Last updated: September 2026
Disclosure: The section on tracking the pattern uses TakeProfit’s own chart tools. The platform’s public docs do not describe automatic candlestick pattern detection or alerts; the workflow shown is manual.
Quick answer: Three White Soldiers and Three Black Crows are mirror‑image three‑candle reversals: Soldiers—three long bullish bodies after a decline; each opens within prior body, closes near highs; confirm by a close above the high. Crows—three long bearish bodies after an advance; candles 2–3 open within prior bodies, close near lows; confirm by a close beyond the extreme.
At a glance
| Attribute | Detail |
|---|---|
| Type | Soldiers: bullish reversal pattern; Crows: bearish reversal pattern |
| Signal direction | Soldiers point up after a downtrend; Crows point down after an uptrend |
| Where it forms (trend context) | Requires a prior decline for Soldiers and a prior advance for Crows |
| Typical duration/timeframe | Three sessions; patterns are used across markets (including forex), but statistics here are from daily U.S. stocks |
| Confirmation | Breakout is a close above the three‑bar high or below the three‑bar low |
| Entry trigger | Common: wait for the breakout close. Bulkowski: for Three Black Crows over a 10‑day horizon, avoid shorting the downward breakout; consider the upward breakout instead (Three Black Crows). |
| Stop placement | No authoritative stop rule; a practice is the opposite extreme of the pattern (illustrative only) |
| Target method | No measured‑move rule in sources; references report descriptive 10‑day metrics only |
| Common failure | Soldiers: countertrend rally that then breaks down. Crows: upside rally after an upward breakout in bear markets. |
Sources for definitions and rules: StockCharts ChartSchool; Bulkowski, Three White Soldiers.
How to identify the Three White Soldiers and Three Black Crows candlestick patterns
These are three‑bar formations that require a prior trend and three consecutive long‑bodied candles with specific open–close relationships.
-
Three White Soldiers (bullish)
1) Three consecutive long white/green bodies; each opens within the prior real body, closes higher, and near its high (short upper wick). Bulkowski adds “tall” bodies and overlapping opens (inside the prior body) (Bulkowski; StockCharts ChartSchool).
2) Appears after a downward price trend (Bulkowski).
3) Disagreements: Investopedia requires each close to exceed the prior high and short shadows (Investopedia); Wikipedia says each opens above the prior open, ideally mid‑range (Wikipedia). -
Three Black Crows (bearish)
4) Three consecutive long black/red bodies; candles 2–3 open within the prior real body; each closes lower and near the low (short lower wick), typically making new lows (Bulkowski; StockCharts ChartSchool).
5) Appears after an upward price trend (Bulkowski).
6) Disagreements: Wikipedia emphasizes opens below the prior open (Wikipedia); Candlescanner notes historically stricter rules (half‑down opens; very short lower shadows) that modern usage relaxes (Candlescanner).
Why the Three White Soldiers and Three Black Crows patterns form
Three White Soldiers are read as three sessions of persistent buying after a decline; closes near highs suggest demand into the close and a shift in market sentiment. Three Black Crows mirror this with persistent selling after an advance and closes near lows (StockCharts ChartSchool; Investopedia). Academic work on candlestick strategies as a class finds no abnormal returns net of costs (Marshall, Young & Rose, 2006).
How traders trade the Three White Soldiers and Three Black Crows candlestick patterns
Bulkowski defines the breakout as a close beyond the three‑bar extreme: above the high or below the low (Three White Soldiers). For Three Black Crows over a 10‑day horizon, he advises against trading downward breakouts and suggests considering upward breakouts instead based on his tests (Three Black Crows).
Stops: no source gives an authoritative stop rule; many traders use the opposite extreme of the pattern as invalidation (practice, not codified).
Targets: no pattern‑specific measured move is published. Traders use nearby support/resistance or fixed R multiples; sources report descriptive 10‑day moves rather than target formulas (Bulkowski).
Position sizing: many risk a fixed fraction of equity per trade (for example, 0.5%–1%). Position size = (risk per trade) ÷ (entry price − stop price). Round to the nearest tradable lot; for forex, convert to pips and account currency before sizing.
Illustration (generic math, not a rule):
– Assume Three White Soldiers printed with highs at 48, 50, and 52. The lowest low across the three candles is 45.00.
– Entry: a confirmation close above 52 occurs; you buy next bar at 52.20.
– Hypothetical stop: just below the pattern low at 44.95 (placed a few cents under 45.00).
– Risk per share = 52.20 − 44.95 = 7.25.
– A 1.5R target equals 52.20 + 1.5 × 7.25 = 63.08 (rounded).
– Notes: The opposite‑extreme stop and R‑multiple target are illustrative conventions, not rules from the cited sources.
What the evidence says about Three White Soldiers and Three Black Crows
Three White Soldiers
– Acts as a bullish reversal 82% of the time by breakout definition (ranked 3/103 for reversal rate). Frequency rank: 67/103. Overall performance rank: 32/103. Sample size: 3,333 occurrences in a large U.S. daily‑stock database (Bulkowski, Three White Soldiers).
