For years I could name every candlestick pattern on a chart and still lose money. Hammer. Engulfing. Doji. I had them all memorized. I would spot one, take the trade, and watch it roll over ten minutes later. Then I would go find another pattern and do it again. I have been trading since 1999. It took me until 2006 to be consistently profitable, and this was a big part of why. The thing I was missing is that the pattern is not the signal. Where it prints is the signal. A bullish engulfing at the low of a first pullback into the 9 and 20 EMA, on lighter volume than the move that got it there, is a trade I take. The exact same candle at the top of a five day parabolic run is somebody selling to me. Same shape. Opposite meaning. So the order is location, then volume, then pattern. If you start with the shape you are going to keep getting run over by textbook candles in terrible spots. I put together the 20 patterns I actually use and what has to be true around each one. There is a free PDF in there you can keep next to your screen. https://www.bullsonwallstreet.com/post/candlestick-chart-patterns-pdf What is the pattern you keep taking that keeps not working? Drop it below and I will tell you what context it needs.