Piercing line and dark-cloud cover
You will learn to
- Half-way reversals
- Why depth of penetration matters
- Adapting gap rules to 24/7 crypto
The shape
Piercing line: after a decline, a long red candle, then a green candle that opens at or below its close and closes above the midpoint of the red body (but not above its open — that would be engulfing). Dark-cloud cover: the mirror after a rally.
Depth matters
The deeper the second candle closes into the first, the stronger the shift. Barely past the midpoint is a weak signal; three-quarters of the way is close to an engulfing.
In 24/7 markets
The classic definitions involve the second candle opening beyond the first one's close (a gap). Crypto perpetuals almost never gap, so NexusCore's check uses "opens at or beyond the close" and focuses on where the second candle closes.
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Check yourself
1. A dark-cloud cover's second candle closes…
- Above the first candle
- Below the midpoint of the first green body ✓
- Exactly at the first close
Taking back more than half the prior gain is the signal.
2. If the second candle closes below the first one's open, it is…
- A stronger dark-cloud cover
- A bearish engulfing ✓
- A harami
Covering the whole body is engulfing.
Terms in this lesson
- Dark-cloud cover
- Red candle closing below the midpoint of a long green one, after a rally.
- Piercing line
- Green candle closing above the midpoint of a long red one, after a decline.
Practise it on real charts. In the app, this lesson comes with real examples (reveal what happened next), a graded drill and the track test. Open the Academy in NexusCore — free →