– The best average 10‑day move was −7.66% after bear‑market down breakouts, based on 56 samples; Bulkowski cautions that upward follow‑through after upward breakouts “is not so good” (Three White Soldiers). He also notes this pattern can appear as a retrace in a primary downtrend.
Three Black Crows
– Acts as a bearish reversal 78% of the time (by breakout definition). Frequency rank: 60/103. Overall performance rank: 3/103. Sample size: 2,660 occurrences in a database of over 4.7 million daily candle lines (U.S. stocks) (Bulkowski, Three Black Crows).
– The best average 10‑day move, +13.31%, occurred after upside breakouts in bear markets, based on 66 samples; Bulkowski advises avoiding shorts on the immediate downward breakout over 10 days (Three Black Crows).
Caveats
– Bulkowski explains that high reversal percentages partly reflect geometry: after three strong moves, price ends near an extreme, so a small further move to “confirm the pattern” is easier in that direction (Three Black Crows).
– The strongest 10‑day figures rest on thin subsamples. Academic tests of candlestick strategies in general do not find abnormal returns after costs (Marshall, Young & Rose, 2006).
When the Three White Soldiers and Three Black Crows patterns fail
Three White Soldiers overextension
– Condition: countertrend rally inside a primary downtrend.
– Chart tell: three tall white bodies, an upward breakout, then quick stalling and a close beneath the three‑bar low; Bulkowski notes the formation can be a retracement within a larger decline (Three White Soldiers).
Three Black Crows upside squeeze
– Condition: bear‑market context with seller exhaustion/short covering.
– Chart tell: three long‑bodied black candles, then a close back above the pattern high; the strongest 10‑day average move followed such upside breakouts (Three Black Crows).
Range‑bound or low‑volume noise
– Condition: weak participation or chop on the price chart.
– Chart tell: three candles fit geometry without supportive volume/context; general references recommend using other indicators to confirm the pattern and reduce false signals (Investopedia; StockCharts ChartSchool).
Three White Soldiers and Three Black Crows look‑alikes: how to tell them apart
| Pattern | How it differs | Where to read more |
|---|---|---|
| Advance Block | Three white candles with progressively shorter bodies and growing upper wicks in an uptrend/bounce; signals waning momentum, not a downtrend reversal. | Investopedia: Advance Block |
| “Three crows” (generic) | Looser bearish term for three consecutive bearish candlesticks; Wikipedia stresses opens below the prior open. Strict Black Crows require opens inside prior bodies, closes near lows, and a prior uptrend (Wikipedia; Bulkowski). | Wikipedia: Three Black Crows |
| Engulfing | Single‑bar reversal (bullish or bearish) with the second candle engulfing the first, not a three‑bar staircase. | See our guide: Bullish and Bearish Engulfing pattern |
| Morning Star / Evening Star | Three‑bar “star” formations with a gap/doji structure; different rules from Soldiers/Crows. | See our guide: Morning Star and Evening Star |
Note: A “bull flag after a strong run” is a continuation setup treated separately at Bull Flag and Bear Flag.
Three White Soldiers and Three Black Crows in TakeProfit: tracking on a chart
You will mark and monitor levels manually.
- Mark the pattern extremes: draw horizontal levels at the three‑bar high and low; label them so you can confirm the pattern on a closing break.
- Plan confirmation: wait for a candle to close beyond your marked level; annotate the breakout bar for review.
- Manage risk–reward visually: add a line at an illustrative stop (opposite extreme) and another at a candidate target; label each with price and rationale.
- Limitation: TakeProfit’s public docs do not describe automatic candlestick pattern recognition or alerting; you set and track levels by hand. Learn the drawing tools in TakeProfit: Line tools
FAQ
- Is the Three Black Crows pattern a bullish pattern?
-
Three Black Crows is a bearish reversal pattern after an uptrend, though Bulkowski’s tests show stronger average 10‑day moves after upside breakouts in bear markets (Three Black Crows).
-
What does the Three White Soldiers candlestick pattern mean?
-
It is a bullish reversal setup: three long‑bodied bullish candles after a decline, with the opening price of each candlestick inside the prior real body and closes near the highs; many break out upward, but short‑term follow‑through can be modest (Three White Soldiers).
-
What is the 3‑candlestick rule here?
-
Three consecutive long‑bodied candles with opens inside prior bodies, closes near extremes, and a prior opposite trend; see the identification checklist (StockCharts ChartSchool; Bulkowski).
-
How do you identify and trade Three Black Crows?
- Confirm three consecutive bearish candlesticks in an uptrend with candles 2–3 opening inside prior bodies and each closing lower than the previous; Bulkowski suggests avoiding shorting the immediate downward breakout over 10 days and considering the upward breakout instead.
This article is educational content, not investment advice. Learn more about chart annotations in TakeProfit: Line tools