The Three Crows is a bearish candlestick pattern that reveals the potential reversal of an uptrend. The pattern consists of three consecutive long-bodied candles. Crows and ravens have both been depicted in many myths across history. These black-feathered creatures are said to be an omen of bad news in certain situations, but they might also be a heavenly signal in others. Seeing three crows signifies joy or celebrations coming into your life. The three black crows candlestick pattern is considered a relatively reliable bearish reversal pattern. Consisting of three consecutive bearish candles at the end of a bullish trend, the three black crows signals a shift of control from the bulls to the bears.
What is the Three Black Crows Candlestick Pattern?
The Three Black Crows indicate that each candle closes lower than the preceding candle, describing that the bulls lose the combat, and the bears are now in charge.
The first of the pattern’s three candles is a reversal candle, signaling the occurrence of a downtrend.
The second candle is bigger than the first candle and closes near its low.
The last candle is equal or bigger than the second candle. It has no or a little lower wick.
Here’s what the Three Black Crows Candlestick Pattern looks like on a chart:
The Three Black Crows can open with a gap, but the second and third candles open within the body of the previous candles. Additionally, when there is no or a small lower wick, this confirms the bears’ winning.
The pattern surfaces at the end of the bullish trend. It can also appear after the consolidation period.
The counterpart of the Three Black Crows is the Three White Soldiers Candlestick Pattern. It emerges in a downtrend and signals a possible trend reversal from the bearish to bullish.
It must be kept in mind that the Three Black crows show up rarely on the charts. You can spot these candlestick patterns on long and short term timeframes. They can appear on forex currency pairs, stocks, indices, cryptocurrencies, commodities, metals, energies, gold, silver and more.
How to use the Three Black Crows Candlestick Pattern?
The pattern can give signals for going long or short. For example, traders can go long before the appearance of the Three Black Crows, and short after its formation.
However, to trade the pattern, one should look for its development. If any of the candles have a stretchy wick, this is just a momentarily shift and not a trend reversal.
Besides this, if the third candle is smaller than the others, this is not a reliable Three Black Crows Candlestick Pattern.
There exists a time when the pattern becomes more aggressive. When the candles are unusually large, this signifies that the bears have over-dominated and push the price into the oversold area.
Traders can verify the oversold condition by applying technical indicators like the RSI or Moving Averages. Also, traders use these indicators to confirm a breakdown rather than using the Three Black Crows individually.
One of the popular ways to trade the Three Black Crows is to look for the volume which can be done with the volumes indicator. If the volume is low before the establishment of the pattern, and the Three Black Crows appear with the high volume, it suggests a strong trend reversal.
Three Black Crows Candlestick Pattern trading strategy
Steve Nison, in the book Japanese Candlestick Charting Techniques, mentioned that the Three Black Crows is useful for long-term traders.
The Three Black Crows usually indicates a weakness in an established uptrend and the potential emergence of a down trend. When this pattern appears in an uptrend, it indicates the potential weakening of the trend and a possible trend reversal. However, if the three candlesticks are over extended and make significant price declines, you may need to be wary of oversold conditions.
It may not be wise to rely solely on the pattern; instead, it should be used in conjunction with other technical indicators for more complete trading strategies.
Three Black Crows Candlestick Pattern buy strategy
- Locate the pattern in an uptrend.
- Wait for the price bar to go bullish before entering.
- Place a stop-loss near the recent low before the Three Black Crows.
- Exit the trade when the pattern appears.
Three Black Crows Candlestick Pattern sell strategy
- Navigate the pattern in an uptrend.
- Wait for the price bar to go bearish before entering.
- Place a stop-loss near the recent high form the Three Black Crows.
- Exit the trade when the price level rises.
Three Black Crows Candlestick Pattern conclusion
The Three Black Crows Candlestick Pattern can be used on your trading platform charts to help filter potential trading signals as part of an overall trading strategy. Three Black Crows Candlestick Pattern can show market movements such as a trend reversal.
As the three crows pattern makes the prices to fall, traders should be cautioned of the oversold conditions that may lead to consolidation before a further move down of the prices. Traders should also look at other chart patterns or technical indicators for confirming the reversal than just using the three black crows pattern exclusively.
If you are looking to trade forex online, you will need an account with a forex broker. If you are looking for some inspiration, please feel free to browse my best forex brokers. I have spent many years testing and reviewing forex brokers. IC Markets are my top choice as I find they have tight spreads, low commission fees, quick execution speeds and excellent customer support.
Self-confessed Forex Geek spending my days researching and testing everything forex related. I have many years of experience in the forex industry having reviewed thousands of forex robots, brokers, strategies, courses and more. I share my knowledge with you for free to help you learn more about the crazy world of forex trading! Read more about me.
