Inside Day Candlestick Pattern: The Pair at Tesla's April 2025 Tariff Low and Salesforce's December 2025 Top

On April 8, 2025, the day the S&P 500 lost an early 4.1% gain and closed at its lowest level in almost a year, Tesla traded entirely inside the previous day's range. Bought at that close with a stop under the first day's low, the trade risked 3.4%. The next afternoon President Trump paused most of his new tariffs for 90 days. Tesla closed 22.7% higher that day, and by September 30, 2025 it was up 100.5%.

On December 30, 2025, at a prior high after a 21.2% rally, Salesforce did the same. Sold at that close with a stop above the first day's high, the trade risked 1.2%. By June 22, 2026 the stock was down 43.5%.

Same two bars, opposite moves. An inside day says the market paused inside the day before, and the first close out of that range says which way it breaks. Neither stock has traded through its stop since. Here is how to read an inside day, where the stop goes, and how to find the next one.

What the inside day did#

An inside day at a low is a buy for the bounce. One at a high is a sell signal for holders and an entry for short sellers.

The $10,000 and reward rows use the 120-session numbers. Prices are split-adjusted, as on the chart.

The inside day in one table#

An inside day is two daily candles. Day 2's whole range, from its high to its low, fits inside day 1's range. Day 1 is often called the mother bar. Buyers could not take out day 1's high and sellers could not take out its low, so the stock paused.

These are the rules the VCP Scanner terminal uses to name an inside day on a daily chart.

The bodies and the colours do not matter. Tesla's first day was green and its second red. So were Salesforce's.

The inside day and its look-alikes#

A bullish harami or a bearish harami looks only at the bodies, so its shadows may poke out. An inside day looks only at the range. Many haramis are inside days too, and then the terminal names the harami first. The same goes for a bullish harami cross and for tweezers. Tesla's and Salesforce's inside days had no other name.

Example 1: Tesla (TSLA) at its 2025 tariff low, Apr 8, 2025#

Open TSLA in the VCP Scanner terminal →

Day 1 was the third session of the crash that followed the Apr 2 tariff announcement, and Tesla swung 37.75 from its low to its high. On Apr 8 the S&P 500 erased an early 4.1% gain and closed 1.6% lower, at its lowest close in almost a year, after the White House confirmed a 104% tariff on China. Tesla opened at 245.00, inside day 1's range, and slid to 221.86 without breaking day 1's low.

What followed:

• Next session (Apr 9): Tesla opened at 224.69. That afternoon President Trump paused most of the new tariffs for 90 days, and the S&P 500 rose 9.5%, its best day since 2008. Tesla closed at 272.20, up 22.7%, its first close above day 1's high of 252.00.
• Ten sessions later (Apr 23): 250.74, +13.0%.
• May 27, 2025: 362.89, +63.6%.
• Sep 30, 2025: 444.72, +100.5%. That is 29.3 times the 7.61 risked on each share.
• The low of 214.25 was never broken. Tesla's lowest price since is 222.79, above day 2's own low as well. On Nov 6, 2026 it closed at 358.22, 61.5% above the inside day's close.

Two 5% gaps did about three-tenths of the climb to May 27: Apr 23, the morning after Tesla's first-quarter report, and May 12, after the US and China agreed to cut their tariffs. Over the whole climb to Sep 30 the 5% gaps netted out: three up, the third on Sep 15, and three down in July.

With $500 at risk, the stop sized the trade at 65 shares, about $14,421. At the Sep 30, 2025 close those shares were up $14,486.

Example 2: Salesforce (CRM) at its December 2025 top, Dec 30, 2025#

Open CRM in the VCP Scanner terminal →

Salesforce had rallied 21.2% from its Nov 21 low of 221.96, helped by a Dec 3 report that raised its full-year outlook. The inside day came in the quiet week between Christmas and New Year: both days traded above the Dec 11 high, and neither held it.

What followed:

• Next session (Dec 31): closed at 264.91, down 0.4%.
• First close below day 1's low (Jan 2, 2026): 253.62, two sessions after the inside day.
• Ten sessions later (Jan 14): 239.57, −9.9%, the day after a 7.1% drop, when a downgrade of Adobe spread through software stocks.
• Feb 23, 2026: 178.16, −33.0%, as fears that AI tools would replace software subscriptions hit the whole sector.
• Jun 22, 2026: 150.12, −43.5%, its 14th lower close in a row and a 52-week low. That is 36.3 times the 3.19 risked on each share.
• The high of 269.11 was never broken. On Nov 6, 2026 Salesforce closed at 213.65, 19.7% below the inside day's close.

No 5% gap came in the first 60 sessions. One gap, on Apr 23, 2026, did about an eighth of the fall to June 22.

With $500 at risk, the stop sized a short at 156 shares, about $41,484. A tight stop makes a big position. At the Jun 22, 2026 close the short was up $18,065.

Where an inside day counts: key levels#

An inside day on a level is a pause at that level, from either side. In the terminal, the Only at a key level switch is on by default. For an inside day it keeps the ones at any of these:

Salesforce's was a prior-high inside day: it traded above the Dec 11 high and closed back below it, so it shows with the default switch. Tesla's had no key level under it, at a fresh 60-session low. To see ones like it, turn Only at a key level off.

The place matters all the more because inside days are common. On 132 stocks over the last five years, about one session in nine was an inside day. In the middle of a range they mean little. Tesla was in Stage 4, Stan Weinstein's declining stage, and its inside day marked the end of the decline. Salesforce was in Stage 1, the basing stage, and its inside day marked the top of the base's rally.

How to trade an inside day#

1. Find the place. Look for an inside day at a prior high or a fresh multi-month high after a rally, or at a prior low or a multi-month low after a decline, like Tesla's in April 2025 and Salesforce's in December 2025.
2. Check the range. Day 2's high at or under day 1's high, its low at or over day 1's low. The bodies and colours do not count.
3. Wait for the close out of day 1's range. At a low, buy the first close above day 1's high. At a high, sell the first close below day 1's low. Tesla gave that close the next session, Salesforce two sessions later. Some traders take day 2's own close instead, an entry closer to the stop, as in the table above. The breakout close can come far from the stop: Tesla's came after a 22.7% day, 21.3% above day 1's low.
4. Put the stop on the other side. Under day 1's low when you buy, above day 1's high when you sell. The terminal draws no stop for an inside day, so set it yourself from day 1's high or low.
5. Size from the stop. Shares = money at risk ÷ (entry − stop). With $500 at risk on TSLA: 500 ÷ (221.86 − 214.25) = 65 shares.

Find inside days on any chart in VCP Scanner#

• Open a stock in the terminal, for example TSLA or CRM.
• Open Candles in the chart toolbar and tick Inside day under Neutral.
• Only at a key level is on by default. Turn it off to see every inside day on the chart, and expect many.
• The chart jumps to the latest inside day. A dot marks each one under the pair, and the inspector shows both dates, day 1 → day 2.
• The inspector lists the close, level, volume and stage. When the inside day is the bar's only name it shows no stop, because it points neither way. 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#

• An inside day is a second day whose whole range fits inside the first: the stock paused, and the next close out of that range picks the direction.
• Tesla's marked its April 2025 tariff low and Salesforce's its December 2025 top. They risked 3.4% and 1.2%. Tesla rose 100.5% within 120 sessions, and Salesforce fell 43.5%.
• Day 1's other end is the stop. It defines your risk before you take the trade.

Data: VCPScanner daily market data through Nov 6, 2026, split-adjusted. The examples are for education, not recommendations.