Kicking Candlestick Pattern: How the Kicker Works and What Our Tests Show

The kicking candlestick pattern, also called the kicker pattern, is a two-bar reversal signal: a marubozu (a full-bodied candlestick with no shadows, or very short ones) followed by a marubozu of the opposite color that opens beyond it, leaving a price gap between the two. The bullish kicker goes from a black marubozu to a white one that gaps higher; the bearish kicker goes from a white marubozu to a black one that gaps lower. It reflects a sudden shift in market sentiment, one of the sharpest a chart can show: control passes from one side to the other between two sessions, with no transition.

This guide will help you learn how to identify both versions, the market psychology behind them, how to enter, place a stop and set a target, and how the kicker compares with other reversals such as the island reversal. It also shows what happened after it. Our test bench scanned full price history on stocks, ETFs, indices, commodities, crypto and forex, detected only 14 bullish and 22 bearish kicking patterns on daily charts, and compared each one with random dates on the same assets.

What is the kicker candlestick pattern?

A kicker is made of two opposite candlesticks with no shadows or very short ones, separated by a gap. The first candlestick moves with the trend and closes at its extreme. The next session opens beyond the open of the first candlestick and moves the other way for the whole session, closing at its own extreme. Nothing overlaps: the second candlestick trades entirely outside the range of the first.

In technical analysis, the kicker is a type of two-candle reversal pattern, like the harami or the piercing line, but a more extreme one: its two bars do not overlap at all. The pattern comes from Japanese candlestick analysis and is coded in the open-source TA-Lib library as CDLKICKING, the function our bench follows (our rule finds all the cases it flags). Our rule does not require a prior trend: the two bars and the gap are the whole signal. The classic reading still places it after a clear trend, where it reads as a reversal rather than a continuation.

Classical candlestick analysis reads the kicker as a powerful indicator of a strong reversal. That is a claim we can test on a large history of market data, and we come back to it in the reliability section.

The mechanics of a kicker formation

Each part of the formation has a precise role, and each detail matters when you check a chart for this pattern.

Candle one: the trend continuation

The first candlestick is a marubozu in the direction of the existing move: a strong bearish candle in a decline, a strong bullish candle in a rally. It opens at or near one extreme and closes at or near the other, so the dominant side closed the session at its best level.

The separation gap

The second session opens beyond the open of the first candlestick: above it for a bullish kicking pattern, below it for a bearish one. Because a marubozu has almost no shadows, its open is close to its high (black bar) or its low (white bar), and the rule also requires the whole second bar to stay beyond the range of the first, so the two bars cannot overlap. The gap is the "kick": overnight, the market changed its mind. Such a jump can come from news that reached the market while it was closed.

Candle two: the counter-strike

The second candlestick is a full body of the opposite color. It never trades back into the first candlestick and closes at or near its extreme, in the new direction. In a bullish kicking pattern it is a strong bullish candlestick from open to close. That is what separates a kicker from a simple gap that gets filled during the session, and it is why the description of the pattern insists on two full bodies.

Identifying bullish and bearish kicker patterns

How to spot a bullish kicker pattern

• Candle 1: a black marubozu, opening at or near its high and closing at or near its low.
• Candle 2: a white marubozu whose low is above the high of candle 1, opening at or near its low and closing at or near its high.
• Context: the classic reading wants a decline before it; our rule does not require one.

The figure below shows the bullish kicking pattern as the rule defines it, with the levels of the trade we test: entry above the pattern high, stop under its low, target at twice the risk.

How to spot a bearish kicker pattern

• Candle 1: a white marubozu, opening at or near its low and closing at or near its high.
• Candle 2: a black marubozu whose high is below the low of candle 1, opening at or near its high and closing at or near its low.
• Context: in the classic reading, after a rally; our rule does not require one.

On the median daily occurrence, the two bars span 7.64% of price for the bullish version (2.30 times the average true range, or ATR) and 13.48% for the bearish version (3.31 ATR). These are large formations, so the stop sits far from the entry.

