The Gravestone Doji forms when the open, close, and low are all at or near the same price level, with a long upper wick extending well above the body. The candle looks like an upside-down T or a gravestone — hence the name. It appears at the top of uptrends and is one of the strongest single-candle bearish reversal signals.

How to Identify

• Open and close are at or very near the low of the session
• Long upper wick — typically 2x or more the average candle range
• Little to no lower wick (the defining feature)
• Appears after a sustained uptrend or at a clear resistance level
• Body color is largely irrelevant — the wick structure tells the story

Market Psychology

At the open, bulls push price aggressively higher during the session (the long upper wick shows how far they got). But by the close, sellers completely overpowered buyers and drove price all the way back down to near the open. The bulls made a dramatic run and lost everything by end of day — a stark warning that upside momentum has collapsed and sellers are in control.