Chapter 22 · Triple Candle Patterns
Triple candle patterns
Stars, soldiers and crows — and why the small middle candle is the one doing the work.
Morning star and evening star
Three candles let you show a transfer: a strong move, a period where neither side won, then a strong move the other way. The middle candle is the pivot, and its size is the part of the definition most often skipped.
| Pattern | The sequence | Conventional reading |
|---|---|---|
| Morning star | Long red, small-bodied candle, long green closing above the midpoint of the red body | Bottom reversal |
| Evening star | Long green, small-bodied candle, long red closing below the midpoint of the green body | Top reversal |
| Morning / evening doji star | As above, with a doji in the middle | The stronger version |
| Abandoned baby | A doji gapped away from both neighbours | Rare, and considered the strongest of the family |
| Three white soldiers | Three long green candles, each opening inside the previous body and closing higher | Sustained buying |
| Three black crows | Three long red candles, each opening inside the previous body and closing lower | Sustained selling |
| Three inside up / down | A harami, then a third candle confirming the new direction | A confirmed harami |
| Three outside up / down | An engulfing, then a third candle confirming it | A confirmed engulfing |
| Rising / falling three methods | A long candle, three small ones against it inside its range, then a long one continuing | Continuation, not reversal |
Worked: is this a morning star?
| Open | Close | Body | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | 540 | 496 | 44, red |
| Day 2 | 492 | 488 | 4, red |
| Day 3 | 495 | 528 | 33, green |
- 1Day 1 has a long red body — 44 rupees. Condition met.
- 2Day 2's body is 4 rupees, or 9% of day 1's body. Comfortably small. Condition met.
- 3Midpoint of day 1's body = (540 + 496) ÷ 2 = 518.
- 4Day 3 closes at 528, above 518. Condition met.
- 5It is a morning star. Had day 3 closed at 512 it would not be — it would be a weaker three-candle bounce with no name.
Why three candles carry more than two
A two-candle reversal asserts that control changed hands. A three-candle reversal shows the handover: the trend candle, the stall where neither side could push, then the candle that resolves it. The middle candle is the evidence that the prior trend ran out of force before the new direction appeared — rather than the new direction simply being one violent day.
Three white soldiers has a failure mode built into it
The pattern is three strong consecutive advances. By the time the third candle closes, the stock has already moved a long way from where the pattern began — and the pattern's own invalidation point is now far below. The signal arrives at the worst possible risk-to-reward. The traditional advice, that soldiers appearing after a long advance are a warning of exhaustion rather than a buy, exists for this reason.
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