Three White Soldiers and Three Black Crows

Not every three-candle pattern is a reversal. These two describe relentless pressure — the same side winning three periods in a row with no meaningful pullback in between. They mark the start of trends far more often than the end of them.

• Definition: three consecutive bullish candles of similar, healthy size, each opening inside the previous candle's body and closing near its own high with small upper wicks.
• Psychology: every dip inside each candle was bought. Buyers never let price retrace far enough to give sellers an entry.
• Where it forms: coming out of a base or consolidation, after a morning star, or on the first leg of a new trend after a breakout.
• What usually happens next: continuation, then a pullback into the body of the third candle. Buying the third close is the common mistake; buying the retest of it is the trade.

• Definition: three consecutive bearish candles of similar size, each opening inside the previous body and closing near its own low with small lower wicks.
• Psychology: every bounce was sold. Sellers stayed in control across three full periods.
• Where it forms: at the top of a distribution range, after an evening star, or on a break of a key support level.
• What usually happens next: continuation lower, though the move is often stretched by the third candle — expect a retracement into the third body before the next leg.

• These are continuation patterns, so confirmation is a fourth candle in the same direction, or a shallow pullback that holds inside the third candle's body.
• Rejected: a fourth candle that engulfs the third in the opposite direction — three periods of pressure just got absorbed, which is a genuine exhaustion warning.
• Weak version: each candle has long wicks and shrinking bodies. That is a trend losing power, not a trend building.
• Never enter at the close of the third candle without a plan for a 30-50% retracement first; the risk from that entry is at its widest.