Harami Cross Pattern Explained with Trading Rules

What the Harami Cross pattern is

Harami Cross is one of the 38 patterns SignBot can detect as a strategy condition. Harami whose second candle is a doji. In the Strategy Builder it is a candlestick pattern: you add it as a PATTERN condition and the engine reports whether it formed on the bar being evaluated.

How SignBot detects it

The pattern is evaluated by the same engine that runs your backtests and your live signals, using one shared code path. That is deliberate — if backtest and live used separate implementations they could disagree about whether a pattern formed, and the backtest would stop being evidence about live behaviour.

• Detection runs on the closed candle, so Harami Cross is confirmed rather than provisional
• It works on any timeframe your segment supports
• It can be combined with indicators and price levels using AND / OR logic

When SignBot evaluates it

Indicator and pattern conditions are evaluated on candle close, never mid-bar. A provisional value inside a forming candle can cross a threshold and then un-cross before the bar completes, which would fire a signal on something that never actually happened. Waiting for the close is a deliberate design decision in the engine, not a limitation.

Using Harami Cross in a strategy

A pattern on its own is rarely a complete strategy. Traders typically use it as confirmation for a condition that already has a directional bias:

1. Build your primary condition first — a trend or momentum indicator, or a price level
2. Add Harami Cross as a second condition joined with AND
3. Set target, stop loss and time exit explicitly
4. Backtest across a period long enough to contain different market conditions
5. Compare the result against the same strategy without the pattern, so you can see whether it actually contributed anything

Segment rules you should know

SignBot routes every strategy by segment, and the rules genuinely differ:

• NSE equity and F&O support 1min, 3min, 5min, 15min, 30min, 1hr, 4hr and 1day candles
• MCX futures support 1min, 5min, 30min and 1day only — the vendor rejects the others, so they are not offered
• On NSE options SignBot is buy-only. A bullish signal buys a CE, a bearish signal buys a PE, and there is no option writing anywhere in the platform
• Options entry and exit conditions are evaluated on the underlying spot candle, while the position itself is the option contract
• NSE history goes back up to 36 months for backtests; MCX history is limited to 3 months

Try it in SignBot

Harami Cross is available on every segment SignBot supports. Strategy creation and the AI Optimizer are free forever, so you can build and refine the rule before spending anything.

• Open the Strategy Builder and add the condition described above
• Run a backtest on real NSE or MCX history — Rs 10 per run
• Move it to SignBot virtual trading to watch it on live prices — Rs 15 entry and Rs 15 exit from wallet credits, no real money at risk
• Only when it has earned your confidence, run it on LiveBot through your own broker account — Rs 30 entry and Rs 30 exit

Pattern conditions cost nothing to add — build as many variants as you like and let the backtest decide between them.

Related reading

Other articles in the SignBot knowledge base that pair well with this one:

• The full SignBot pattern library and how each one is detected
• Price action conditions: previous day levels, pivots and level touch
• How to read a SignBot backtest report
• Building multi-condition strategies with AND / OR logic

Important disclaimer

Educational content only. Not investment advice. SignBot is not a SEBI-registered investment adviser. Trading involves risk of loss.