu leaving a short base after a fall marks a Drop-Base-Rally demand zone.
- The zone is the base the marubozu left, not the marubozu itself. Waiting for price to return to that fresh zone keeps the stop close.
What is a marubozu candle?
Marubozu is a Japanese word for a close-cropped or bald head, and the candle looks just like that: a long body with the wicks shaved off. In a bullish marubozu, price opens at the low of the period, buyers push it up all session, and it closes at the high. In a bearish marubozu, price opens at the high and sellers drive it down to close at the low. The missing wicks mean the losing side never pushed price past the open, and the winning side held its gains right up to the close.
- Long body: clearly larger than the bodies of the candles around it.
- Little or no wick at either end.
- Bullish (green): opens at or near the low and closes at or near the high.
- Bearish (red): opens at or near the high and closes at or near the low.
What are the types of marubozu?
The textbook marubozu has no wick at all, but real charts often show a tiny one. Traders therefore group marubozu candles by colour and by which end is shaved. There is no official wick limit. Many traders accept wicks of a few percent of the range; once a wick grows into a clear tail, the candle is an ordinary exciting candle, not a marubozu.
| Type | Shape | What it shows |
|---|---|---|
| Bullish marubozu | Green; opens at the low, closes at the high, no wicks | Buyers in control from open to close |
| Bearish marubozu | Red; opens at the high, closes at the low, no wicks | Sellers in control from open to close |
| Opening marubozu | No wick at the open end; a small wick at the close end | A strong move with some giving back before the close |
| Closing marubozu | No wick at the close end; a small wick at the open end | The winning side was still pushing when the period ended |
For a green candle, an opening marubozu has no lower wick and a closing marubozu has no upper wick. For a red candle it is the reverse. Many traders read the closing type as the stronger of the two, because price finished the period at its extreme.
Why is a marubozu the textbook exciting candle?
By the 50% rule, a candle whose body is more than half of its high-to-low range is an exciting candle. A marubozu's body is close to 100% of its range, so it is the clearest exciting candle there is. In zone terms, exciting candles are the legs: a red marubozu is often the leg in of a Drop-Base-Rally demand zone, and a green marubozu leaving a short base is its leg out.
Exciting candle — body > 50%
Base candle — wick > 50%
Left: an exciting candle whose body is more than half of its high-to-low range. Right: a base candle whose wicks make up more than half of its range.
When a marubozu leaves a base of one to three base candles, it shows that buyers or sellers acted with urgency there. A strong leg out generally points to a stronger zone. The marubozu is not the zone itself: the zone is the base it left, marked body to wick from the highest base body (proximal line) to the lowest base wick (distal line) for demand.
What does a marubozu mean in a trend?
A marubozu shows force, but the same candle means different things in different places. What matters is the zone it starts from and the zone it is heading into.
- Leaving a base at a fresh zone: the most useful case. It confirms a new zone, or shows that an existing fresh zone still had orders waiting.
- In the middle of a trend: usually just a continuation candle; it adds little unless it breaks out of a base.
- After a long run, into a fresh opposing zone: it can be a climax, the last burst before the move stalls. A green marubozu straight into a fresh supply zone has little room left.
- Red marubozu leaving a base after a rise: the leg out of a Rally-Base-Drop supply zone. Shorting in the Indian cash market is intraday only, so swing traders in cash mostly use it to exit or protect a long position.
How do you trade a marubozu?
- Let the marubozu candle close; a running candle can still grow a long wick.
- Check what it left: a clear leg in and a base of one to six base candles, ideally one to three.
- Mark the zone: proximal line at the highest base body, distal line at the lowest base wick.
- Avoid chasing the close. Wait for the first return to the fresh zone and enter just above the proximal line.
- Place the stop loss just below the zone's distal line or the marubozu's low, whichever is lower.
- Set the target at least twice the risk and check it is clear of the next supply zone.
The difference shows up in the quantity. With ₹2,000 of risk allowed per trade, a ₹15 risk allows 133 shares, while a ₹52 risk allows only 38. Some zones are never revisited; missing a trade costs nothing, while chasing one far from the stop makes every share riskier.
What are common mistakes with marubozu candles?
- Chasing the close: the long body puts the entry far from any logical stop, so the risk per share balloons.
- Calling any big candle a marubozu: if the wicks are clearly visible, it is an ordinary exciting candle.
- Treating the marubozu as the zone: the zone is the base it left, not its own body.
- Ignoring what it runs into: a marubozu straight into a fresh opposing zone often stalls there.
- Ignoring a climax: after a long run, a huge marubozu can mark the end of a move rather than the start.
Frequently asked questions
Is a marubozu bullish or bearish?
A green marubozu, which opens at its low and closes at its high, is bullish. A red marubozu, which opens at its high and closes at its low, is bearish. Either way it shows one side in control for that period; what happens next depends on the zone it leaves and the zone it is heading into.
What is the difference between a marubozu and a doji?
They are opposites. A doji has almost no body, because open and close are nearly equal, so it is a base candle that shows indecision. A marubozu has almost no wicks, because open and close sit at the extremes of the range, so it is an exciting candle that shows one side winning.
Can a marubozu have small wicks?
Yes. A perfect marubozu with no wick at all is rare on most charts, so many traders accept wicks of a few percent of the range. For a candle with a ₹29 range, a ₹1 wick at each end still counts. Once a wick becomes a clear tail, the candle is an ordinary exciting candle.
What is an opening marubozu and a closing marubozu?
An opening marubozu has no wick at the end where it opened and a small wick at the close end. A closing marubozu has no wick at the close end and a small wick at the open end. Many traders read the closing type as stronger, because price finished the period at its extreme.
Should you enter right after a bullish marubozu closes?
Entering at the close puts the entry far above the zone's distal line, so the stop is wide and the position must be small. Many zone traders instead mark the base the marubozu left and wait for price to return to that fresh demand zone, which gives a much smaller risk per share.
Put this into practice
Work out the numbers before the market moves, then let an alert bring you back to your own plan.
Educational content only. Nothing here is investment advice or a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Chart diagrams use illustrative prices, not market data. Trading involves risk of loss; verify prices independently and apply your own risk process.