See our Patterns Dictionary for other patterns.
Check our CandleScanner software and start trading candlestick patterns!
Japanese name: kanazuchi
Forecast: bullish reversal
Trend prior to the pattern: downtrend
Opposite pattern: Hanging Man
Construction:
- white or black candle with a small body
- no upper shadow or the shadow cannot be longer than the body
- lower shadow between two to three times longer than the body
- if the gap is created at the opening or at the closing, it makes the signal stronger
- appears as a long line
Although the pattern belongs to the bullish reversal patterns group, it very often happens that is merely a brief pause on the falling market, after which the price does move even lower. The Hammer works best in a long downtrend, and its appearance after the declines lasting only two or three candles usually does not matter. The strong meaning has its occurrence within a support zone. As every one-line pattern, the Hammer requires a confirmation within the next two or three candles, during which the closing prices should be higher than the closing price of the pattern's body.
The Hammer can also occur, for example, as a second line of the Bullish Harami pattern and as a first and second line of the Tweezers Bottom pattern.
It was already mentioned that the Hammer's lower shadow height cannot exceed more than three times the body's height. If a lower shadow exceeds that height, we deal with the Takuri Line pattern. In other words, the Takuri Line is like the Hammer but with a very long lower shadow.

Figure 2. The occurrence of Long Black Candle creates a resistance zone that is strengthened by a high trading volume. The bears are stopped however by an Opening White Marubozu. On the next day, the market opens slightly lower than the previous closing price. Market falls even deeper but eventually the bulls were able to retake control, and a Hammer pattern is formed. The disadvantage of its occurrence is a relatively low trading volume.
Now the Hammer, a bullish reversal pattern, has to be confirmed by breaking out of the resistance zone formed by the Long Black Candle two days earlier.
Next two days bring the Hammer confirmation strengthened by the occurrence of Turn Up pattern. Although straight after the market tries to turn down, the support zone formed by the Hammer and the first line of the Turn Up pattern is strong enough. The price moves eventually up.

Figure 3. The first half of the chart presents a clear downtrend. The marked Black Candle occurrence is preceded by a number of black candles formed at a high trading volume, creating a significant resistance zone.
The first instance of Bullish Harami pattern contains a Hammer pattern in its second line. On the next day, the market almost cancelled the bullish signal, but finally another occurrence of Bullish Harami appeared on the chart.
It turns out that the resistance area formed by the Black Candle occurrence is strong, and the market is in a sideways forming a narrow price band between $28.50 and $29.40 (3.16%).
The chart shows the flexibility in searching the patterns. In the first occurrence of Bullish Harami, the first line is a short line, but there should be a long line as it was in the second occurrence of Bullish Harami. In this case, the short line does not differ much from the long line. Therefore, the pattern occurrence was perceived as appropriate, which was confirmed in the next few days.
Please note, however, that it is up to the trader whether he or she wants to treat this pattern as a valid Bullish Harami or not. When using computer algorithms for scanning the candlestick patterns we have to define some strict rules stating the effect on search results of having a short or long line. CandleScanner implemented even a more sophisticated approach: although we see on the chart that we have a short line, we can accept a small deviation and still allow the found pattern to be considered as a correct one. This deviation is a setting in the algorithm of CandleScanner application.
Hammer statistics
Below you can find some Hammer pattern statistics calculated by CandleScanner software. To see more detailed statistics, for other markets and periodicity try our CandleScanner software. Prices start at only $10, and you can see more detailed statistics, for other markets and periodicity. Click here to find out more!
Scanner settings: daily stocks
Group: S&P500
Number of symbols: 502
Date range: 7/1/1995 - 6/30/2015
Time interval: daily candles
Total number of candlesticks: 2,236,421
Number of occurrences (Hammer): 9,944
Number of occurrences (all candlestick patterns): 638,570