Why the kicker is so rare, above all on crypto and forex

Two full-bodied candlesticks back to back are uncommon, and a gap between them is rarer still. On daily charts, our bench detected one bullish kicking pattern every 556,265 eligible bars and one bearish kicking pattern every 344,221. For comparison, a single white marubozu appears about once every 58 daily bars. Most kicker patterns come from US stocks (10 of the 14 bullish and 20 of the 22 bearish daily cases), where each session opens after a night of news.

Crypto and forex markets trade continuously: Bitcoin around the clock, currency pairs 24 hours on weekdays. A new bar opens near the previous close, so the gap at the heart of the kicker can hardly form. Our bench detected no kicker on crypto charts at all, and none on daily forex charts. On hourly forex charts the pattern forms almost only at the weekly open, across the weekend gap, so we do not publish those rows: on a market that trades 24 hours on weekdays, the weekend reopening is one of the few moments a gap can form, and those rows measure the weekend gap rather than the kicker.

Market psychology behind the kicker pattern

The bullish kicker tells a story of sudden reversal. Sellers dominate the first session from open to close, and the decline looks set to continue. Then something changes between sessions, such as news: earnings, a regulatory decision, a macro release. The next session opens above the entire prior bar, and buyers keep control all day, with strong buying interest and no pullback. Traders who sold the day before are trapped, and their buying to cover adds fuel. The bears who dominated the day before have lost their grip: the shift in market sentiment is complete within two candles, indicating that buyers and sellers have swapped roles.

The bearish kicker is the mirror image: a confident rally, then a gap down and a session of steady selling, leaving late buyers above the market and long positions under water. The second candle suggests that sellers act with conviction.

The story is convincing, and it is the classic meaning given to these candles. The question is whether that dramatic shift tends to continue, which is what the numbers below measure.

How to trade the kicker pattern: step-by-step strategy

The plan we test for a bullish kicking candlestick pattern buys when prices trade above the high of the second candlestick, with a stop under the low of the first candlestick and a target at twice the risk (2:1). For a bearish kicking pattern, it sells below the low of the second candlestick, with the stop above the high of the first. Our bench simulates this trade on every occurrence.

Entry triggers and confirmation

The conservative entry is a buy stop just above the pattern high, which needs the move to continue. It was triggered on 100.0% of bullish setups and 100.0% of bearish ones in daily data, too few setups to read as a rate. The aggressive entry buys at the close of the second bar. Waiting for a third bar that confirms the move gives a later entry, further from the stop.

Stop loss placement techniques

The stop that proves the trade wrong is beyond the first candlestick, which means across the gap. On the bullish version it sits under the low of the black bar, so the risk includes both bars and the gap. A tighter stop, under the low of the second candlestick or inside the gap, reduces the risk per share but sits inside the pattern, where ordinary swings can reach it; we have not tested it. Whatever you choose, size the position on the distance to the stop: the median pattern spans 2.30 ATR for the bullish version and 3.31 ATR for the bearish one.

Setting profit targets and risk-to-reward ratios

A 2:1 target is far away on a formation this large. On daily charts, the length of trades and the time to the target or to the stop rest on fewer than 30 trades in both directions, too few to measure. Prior swing levels are a reasonable alternative target.

Comparing the kicker pattern to other reversals

Kicker pattern vs. engulfing pattern

In a bullish engulfing pattern, the second body opens below or at the prior close and covers the whole first body. In a bullish kicker, the second candlestick opens above the first and never trades back into it: no overlap at all. That pattern is common (one bullish occurrence every 141 daily bars, 59,948 in our data); the kicker is more than a thousand times rarer. On daily data, the bullish engulfing trade reached its 2:1 target in 36.9% of 48,554 trades against 35.7% at random, a gap rated No clear edge: its average result per trade does not pass our statistical test.

Kicker pattern vs. island reversal

An island reversal also uses gaps, but on both sides of an isolated group of bars. A kicker has a single gap. The abandoned baby sits in between: a doji isolated by two gaps, with three bars in total.

Kicker vs. separating lines

Separating lines are two bars of opposite color that open at the same price. Classical candlestick analysis reads them as continuation, while a kicker opens beyond the first candlestick and is read as a reversal.

