Direct Answer
A Bullish Belt Hold, known as "Yorikiri" in Japanese charting, is a single-bar pattern that appears after a downtrend. The bar opens at, or very near, the session's low, with little to no lower wick, and then closes strongly near the session's high, leaving a long bullish (green) real body.
Key Takeaways
- A Bullish Belt Hold is a single-bar pattern, also called "Yorikiri" in Japanese charting, that appears after a downtrend.
- The bar opens at, or very near, the session's low, with little to no lower wick, and then closes strongly near the session's high, forming a long bullish (green) body.
- Opening at the low with no pullback below it and rallying decisively for the rest of the session signals buyers took control from the opening bell.
- The opening price itself doubles as a natural, tight invalidation level, since the bar leaves no lower wick to fall back on.
- A Bullish Belt Hold is a less extreme version of a Bullish Marubozu, a Marubozu additionally requires a clean close at the high, while a Belt Hold only requires a clean open at the low.
Bullish Belt Hold Candlestick Pattern: Formation, Meaning, and Signals
A Bullish Belt Hold is a single-bar candlestick pattern that opens at, or very near, the session's low and closes strongly near the session's high, forming a long green body with little to no lower wick. Appearing after a downtrend, it signals that buyers seized control from the opening bell, with no pullback below the open for the rest of the session.
What Is a Bullish Belt Hold?
A Bullish Belt Hold, known as "Yorikiri" in Japanese charting, is a single-bar pattern that appears after a downtrend. The bar opens at, or very near, the session's low, with little to no lower wick, and then closes strongly near the session's high, leaving a long bullish (green) real body.
Because the open sits right at the low, the bar shows no evidence of a lower pullback: buyers were in control from the first tick of the session and stayed in control through the close. That combination, a clean low-side open and a strong, decisive rally the rest of the way, is what separates a Bullish Belt Hold from an ordinary long green candle.
How a Bullish Belt Hold Forms
The defining feature of a Bullish Belt Hold is where the open lands: at, or very near, the session's low, with little to no lower wick. From that opening print, price then rallies for the remainder of the session, closing strongly near the session's high and leaving a long bullish body.
Only one end of the bar needs to be clean for this pattern, the open/low end. Some wick is still allowed at the close/high end, which is what distinguishes a Bullish Belt Hold from a Bullish Marubozu (covered in the comparison table below). Because it's a single-bar pattern, it can be read the moment that session closes, without waiting to see a multi-bar formation complete.
Bullish Belt Hold Example
The chart below shows a deterministic, illustrative example: a downtrend leading in, a Bullish Belt Hold forming, then two possible continuations, a confirmation (price holds above the opening price and follows through higher) and a failure/look-alike (price closes back below the opening price instead). Toggle between them to see why the single bar alone doesn't decide the outcome.
How to Trade a Bullish Belt Hold
Context first
A Bullish Belt Hold only qualifies as a reversal candidate when it appears after a downtrend. The same shape, a clean open at the low and a strong rally to the close, forming in the middle of an existing uptrend is a continuation bar, not a reversal signal. Checking the prior trend is the first step, not an afterthought.
Use the open as your invalidation level
Because the bar opens with no lower wick, the open itself doubles as a natural, tight invalidation level. A subsequent close back below that opening price undermines the bullish read. It means the "no pullback" quality that defined the pattern didn't hold.
Distinguish it from a Bullish Marubozu
A Bullish Belt Hold is a less extreme version of a Bullish Marubozu, a Marubozu has no wick on either end, while a Belt Hold only requires the open (low) end to be clean. Confirm which one actually formed before assuming the stronger, fully-clean-body signal.
Common Bullish Belt Hold Mistakes
- Treating any long green candle as a Belt Hold, without checking that the open specifically sits at or very near the low, a long green bar with a visible lower wick isn't a Belt Hold.
- Confusing it with a full Bullish Marubozu, a Marubozu additionally requires no wick at the close/high end; a Belt Hold only requires the open/low end to be clean.
- Skipping the trend context check, this pattern only reads as a reversal signal when it forms after a downtrend; the same shape mid-uptrend is just a strong continuation bar.
- Ignoring the invalidation level, trading the pattern without watching for a close back below the opening price skips the one signal that tells you the read was wrong.
