Gravestone Doji
A gravestone doji forms when a session's open and close are nearly identical and both sit at the bottom of the range, leaving a long upper wick and effectively no lower wick. It is an extreme rejection of higher prices. Everything gained during the session was given back.
- Bias
- Bearish
- Category
- Short Setups
- Scan cadence
- Every close
What has to be true for a Gravestone Doji to trigger
- Open and close nearly equal
- Both near the low of the session
- A long upper wick
- Virtually no lower wick
How PatternGrade grades it
A longer upper wick, a smaller body and a cleaner bottom raise the grade.
Every scanner grades its hits A+, A or B from the pattern's own measurable structure. The grading is deterministic — the same chart always produces the same grade. It describes how closely the chart matches the pattern, not how likely anything is to happen; no hit rate or probability is attached to a grade. The reasoning is set out in the methodology.
What a Gravestone Doji looks like in practice
After a month-long advance, a stock opens at $36.10, rallies to $39.40 in the morning, then gives it all back to close at $36.08, within two cents of the open. The upper wick runs more than three points, the body is a horizontal line, and there is effectively no lower wick. Volume is 3.1 times average.
How a Gravestone Doji fails
Price clears the gravestone's high on the following session. Like every single-bar rejection pattern, it is one day's evidence and easily overwhelmed in a strong trend. Dojis are also over-identified. Any session opening and closing near the same price qualifies, and in a quiet stock that happens routinely without meaning anything.
What this pattern is telling you
Doji patterns depend on precise open/close relationships that can be artefacts of thin trading. In illiquid names they are frequently noise.
PatternGrade is not a financial advisor and does not give buy or sell recommendations. Targets and stops shown on a pattern are reference levels derived from its geometry, not advice.
How to scan for Gravestone Doji setups
PatternGrade rescans every liquid US stock (~4,500 names) for this pattern after every close and returns the hits as a graded list, with the pattern drawn on each chart, so you review setups rather than hunt for them.
Join the waitlist to be invited when sign-ups reopen and see the current Gravestone Doji list, or browse all 75 patterns.
Gravestone Doji FAQ
What is a gravestone doji?
A candle whose open and close are nearly equal at the bottom of the range, with a long upper wick: an extreme rejection of higher prices.
What is a gravestone doji?
A session where open and close are essentially identical and both sit at the bottom of the range, leaving a long upper wick and virtually no lower one. It says the market rallied substantially and gave back every bit of it by the close.
How is it different from a shooting star?
Only by the size of the real body. A shooting star has a small body; a gravestone has none. The interpretation is the same, and the gravestone is the more emphatic version since the rejection was total.
Is a gravestone doji always bearish?
Only after an advance. The shape describes rejection of higher prices, which matters when the stock has been rising. Appearing after a decline, the same bar is closer to indecision, and some read it as an early bottoming signal.
How much volume should a gravestone doji have?
High volume strengthens it considerably. It means the rejection involved real participation rather than a thin drift. On very light volume it is one of the weakest signals on the chart, and PatternGrade grades accordingly.
Patterns a Gravestone Doji is mistaken for
- Shooting Star
- A shooting star has a small but real body. A gravestone has effectively none. Same shape, more extreme version.
- Dragonfly Doji
- The mirror image: a long lower wick with open and close at the top, read bullishly after a decline.
- Hanging Man
- A hanging man's long wick points down. A gravestone's points up.
Last reviewed . Structure and grading for the Gravestone Doji are reviewed against the scanner's own rules.