1️⃣ Detect the trend
• Luis opens his H1 chart and sees that EMA50 has been above EMA200 for several days.
• The price mostly stays above EMA50 → Clear bullish trend ✅
2️⃣ Mark the zone
• Draw a horizontal line at the support of 1.0850 (the area where it previously bounced).
• Note that EMA50 is very close to that level, reinforcing the zone.
3️⃣ Wait for the pullback
• The price retraces from 1.0900 to 1.0852, touching the support zone + EMA50.
• Now, Luis waits for confirmation before entering.
4️⃣ Identify the confirmation candle
• A bullish engulfing appears:
• A small red candle followed by a large green candle that completely covers it.
• Close of the green candle = 1.0865.
5️⃣ Define entry and stop
• Entry: Buy stop at 1.0867 (2 pips above the high of the green candle).
• Stop-loss: 1.0847 (below the low of the engulfing) → 20 pips stop.
6️⃣ Calculate position size
1. Risk: 1% of $1,000 = $10
2. Stop: 20 pips
3. Pip value for 0.01 lots: $0.10
4. Formula: 10 ÷ (20 × 0.10) = 0.05 lots (5 microlots).
7️⃣ Set targets
• TP1: 1.0887 (R=1, +20 pips)
• TP2: 1.0907 (R=2, +40 pips)
• TP3: 1.0927 (R=3, +60 pips)
8️⃣ Execution and management
• The price activates the order on the next candle and rises quickly.
• TP1 is reached → Luis closes half and moves the stop to break-even.
• The price continues rising and hits TP2 → closes 25% more.
• The rest exits at TP3.
9️⃣ Result
• 50% at R=1 → +$5
• 25% at R=2 → +$5
• 25% at R=3 → +$7.5
• Total profit: $17.5 (1.75% of the account).
• Maximum risk taken: $10.
🔟 Journal entry
In the Backtest_Candlestick_Patterns.xlsx sheet, note:
• Date, asset, time frame.
• EMA50 > EMA200, pullback to EMA50, bullish engulfing pattern.
• Entry 1.0867, stop 1.0847, TPs, result +1.75R, +$17.5.
• Note: “Clean trend, perfect confluence EMA + support, no news.”