Engulfing candles & inside bars
The two multi-candle setups worth knowing — momentum shifts and coiled springs.
The engulfing candle
An engulfing candle opens within the prior body and closes beyond its opposite extreme — the new candle's body swallows the old one. It means the losing side did not just stop the move; it reversed the entire prior period's work and closed with control. Everyone who traded the prior candle in the old direction is now underwater, and their exits fuel follow-through.
Strength checks: the bigger the engulfed body (not a doji), the closer the close to the extreme, and the heavier the volume versus recent candles, the more real the shift. At a structural level after an extended move, it is one of the cleanest reversal triggers there is.
Inside bars — the coil
An inside bar sits entirely within the prior candle's range: the market agreed to disagree and contracted. Contraction begets expansion — the break of the mother bar's range is the tradeable event, with the opposite side of the range as a natural stop. Multiple inside bars stacking (a coil) wind the spring tighter.