---
title: 'Candlestick Patterns Don''t Work (Unless You Do This)'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=wIeYqqXcgtU'
video_id: 'wIeYqqXcgtU'
date: 2026-08-19
duration_sec: 581
channel: 'TradingLab'
---

# Candlestick Patterns Don't Work (Unless You Do This)

> Source: [Candlestick Patterns Don't Work (Unless You Do This)](https://youtube.com/watch?v=wIeYqqXcgtU)

## Summary

The video argues that candlestick patterns fail for most traders because they are used in isolation. It introduces a framework of three candle types—strength, control shift, and indecision—that reveal market control. The creator demonstrates how combining these candles with demand and supply zones leads to higher-probability trades.

### Key Points

- **The myth of candlestick patterns** [00:02] — Candlestick patterns are often used as cheat codes, but they fail without understanding market control.
- **Strength candles** [00:53] — Strength candles have large bodies and small wicks, showing one side is in control. A bullish strength candle with no upper wick is extremely strong.
- **Control shift candles** [02:12] — Control shift candles have long wicks and small bodies. Large upper wicks indicate rejection of buyers, while large lower wicks show rejection of sellers.
- **Indecision candles** [02:49] — Indecision candles have small bodies with wicks on both sides, showing no one is in control. They often appear before breakouts or reversals.
- **Combining candle types** [03:30] — An indecision candle followed by a control shift candle can signal a reversal. A strength candle after that confirms buyer control.
- **Real chart example** [05:16] — In a downtrend, three indecision candles showed hesitation. A red candle with a large lower wick indicated buyers stepping in, followed by a strength candle, leading to an upward move.
- **Marking demand and supply zones** [06:33] — Mark the low to the high of the candle that starts a strong move to define demand and supply zones.
- **Entry and exit strategy** [08:43] — Enter when price returns to a demand zone with control shift and strength candles. Set take-profit at supply and stop-loss below demand.