Kicker vs. spinning top

A spinning top has a small body and long shadows: it shows indecision. Each bar of a kicker is the opposite of a spinning top, a full body with no shadows, which is why the classical reading treats the pattern as a strong signal rather than a pause.

Best indicators to confirm kicker signals

Using volume to validate the move

Classical candlestick analysis wants heavy volume on the second candlestick, as a sign that the gap has conviction behind it. We measured it, but each volume group holds fewer than thirty cases for at least one direction, too few to report a difference.

Moving averages and trend alignment

A trend filter takes bullish setups only above a rising 200-day moving average, in line with the long-term trend. We split our occurrences this way, but one side of each split has fewer than thirty cases, so we do not draw conclusions from it.

Relative strength index (RSI) integration

Another approach combines kicker signals with a momentum indicator: it looks for a bullish kicking pattern when the RSI is oversold, or a bearish one when it is overbought. We have not tested an RSI filter. With 14 bullish and 22 bearish daily occurrences in all of market history, any extra filter leaves too few cases to measure.

The kicker pattern across different timeframes

The cases we could measure are on daily charts. We have no kicker on weekly charts. On hourly forex charts the pattern forms almost only at the weekly open, across the weekend gap, so we do not publish those rows. On intraday stock charts, a gap can only appear at the opening bar of the session, so day traders will see the kicker rarely. Whatever the timeframe, the pattern depends on a market that can jump between bars, which is why kicker patterns belong to stock trading far more than to crypto or forex trading.

Reliability and success rates

Our data cannot say whether the kicker is a reliable reversal signal, even though classical candlestick analysis presents it as a clear signal of a potential trend reversal. With only 14 bullish and 22 bearish daily cases, fewer than 30 each, both versions are rated not enough data, on the 10-day move as on the 2:1 trade: the numbers below are shown, not interpreted. Here are the results from our test bench, before fees.

Read the table in pairs of columns. "Moved as expected" means higher 10 sessions later for the bullish version and lower for the bearish one. 57.1% of bullish occurrences were higher 10 days later, against 54.4% of random days on the same assets, with an average excess return over the rest of the market of +1.99%, on 14 cases only: rated Not enough data. The 2:1 trade reached its target in 42.9% of 14 trades, against 14.3% for the same entry, stop and target on random dates, with an expectancy of +0.29 R against −0.43 R at random, but that is fewer than the 30 trades we need before reading a result: not enough data. The US stock subsets, 10 bullish and 20 bearish trades, are too small to read as well, and stock data carries a survivorship bias we have not sized: most delisted companies are missing.

The bearish kicker is in the same situation. Its short trade reached the 2:1 target in 4.5% of 22 trades, against 12.1% for random short trades on the same assets, with an expectancy of −0.94 R against −0.44 R. That is fewer than 30 trades, so the row reads Not enough data: the numbers are shown, not interpreted. We have also checked only a few of the detected bearish cases by eye so far, so treat these bearish figures as resting on few, partly audited cases. For the record, 72.7% of bearish occurrences were lower 3 sessions later (47.3% for random days), and 18.2% were lower after 20 sessions (45.1% for random days). These horizon figures are descriptive, outside the tests behind our verdicts, and rest on the same few cases.

For context, on candlestick patterns in general: Marshall, Young and Rose, in "Candlestick technical trading strategies: Can they create value for investors?" (Journal of Banking & Finance, 2006), found that such strategies did not add value on large US stocks.

ETFs, indices and commodities each produced fewer than 30 occurrences, too few to report. On hourly forex charts the pattern forms almost only at the weekly open, across the weekend gap, so we do not publish those rows. The full table, with every market, is in the statistics section of this page, and the method is in our methodology.

Real examples of the kicker pattern

The gallery in this section shows the real kicker patterns that passed our card rules, on daily ETF and index charts, with their actual outcome. The cases written up below are not gallery cards: they come from our bench on daily charts, US stocks with prices adjusted as on our charts, except the bullish winner, on copper futures.

