Marubozu

Marubozu is a Japanese term meaning 'close-cropped' or 'bald,' reflecting the absence of wicks above and below the body. A Bullish Marubozu opens at or near the session low and closes at or near the session high, indicating sustained buying throughout the session with no point at which sellers drove price meaningfully lower. A Bearish Marubozu opens at or near the session high and closes at or near the session low, indicating sustained selling throughout the session.

Historically, the Marubozu was considered the strongest single-candle expression of directional conviction. Because price never departed meaningfully from the direction of the day's move — no upper wick on a bullish candle means buyers never lost control during the session — the Marubozu was interpreted as a session of dominance by one side from the first print to the last.

In the context of trend analysis, historical studies noted that clusters of Bullish Marubozu candles appearing in a steady sequence during an uptrend indicated persistent demand with minimal intraday resistance. Similarly, clusters of Bearish Marubozu candles during a downtrend indicated persistent supply with minimal intraday buyer support.

Variants include the Opening Marubozu, which has no wick at the open end but a small wick at the close end, and the Closing Marubozu, which has a small wick at the open end but no wick at the close. The latter was considered slightly more significant in terms of close-to-close momentum since the final price of the session was at the extreme.

Marubozu candles following prolonged consolidation ranges attracted particular attention in historical chart studies, as the combination of an extended base and a decisive single-session breakout candle with no overhead rejection was interpreted as evidence that the supply-demand balance within the range had been resolved decisively.