How to recognize it
- Open and close are equal or almost equal, so the body is a thin line (a common rule of thumb: a body of 10% of the range or less).
- The shadows can be any length. Where they sit gives the main variants shown below.
What it suggests
A doji records a session in which buyers and sellers finished where they started. On its own that is simply balance. It becomes interesting after a strong move: if a market has been rising on long green candles and suddenly prints a doji, the buyers who were in control could not push the close any higher.
Where it matters
Most meaningful after an extended trend and near a support or resistance zone. In a quiet, sideways market dojis are common and usually carry little information.
Variants
Educational content only. Candlestick patterns describe past price action. They do not predict future prices, and they are not trading signals or investment advice. Prices in the diagrams are illustrative.