A bullish kicker that reached its target

On November 10, 2023, copper futures printed a black candle from 3.624 to 3.5835 that closed at its low. The next session opened at 3.644, above the entire prior bar, and closed at its high of 3.6625: a bullish kicking candlestick pattern. On November 14 the contract opened at 3.703, above the buy stop, so the entry filled at that open, with a stop at 3.5835 and a target at 3.942, reached on December 27, 2023, 30 sessions after entry. Copper was 2.7% higher 10 sessions after the pattern.

A bearish kicker that reached its target

On July 16, 2003, Deluxe (DLX) closed a white marubozu at 18.78. On July 17, it opened at 18.54, below the prior low of 18.59, and closed near its low at 17.94. The sell stop at 17.94 was triggered the next day, with a stop at 18.78 and a target at 16.26, reached on September 16, 2003, 41 sessions after entry.

Failed kicker patterns

On November 10, 2022, the day a softer than expected US inflation report lifted the whole stock market, Carnival (CCL) printed a bullish kicker: a black candle on November 9 that closed at 8.42, then a session that opened at 8.98, above the prior high of 8.88, and closed at 9.63, near its high. The entry filled the next day at the opening price of 10.01, above the buy stop, with a stop at 8.39. The stock rose to 11.31 on November 15, then fell back and hit the stop on December 15, a 1 R loss, and CCL was 0.5% lower 10 sessions after the pattern. Five of the 14 bullish daily kickers formed that same day: a kicker can form on news, and the candle shape alone says nothing about how the market will digest it.

On April 3, 2025, the day after a broad US tariff announcement, United Airlines (UAL) printed a bearish kicker. The short position opened on April 4 at 55.89, with a stop at 71.43, which was hit on April 9. UAL was 10.1% higher 10 sessions after the pattern.

Common mistakes to avoid when trading kickers

• Accepting bars with long shadows. If either bar has more than a short wick, it is a gap and two long bars, not a kicker by the strict definition. Looser definitions find more cases, but they are a different pattern.
• Expecting kickers on crypto or forex charts. Without a real gap between sessions, the pattern almost never forms: our bench found none on crypto, and on hourly forex it forms almost only at the weekly open, across the weekend gap.
• Ignoring the news. A kicker can form after an event, and the candle shape alone says nothing about how long the reaction will last.
• Using a normal position size. The median pattern spans 2.30 ATR (bullish) and 3.31 ATR (bearish): size the position on the stop distance.
• Forgetting gap risk. A market that has just gapped can gap again, through your stop.

Pros and cons of the kicker pattern

Pros

• A strict, objective definition, easy to scan for.
• Clear levels for the entry and the stop.
• It shows a real event: a sharp, decisive change in sentiment between two sessions, easy to see on any chart.

Cons

• Extremely rare: 14 bullish and 22 bearish occurrences in decades of daily data.
• Wide stops, across the gap.
• Too few cases to judge either version, on the 10-bar move or on the 2:1 trade: both read not enough data.

Frequently asked questions about the kicker pattern

Summary of key points

• A kicker is two opposite full-bodied bars separated by a gap: black then white for the bullish kicker, white then black for the bearish kicker.
• It is extremely rare: one bullish kicking pattern every 556,265 daily bars, against one white marubozu every 58.
• It almost never forms on crypto and forex, which trade continuously and rarely gap.
• The bullish 2:1 trade reached its target in 42.9% of 14 trades, against 14.3% on random dates: too few trades to judge.
• The bearish kicker reached its target in 4.5% of 22 trades, against 12.1% on random dates (−0.94 R before costs): too few trades to judge.

Final thoughts on risk management

About the author and the data. Written by Amaury, founder of PatternsWizard, who is passionate about finance, quantitative trading and data analysis. He built the PatternsWizard test bench, which detects each setup with published rules on full market history: crypto, forex, US stocks, ETFs, indices and commodities. Trades and win rates are compared with random bars on the same assets, excess returns with the rest of the market, with error margins and a correction for multiple testing, and the whole pipeline is checked on random-walk prices, where nothing can be predicted. Statistics on this page were generated on November 5, 2026. The full methodology explains every step.