Similar ranges, different bodies
Doji · open equals close
Session 1: O 100 · H 106 · L 94 · C 100
Spinning top · small body
Session 1: O 100 · H 106 · L 94 · C 101
Compare the body with its range
Judge smallness against a stated measure, such as the high-to-low range or recent candle bodies. There is no single tolerance appropriate for every price, volatility level or data precision. A spinning top has a visible body; a doji’s body can collapse to a horizontal mark.
In an original example, open and close are $100, the high is $106 and the low $94. The body is zero while the range is $12. The shape describes a return to the opening level despite a wide range. It does not mean the session was quiet.
Similar silhouettes can have different proportions
A second example opens at $100 and closes at $101 with the same $106 high and $94 low. Its $1 body is about 8.33% of its $12 range. With $5 and $6 wicks, it illustrates a spinning top rather than the exact-equality doji in the first example.
A long upper wick with the open and close near the low is often called a gravestone doji; the mirrored long-lower-wick shape is a dragonfly doji. Names help communicate proportions. They add no missing transactions or independent evidence about the next bar.
State where the shape occurs
A small body after a long rise can prompt a question about whether the advance is losing momentum. The same body inside a quiet range might attract little attention. This contextual interpretation remains a hypothesis, and an unfinished interval cannot establish the final shape.
Imagine the exact same doji after closes of $90, $94 and $98, or after closes of $101, $100 and $100. The single candle is unchanged; the preceding sequence differs. A diagram should make that context visible instead of treating its name as a universal bullish or bearish instruction.
Separate recognition from confirmation
Define what later observation would support a specific interpretation: a completed close beyond a boundary, for example. Later confirmation can still fail. Waiting for it also changes when the evidence becomes available, which matters when evaluating historical examples.
For practice, draw both a rising and a falling next candle after the same doji. Both continuations are possible. Keep the original range and body measurements in your notes. The useful learning outcome is accurate recognition plus a precise question about context, rather than memorizing a predicted direction.
A doji has no body. Must its high-to-low range also be zero?
Show the explanation
No. The body compares open with close; the range compares high with low. A session can return to its open after a large movement in both directions.
Sources and editorial notes
Original explanations and hypothetical examples prepared with AI assistance. Primary references checked October 16, 2026. Numerical examples are hypothetical unless explicitly identified otherwise.
- StockCharts ChartSchool: Introduction to Candlesticks
OHLC body/wick construction, doji and spinning-top geometry and context. No third-party images or price histories reproduced.