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Candlestick Patterns

Mat Hold

Also called: mat hold pattern

A five-candle bullish pattern: a long up candle, a gap higher, a shallow three-bar pause in the upper half, then a close above the first candle's high.

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Schematic of a mat hold — illustrative geometry, not a live price chart.

A mat hold opens with a long up candle. The next candle gaps above its close, and the three-bar pause that follows stays in the upper half of the first candle's body. A fifth up candle then closes above the first candle's high.

It's a stricter cousin of rising three methods: the gap and the shallow, high hold show buyers defending price instead of letting it slip back. Like any candle pattern it's a clue that needs the broader chart to agree.

How it has actually played out

  • Mat Hold: across 1,209 signals on US stocks in the last 150 days, price was higher a week later 53.0% of the time (+8.4 pts vs. an ordinary session) and higher a month later 52.4% (+10.0 pts).

Measured from the signal-day close, no stops or costs, versus every session of the same stocks over the same window. A base rate, not a prediction.

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On StockSetups

StockSetups checks mat hold before rising three methods, so a five-bar sequence meeting both is labelled mat hold. As a continuation it's flagged only after a prior advance, and lands on Daily Candlesticks or as a confirmation on a chart setup.

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Frequently asked

What is the difference between a mat hold and rising three methods?

A mat hold needs a gap up after the first candle and a pause that holds the upper half of its body, and it finishes above the first candle's high. Rising three methods only needs the pause inside the first candle's range and a close above its close.

Is there a bearish mat hold?

The mirror pattern exists in some references, but StockSetups detects only the bullish mat hold.

Related terms

Rising and Falling Three MethodsGapBull FlagConsolidation

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