Bullish Harami Cross Pattern: The Doji at Spotify's 2024 Low and Morgan Stanley's 2020 Low

On September 9, 2024, one session after the weak August jobs report sent the Nasdaq down 2.6%, Spotify printed a bullish harami cross. Bought at that close with a stop under its low, the trade risked 1.5%. By February 13, 2025 the stock was up 100.1%, at a record close.

On September 24, 2020, a day after the S&P 500 fell 2.4%, Morgan Stanley printed one at its lowest price since mid-June. The risk was 1.6%. By March 12, 2021 the stock was up 80.9%.

Neither stock has traded below its harami cross's low since. Here is how to read a bullish harami cross, where the stop goes, and how to find the next one.

What $10,000 became#

Prices are split-adjusted, as on the chart.

The bullish harami cross in one table#

A bullish harami cross is two daily candles: a long red day, then a doji that opens and closes inside the red body. Sellers ran the first day. On the second, the price closed about where it opened, and both sat at or above the first day's close: the selling stalled. Harami is Japanese for pregnant; the doji is the cross.

These are the rules the VCP Scanner terminal uses to name a bullish harami cross on a daily chart.

Only the bodies have to fit. The doji's shadows can reach outside: Morgan Stanley's dipped to 45.86, under the red day's low of 46.39. Day 2 needs some body, even a cent; an open and close at exactly the same price does not count.

The doji's colour does not matter. Spotify's closed 43 cents below its open, Morgan Stanley's 7 cents above it.

Every harami cross is also a bullish harami: the cross is the harami with a doji as day 2. The terminal names it the cross first.

The position rule matters most. A bullish harami cross comes after a decline. After a rally, the mirror image (a long green day with a doji inside it) is a bearish harami cross.

Bullish harami cross and its look-alikes#

A doji on its own is neutral. Inside a long red body after a decline, it becomes a bullish harami cross. A doji that sits below the red day, followed by a strong green day, is a morning doji star.

Example 1: Spotify (SPOT) after the jobs-report sell-off, Sep 9, 2024#

Open SPOT in the VCP Scanner terminal →

What followed:

• Next session (Sep 10): closed at 327.00, +0.9%. Its low of 324.16 is the lowest Spotify has traded since, 9 cents above the cross's close.
• Two sessions later (Sep 11): 336.66, the first close above the pattern's high of 331.92.
• Ten sessions later (Sep 23): 369.01, +13.9%.
• Dec 3: 493.32, +52.2%.
• Feb 13, 2025: 648.32, +100.1%, a record close. That is 64.9 times the 5.00 risked on each share.
• The low of 319.07 was never broken. On Nov 3, 2026 Spotify closed at 600.09, 85.2% above the cross's close.

Two earnings gaps did about a quarter of the run to Feb 13: Spotify opened 9.7% higher on Nov 13, 2024, the session after its Nov 12 report, and 8.5% higher on Feb 4, 2025, the day it reported its first full-year profit.

With $500 at risk, the stop sized the trade at 100 shares, about $32,407. A 1.5% stop makes a large position for a small risk. At the Feb 13, 2025 close those shares were up $32,425.

Example 2: Morgan Stanley (MS) at its September 2020 low, Sep 24, 2020#

Open MS in the VCP Scanner terminal →

What followed:

• Next session (Sep 25): closed at 47.04, +0.9%. Its low of 45.92 came within 6 cents of the stop. It is the lowest Morgan Stanley has traded since.
• Two sessions later (Sep 28): 48.38, the first close above the pattern's high of 48.24.
• Ten sessions later (Oct 8): 49.00, +5.1%.
• Dec 4: 65.00, +39.5%.
• Mar 12, 2021: 84.34, +80.9%. That is 50.3 times the 0.75 risked on each share.
• The low of 45.86 was never broken. On Nov 3, 2026 Morgan Stanley closed at 186.09, 299.2% above the cross's close.

One gap did a tenth of the run to Mar 12: Morgan Stanley opened 7.2% higher on Nov 9, 2020, the day of Pfizer's vaccine news.

With $500 at risk, the stop sized the trade at 666 shares, about $31,042. At the Mar 12, 2021 close those shares were up $25,128.

Where a bullish harami cross counts: key levels#

A bullish harami cross on a level is a test of that level. In the terminal, the Only at a key level switch is on by default and keeps the crosses that close back above one of these:

Spotify's and Morgan Stanley's crosses came at fresh pullback lows, on none of these levels. To see crosses like these, turn Only at a key level off.

Both stocks were in Stage 2, Stan Weinstein's advancing stage: the stock trades above a rising 30-week average. These crosses marked the low of a pullback inside an uptrend, not the end of a downtrend.

How to trade a bullish harami cross#

1. Find the low. A bullish harami cross comes after a decline. Look for it at a prior low, a rising average or a fresh pullback low, like Spotify's in 2024 and Morgan Stanley's in 2020.
2. Check the bodies. A long red body, then a doji inside it. Spotify's 0.43 doji sat inside an 8.49 red body, and Morgan Stanley's 0.07 inside 1.44.
3. Choose your entry. Some traders buy the doji's close. Others wait for a close above the pattern's high, usually day 1's. Spotify and Morgan Stanley both gave that close two sessions later.
4. Put the stop under the low. Under the lower of the two lows (Spotify's was day 1's, Morgan Stanley's the doji's), or under the lowest low of the test if price went lower earlier in it. The terminal calls this "the low, test included".
5. Size from the stop. Shares = money at risk ÷ (entry − stop). With $500 at risk on Morgan Stanley: 500 ÷ (46.61 − 45.86) = 666 shares.

Find bullish harami crosses on any chart in VCP Scanner#

• Open a stock in the terminal, for example SPOT or MS.
• Open Candles in the chart toolbar and tick Bullish harami cross, or use the Bullish quick pick for every bullish candle on the chart.
• Only at a key level is on by default. Turn it off to see every bullish harami cross on the chart.
• The chart jumps to the latest bullish harami cross. A dot marks each one under its low, and the selected one shows its stop on the price scale.
• The inspector lists the close, stop, risk to stop, level, volume and stage. Walk through the others with the ← and → keys.
• Mark the ones you care about with the drawing tools. The arrows in the charts above are the Arrow Marker (Alt+A): click where the arrow starts, then click the candle.

Candles are free, on daily, weekly and monthly charts.

Bottom line#

• A bullish harami cross is a long red day followed by a doji inside its body: the selling stopped, and the second day ended where it began.
• Spotify's marked its September 2024 low and Morgan Stanley's its September 2020 low. They risked 1.5% and 1.6%, and the stocks rose 100.1% and 80.9% within six months.
• The pattern's low is the stop. It defines your risk before you take the trade.

Data: VCPScanner daily market data through Nov 3, 2026, split-adjusted. The examples are for education, not recommendations.