% of occurrences (Hammer): 1.56 %
Average frequency: 224.9
Efficiency statistics (5 candlesticks testing period)
Efficiency | NO DATA | FALSE | LOW | MEDIUM | HIGH |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Number of Occurrences |
8 | 2,128 | 2,488 | 1,827 | 3,493 |
% of Occurrences |
0.08 % | 21.32 % | 25.02 % | 18.37 % | 35.21 % |
Efficiency | NO DATA | FALSE | LOW | MEDIUM | HIGH |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Number of Occurrences |
13 | 2,054 | 1,964 | 1,526 | 4,387 |
% of Occurrences |
0.13 % | 20.53 % | 19.75 % | 15.35 % | 44.24 % |
Occurrences Statistics | 5 candlesticks testing period (HIGH efficiency) |
10 candlesticks testing period (HIGH efficiency) |
||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Symbol | Number of Occurrences |
Average Frequency |
Number of Occurrences |
% of Occurrences |
Number of Occurrences |
% of Occurrences |
AAPL | 32 | 157.3 | 22 | 68.74 % | 25 | 78.12 % |
HRS | 28 | 179.8 | 12 | 42.85 % | 18 | 64.28 % |
KSS | 24 | 209.8 | 12 | 50.00 % | 15 | 62.51 % |
ADI | 29 | 173.6 | 16 | 55.18 % | 18 | 62.08 % |
BWA | 25 | 201.4 | 11 | 48.00 % | 14 | 60.00 % |
HON | 29 | 173.6 | 15 | 51.73 % | 17 | 58.63 % |
XLNX | 29 | 173.6 | 15 | 51.72 % | 17 | 58.62 % |
COP | 29 | 173.6 | 16 | 55.17 % | 17 | 58.62 % |
NUE | 31 | 162.4 | 16 | 51.61 % | 18 | 58.06 % |
CCE | 26 | 193.6 | 14 | 53.85 % | 15 | 57.70 % |
Occurrences Statistics | 5 candlesticks testing period (FALSE efficiency) |
10 candlesticks testing period (FALSE efficiency) |
||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Symbol | Number of Occurrences |
Average Frequency |
Number of Occurrences |
% of Occurrences |
Number of Occurrences |
% of Occurrences |
WDC | 27 | 186.4 | 12 | 44.44 % | 12 | 44.44 % |
FOSL | 24 | 209.7 | 10 | 41.67 % | 10 | 41.67 % |
VRTX | 24 | 209.7 | 10 | 41.67 % | 10 | 41.67 % |
GLW | 27 | 186.4 | 11 | 40.74 % | 11 | 40.74 % |
GPS | 25 | 201.4 | 10 | 40.00 % | 10 | 40.00 % |
ORLY | 26 | 193.6 | 10 | 38.46 % | 10 | 38.46 % |
TSCO | 29 | 172.5 | 11 | 37.93 % | 11 | 37.93 % |
PVH | 24 | 209.8 | 9 | 37.50 % | 9 | 37.50 % |
VLO | 24 | 209.8 | 9 | 37.50 % | 9 | 37.50 % |
CHK | 30 | 167.8 | 11 | 36.67 % | 11 | 36.67 % |
Scanner settings: daily stocks
Group: S&P500
Number of symbols: 502
Date range: 7/1/2010 - 6/30/2015
Time interval: daily candles
Total number of candlesticks: 614,034
Number of occurrences (Hammer): 2,400
Number of occurrences (all candlestick patterns): 166,328
% of occurrences (Hammer): 1.44 %
Average frequency: 255.8
Efficiency statistics (5 candlesticks testing period)
Efficiency | NO DATA | FALSE | LOW | MEDIUM | HIGH |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Number of Occurrences |
8 | 385 | 730 | 531 | 746 |
% of Occurrences |
0.33 % | 15.71 % | 30.42 % | 22.12 % | 31.42 % |
Efficiency | NO DATA | FALSE | LOW | MEDIUM | HIGH |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Number of Occurrences |
13 | 357 | 539 | 449 | 1,042 |
% of Occurrences |
0.54 % | 14.34 % | 22.46 % | 18.71 % | 43.95 % |
Occurrences Statistics | 5 candlesticks testing period (HIGH efficiency) |
10 candlesticks testing period (HIGH efficiency) |
||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Symbol | Number of Occurrences |
Average Frequency |
Number of Occurrences |
% of Occurrences |
Number of Occurrences |
% of Occurrences |
BWA | 9 | 139.8 | 5 | 66.67 % | 6 | 77.78 % |
HAR | 8 | 157.3 | 5 | 62.50 % | 6 | 75.00 % |
TIF | 10 | 125.8 | 4 | 40.00 % | 7 | 70.00 % |
ETN | 9 | 139.8 | 6 | 66.67 % | 6 | 66.67 % |
HSP | 9 | 139.8 | 4 | 44.45 % | 6 | 66.67 % |
NBL | 8 | 157.3 | 3 | 50.00 % | 4 | 62.50 % |
NLSN | 8 | 139.1 | 3 | 37.50 % | 5 | 62.50 % |
WYNN | 8 | 157.3 | 5 | 62.50 % | 5 | 62.50 % |
GM | 10 | 116.0 | 6 | 60.00 % | 6 | 60.00 % |
NTAP | 10 | 125.8 | 3 | 30.00 % | 6 | 60.00 % |
Occurrences Statistics | 5 candlesticks testing period (FALSE efficiency) |
10 candlesticks testing period (FALSE efficiency) |
||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Symbol | Number of Occurrences |
Average Frequency |
Number of Occurrences |
% of Occurrences |
Number of Occurrences |
% of Occurrences |
PEG | 8 | 157.3 | 4 | 50.00 % | 4 | 50.00 % |
CHK | 8 | 157.3 | 3 | 37.50 % | 3 | 37.50 % |
MLM | 8 | 157.3 | 3 | 37.50 % | 3 | 37.50 % |
CAT | 9 | 139.8 | 3 | 33.33 % | 3 | 33.33 % |
DE | 9 | 139.8 | 3 | 33.33 % | 3 | 33.33 % |
HIG | 9 | 139.8 | 3 | 33.33 % | 3 | 33.33 % |
MPC | 9 | 112.2 | 3 | 33.33 % | 3 | 33.33 % |
AEE | 8 | 157.3 | 2 | 25.00 % | 2 | 25.00 % |
APD | 8 | 157.3 | 2 | 25.00 % | 2 | 25.00 % |
BLL | 8 | 157.3 | 2 | 25.00 % | 2 | 25.00 % |