## Transcript

a specific formation, it can tell you a story of what the market is planning to do next. But what if I told you everything you know about candlestick patterns is a lie. Hammers, dogeis, engulfing candles, all of it. None of
this will work unless you pair it with this secret trick. You see, most retail traders treat candlestick patterns like cheat codes. They grab their little candlestick pattern mouse pads that they bought on Amazon and blindly look at
while yes, candlestick patterns can be used for predicting price, a lot of people use them completely wrong. They see a bullish engulfing candle and they think, "Great, what a great time to buy." But then the price tanks. But what
if I told you there's a strategy you can execute in order to know when this was about to happen. Every candle you see is one of these three types of candles: Indecision candles, control shift candles, and strength candles. Let's
strength candle. These candles have large bodies and small wicks. This is a strength candle and shows that buyers or sellers are in complete control at this time. But this candle can get even stronger. Oh my god. If a strength
candle is printed with a large body and no upper wick for a bullish candle, this is an extremely strong candle as it's showing that buyers had absolutely no resistance from sellers at this point. It's the exact opposite for bearish
candles. If the candle has a large red body with no lower wick, that shows sellers had no resistance from buyers at this point. Now, these candles are pretty rare in the market, but if seen, it shows extreme buyer or seller
control. But just like most things in life, size matters. For example, you different sizes. Here we have four examples. And all of these examples are buying. But the largest strength candle
is the strongest and the best indication that buyers are in control. Even though candle number four is still a strength candle, it's a lot weaker indication than candle number one. Large strength candles show massive buying, small
strength candles show less aggressive buying. But what happens when that control suddenly shifts. That brings us to candle number two. This candle shows who's losing the battle and who's about to take over. These are also called
control shift or reversal candle. Candle wicks show rejected price action. So if you have a large upper wick that shows buyers tried to move the price up but got rejected and sellers took over and brought the price down. These control
shift candles have long wicks with small body. For this candle, the body of the candle is pretty irrelevant. It doesn't matter if the candle's green or red. What tells you the real story is the wick. So oftent times these candles can
show reversal points. With candles showing large lower wicks, we can expect price to move up. If we see candles showing large upper wicks, we can expect price to move down. Now, when no one's in charge, the candle looks very
different. That brings us to candle number three. This candle means no one's in control. An indecision candle looks like this. They have wicks on both sides with small bodies. They show equal effort
from both buyers and sellers, but no real progress. Now, there's a lot of different ways this can look. It could look like this, this, this, or this. All thing you have to remember is there's a small body with equal wicks on either
side. People often call these dogeis, but these candles usually appear before major breakouts or reversals because the market is trying to decide what it wants to do next, but hasn't completely decided on which way it wants to go yet.
You should never trade purely based off these candles because this candle doesn't tell us who's in control. But when paired with this next candle, that completely changes everything. For example, if an indecision candle is
printed, but then directly after a control shift candle is printed, this shows us that buyers have won in the indecision battle and we can wait for price to do a pullback to this indecision candle and enter here. You
can also use it as a clear reversal point. For example, price drops strong down to this area of demand, but right when it reaches it, some indecision candles showed up showing that price is hesitating. And if paired with a
strength candle, it can show buyers are starting to step in. But all of this began with the indecision candle showing signs of slowing down the sellers. So let's put all we've learned to the test and do a real life chart example. But
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use the link in my description and you will get unlimited 0% commissions if you use my link. You're welcome. Now, let's take all three candle types and drop them into a real trading example. So, here we have some price action forming.
We started with a slight downtrend, but if you look closely, something very interesting is happening. During this downtrend, we got three indecision candles showing price is hesitating at this price and doesn't know whether it
wants to go up or down from here. One key thing to note though is that this red candle has a large lower width, meaning sellers tried to get the price lower, but buyers stepped in and brought the price back up. Which means buyers
level. After this, price prints a strength candle showing buyers are showing massive interest now. So, we can expect price to start heading upwards from here. Price does exactly as we expect and does a sharp upwards move,
Another key thing to note, if you take a close look, it took a while for sellers to get the price down to here. But when the buyers stepped in, they erased all of that work that the sellers did within a couple of candles. So, in essence, it
took sellers 22 candles to get down to this point, while the buyers did the same amount of work within four candles. So, that's very important to understand. So knowing that buyers are showing more strength, we can expect the buyers to
continue this control and keep moving the price upward, which is exactly what happened. Since price started a strong upwards move from this point, we can call this area our area of demand. We can mark this area of demand by marking
the low of the candle that started that move to the high of that same candle. buyers are starting to get interested once price reaches this area. So we'll also keep that in mind for later. The
price ends up moving up a bit more and then this candle gets printed. A red control shift candle with a large upper wick. This is saying buyers try to raise the price higher but sellers came in and brought the price back down showing
sellers have control up here. Directly after that, we have a red strength candle, meaning sellers are confident at this price and are ready to bring the price back down, which is exactly what happens. Now that we have a strong move
to the downside, we can mark our area of supply. To do this, we find the start of a strong move downwards and mark the low to the high of the candle that started this move. This is our area of supply and shows that sellers started to take
control once price reaches this area. So, we'll also keep that in mind for bit from here. So, now we have this setup and this chart is telling a very clear and interesting story. First, look at the speed the buyers got the price
quick and within only a couple of candles, while the sellers still got the price back down, but the move is much slower and took them a lot of candles to get the price back down. So, right off the rip, we can see the buyers have more
control during this time. Another key thing to note, price has just hit our before, a massive amount of buyers stepped into this area before, and we can expect them to do the same thing here. Another key point is while
touching this area of demand, a green control shift candle was printed. Meaning sellers tried to drive the price down below our area of demand. But just like before, buyers stepped in by the masses and took control and drove the
price back up. Not only that, but after this control shift candle was printed, a green strength candle was printed directly after, showing even more signs of buyer momentum. So now it's pretty clear that buyers have complete control.
So now we have to take advantage of this and find a place to enter. To do this, we're going to wait for price to come back down to our control shift candle, which is exactly what happened. Not only that, it printed another control shift
candle, which is another great sign. We enter once price hits our control shift candle, set our takerit at the area of supply where sellers started to take control, then set our stop-loss right below our original area of demand. With
this setup, there's no guessing. We have analyzed the chart and found areas where buyers and sellers have complete control. And just like that, price hits our takerit just like we expected. But with all that said, there's a key thing
enter purely based on a candle. For example, you shouldn't enter purely just because you see a green strength candle. That will not work in the long run. Instead, use these candles as like a book telling a story. You need to find
multiple correlations and find areas where buyers and sellers show complete Once you find that, you can easily identify the zones where buyers are likely to win and where sellers are likely to win. Implement this in your
trading and you will instantly see your take-profits getting hit way more often.