Bullish Belt Hold vs. Similar Patterns
| Pattern | Wick profile | Key difference from a Bullish Belt Hold |
|---|---|---|
| Bullish Belt Hold | No wick at open/low end | Baseline, clean open at the low, some wick allowed at the close/high end |
| Bullish Marubozu | No wick at either end | Also requires a clean close at the high, not just a clean open at the low |
| Hammer | Long lower wick | Opposite wick placement, a small body near the top of the range with a long lower wick, not a clean open at the low |
| Bearish Belt Hold | No wick at open/high end | The mirror image, opens at the high and closes strongly near the low after an uptrend |
Limitations of the Bullish Belt Hold Pattern
A Bullish Belt Hold describes one bar's open and close relative to its range, it doesn't tell you volume, order flow, or why buyers stepped in at the open. It carries no information about how large the following move will be, and a single strong bar can still be followed by a stall or reversal if the broader trend and levels don't support continuation. Like any single-bar pattern, it works best combined with trend context, support/resistance, and a defined invalidation plan, not used alone.
Nobody Traded Below the Open All Session
The specific claim in this pattern is unusually concrete. With no lower wick, the session low is the open, which means that from the first print onward, no seller ever got a better price. After a downtrend, where lower prices had been available repeatedly, that is a genuine change in what the session offered, and it is what the pattern is pointing at rather than the size of the green body.
Read that way, the close near the high is the second half rather than the headline. Opening at the extreme and giving nothing back is the combination; either one alone describes a much more ordinary session.
In practice a small lower shadow is usually tolerated, since an exact match between open and low is uncommon. Fixing your own tolerance as a fraction of the range keeps the pattern from either vanishing or expanding to cover any strong green bar.
It needs a decline in front of it for the reading to mean anything, and it is still one session. A single bar in which buyers held the whole range is a change in control for a day, not an established base.
Bullish Belt Hold FAQs
Is a Bullish Belt Hold always a reversal signal?
No. A Bullish Belt Hold only describes one bar's shape, opening at or very near the low and closing strongly near the high. It only counts as a reversal candidate when it appears after a downtrend; the same shape in the middle of an uptrend is just a strong continuation bar.
What's the difference between a Bullish Belt Hold and a Bullish Marubozu?
A Bullish Belt Hold requires a clean open at the low with little to no lower wick, but allows some wick at the close/high end. A Bullish Marubozu is stricter, it requires no wick at either end, meaning the open sits at the low AND the close sits at the high.
Does a Bullish Belt Hold need confirmation?
Yes. A single strong bar shows buyers controlled that session, but traders typically want the next bar to hold above the Belt Hold's opening price before treating the reversal as confirmed rather than a one-bar spike.
What invalidates a Bullish Belt Hold signal?
Because the bar opens with no lower wick, that opening price is a natural invalidation level. A later close back below the Belt Hold's opening price undermines the bullish read.
Is Yorikiri the same pattern as a Belt Hold?
Yes. Yorikiri is the Japanese name for the Belt Hold pattern in traditional candlestick charting. Both names refer to the same single-bar formation.
How is a bullish belt hold identified in code?
Two conditions: the open must sit at or within a small tolerance of the low, and the body must be substantial relative to recent bars. The second condition is what most implementations get wrong by omitting, since without a size requirement any small bar that happened to open at its low qualifies. The tolerance on the lower shadow is the other place implementations diverge.
Does a coarse tick size make this pattern less meaningful?
It makes it more common and weaker. Where a tick is a large fraction of price, opening exactly at the low is not a demonstration of anything, since there were few prices below to trade at. The geometric condition is satisfied by the quoting granularity rather than by the session. Filtering on body size relative to average true range removes most of these.
Does volume add anything to reading a bullish belt hold?
It distinguishes a session where buyers absorbed real supply from one where price drifted up on very little activity. Both produce the same bar shape. Comparing the session volume against a recent average is the usual check, and it is particularly worth doing for this pattern because a single long body carries no other internal evidence about how it was formed.
What does a bullish belt hold mean when it appears mid-trend?
Inside an existing advance it is a continuation observation rather than a reversal one: a session that opened at its low and closed near its high, in the direction the market was already going. Descriptions of the pattern as a reversal assume it appears after a decline. The same bar in a different location supports a different reading, and the bar itself cannot tell you which applies.
References
- CMT Association: Technical Analysis Body of Knowledge and Research
- CFA Institute Research and Policy Center: Investment Research
- Steve Nison, Japanese Candlestick Charting Techniques (1991), the book credited with popularizing Japanese candlestick analysis in Western markets.
- SEC Investor.gov: Introduction to Investing