Engulfing Pattern (CDLENGULFING)

Summary

A two-candle reversal pattern where the second candle's real body engulfs the first candle's opposite-colored real body. Bullish (white engulfs black) or bearish (black engulfs white) reversal signal; ideally after a downtrend (bullish) or uptrend (bearish), which the code does not verify.

Chart

Reference data (CSV) · Chart (SVG)

Chart metadata i

Outputs

outInteger: line · pattern_bull_bear · zero · positive · negative · pattern_weak

Notes

Does not verify the prior trend (down for bullish, up for bearish) the reversal classically assumes.
Bulkowski's testing found bearish Engulfing has a strong 79% reversal rate (5th-best of 103 patterns by that measure alone) but a weak overall post-breakout performance rank of 91st of 103 — the reversal fires reliably but rarely sustains. Bullish Engulfing reverses 63% of the time with a similarly weak overall rank of 84th of 103. (thepatternsite.com)

Inputs

inOpen — Open price of each bar
inHigh — High price of each bar
inLow — Low price of each bar
inClose — Close price of each bar

Outputs

outInteger — +100/+80 (bullish, white engulfs black), -100/-80 (bearish, black engulfs white), 0 otherwise. Magnitude 100 when the second body strictly engulfs both ends; 80 when the bodies share an exact endpoint (open[i]==close[i-1] or close[i]==open[i-1])

Output Values

What candlestick values mean: Candlestick Outputs. The function's flags declare which values it can return: rW7.

Value	Meaning
-100	Bearish engulfing: the black body fully swallows the prior white body — a strong reversal signal
-80	Bearish engulfing, weaker variant: one edge of the two bodies lines up exactly rather than fully overhanging it
0	No pattern
80	Bullish engulfing, weaker variant: one edge of the two bodies lines up exactly rather than fully overhanging it
100	Bullish engulfing: the white body fully swallows the prior black body — a strong reversal signal

Properties

Numerical Stability: Start-Independent


☐ Overlap Input
✅ Independent Y-Axis i
✅ Candlestick i
☐ Display Shift


☐ Can Output NaN or ±Inf
☐ Identity at Period 1
☐ Uses Transcendental
☐ Input Must Be Positive

Example

#include <stdio.h>
#include <ta_libc.h>

int n = 252;
double open[252]; /* your data, oldest first */
double high[252]; /* your data, oldest first */
double low[252]; /* your data, oldest first */
double close[252]; /* your data, oldest first */
int out[252];
int outBegIdx, outNBElement;

TA_Initialize();
TA_CDLENGULFING( 0, n - 1, open, high, low, close, &outBegIdx, &outNBElement, out );
printf( "%d values from bar %d; last out = %d\n", outNBElement, outBegIdx, out[outNBElement - 1] );

Rust

use ta_lib::Core;

let open = vec![0.0; 252]; // your data, oldest first
let high = vec![0.0; 252]; // your data, oldest first
let low = vec![0.0; 252]; // your data, oldest first
let close = vec![0.0; 252]; // your data, oldest first
let mut out = vec![0i32; 252];

let core = Core::new();
let range = core.cdlengulfing(0, open.len() - 1, &open, &high, &low, &close, &mut out)?;
println!("{} values from bar {}; last out = {}", range.count, range.beg_idx, out[range.count - 1]);

Java

import io.github.talib.Core;
import io.github.talib.OutRange;

double[] open = new double[252]; // your data, oldest first
double[] high = new double[252]; // your data, oldest first
double[] low = new double[252]; // your data, oldest first
double[] close = new double[252]; // your data, oldest first
int[] out = new int[252];

Core core = Core.DEFAULT;
OutRange r = core.cdlengulfing(0, open.length - 1, open, high, low, close, out);
System.out.println(r.count() + " values from bar " + r.begIdx() + "; last out = " + out[r.count() - 1]);

using System;
using TALib;

var open = new double[252]; // your data, oldest first
var high = new double[252]; // your data, oldest first
var low = new double[252]; // your data, oldest first
var close = new double[252]; // your data, oldest first
var outInteger = new int[252];

var core = Core.Default;
OutRange r = core.Cdlengulfing(0, open.Length - 1, open, high, low, close, outInteger);
Console.WriteLine($"{r.Count} values from bar {r.BegIdx}; last outInteger = {outInteger[r.Count - 1]}");

TypeScript

import { cdlengulfing } from 'ta-lib';

const open = new Float64Array(252); // your data, oldest first
const high = new Float64Array(252); // your data, oldest first
const low = new Float64Array(252); // your data, oldest first
const close = new Float64Array(252); // your data, oldest first

const { begIdx, values } = cdlengulfing({ open, high, low, close });
console.log(values.length + ' values from bar ' + begIdx + '; last values = ' + values[values.length - 1]);

Implementation

Added in 0.4.0.

TA-Lib Definition: cdlengulfing.c · cdlengulfing.yaml

Native	File
C	`ta_CDLENGULFING.c`
Rust	`cdlengulfing.rs`
Java	`Core_CDLENGULFING.java`
C#	`Core_CDLENGULFING.cs`
TypeScript	`cdlengulfing.ts`

Python: talib.CDLENGULFING, see ta-lib-python.

TA-Lib is also available for R and more using a wrapper.

Aliases

Engulfing Pattern, Engulfing, Bullish/Bearish Engulfing