What is the bearish engulfing pattern?
The bearish engulfing is a bearish candlestick pattern. A red body completely engulfs the previous green body after a rally. Sellers seized control in one decisive session.
How does the bearish engulfing form?
Price has been rising. A green bar closes, then the next bar opens at or above that close and sells off far enough to close below the previous bar's open.
How do you confirm a bearish engulfing?
Look at what came before it. The pattern says sellers took control from buyers, which only means something if buyers were in control to begin with.
When does the bearish engulfing fail?
A large engulfing bar inside a wide, choppy range is usually just the range's own noise. The same shape appears in both directions all week and none of it resolves.
No chart pattern works every time. The examples on this page were chosen because they show the pattern clearly, and in real markets patterns fail often.
Practice on real charts
3 real examples of the bearish engulfing, cut off where the pattern completed. Make your call, then see what happened.
The shaded area is a bearish engulfing. Where did price go next?
