Three black crows
Also called: Three black crows, Three crows, Three red crows, Üç kara karga
Three long-bodied bearish candles in a row, each closing lower than the last; it shows sellers taking control decisively.
4 min read · one puzzle on the page
What are three black crows?
Three black crows are three bearish candles in a row. Old Japanese charts drew falling candles in black, and the pattern was likened to three crows perched on a branch. On most screens today these candles are red.
Each body is long, each candle closes lower than the one before, and the closes sit near the lows. In the classic definition each candle opens inside the previous body or near its close. Price steps down without a break.
The story is sellers staying in charge for three candles. A single big red candle can be a one-off sell-off. Three closes near the low mean every bounce attempt by buyers came to nothing. The pattern means most at the top of a rally or after a long sideways stretch.
How do you spot three black crows on a chart?
Picture these three candles at the top of a rally on a 4-hour chart. The first opens at 1.2750 and closes at 1.2712. The second opens at 1.2716, inside the first body, and closes at 1.2675. The third opens at 1.2679 and closes at 1.2638. Each body is 38 to 41 pips, with lower wicks of a few pips. That's close to the textbook pattern.
Watch the closes. In a solid sequence each candle closes near its low. If the crows leave long lower wicks, buyers took some price back on every candle and the selling is less decisive. If the bodies keep shrinking, sellers may be tiring too.
Then look at the location. If the crows close through the bottom of a range or below the last higher low of the uptrend, the structure may have changed. Three red candles that break no level are just a sharp pullback.
The logical stop sits above the first crow's high. The idea is that sellers took control with these three candles; if price climbs back to the first candle's high, that idea is invalid. In the example above, selling the third close puts the stop above 1.2750, and 1R comes to about 110 pips.
Try it on a chart
This chart doesn't show the three crows themselves; it shows the scene after that kind of selling: the downtrend structure is intact, price corrected up and turned back from a supply zone. Check whether the correction got above the previous high, where the turn came from and which structure your stop would rest on.
The downtrend structure holds; price corrected higher and turned back from the supply zone. What do you do?
No sign-up needed. Take a guess; when the chart opens, you'll see why.
The most common three black crows mistake
Selling the close of the third crow. When the pattern completes, price is at its farthest point from where the idea breaks. The full height of three big candles becomes your stop distance. With the same risk you either open a tiny position or move the stop somewhere meaningless.
That's why many traders read the crows as direction, not an entry. They note that sellers are in front, then wait for a correction up. If it stalls under the broken support or at the supply zone where the crows started, the stop rests on a much closer structure. If no correction comes, the trade is missed; that's an acceptable cost.
The second mistake is selling the bottom. Three red candles at the end of a long decline can be the sellers' last panic. If price has been falling for weeks, the crows may be part of an ending, not a beginning. Don't read meaning into the pattern before you see where it formed.
When do three black crows fail?
With strong support right below. If the crows end above a level, the selling is heading into a floor. Until the level breaks on a close, the structure hasn't changed, and a sharp bounce from there wouldn't be a surprise.
Around news. Three big red candles after a data release feed on the headline, not the structure. Much of the move can be taken back in the next session.
On a small chart against a rising big picture. With the daily trend still up, three crows on the 15-minute are usually just a pullback, and they can turn into a better price for buyers. Read the higher timeframe's structure first, then where the crows sit inside it.
Frequently asked questions
Are three black crows a sell signal?
They show sellers are strong, but they aren't a trade signal on their own. At the top of a rally, or breaking the bottom of a range, they can point to a change in structure. At the end of a long decline or right above support, they can mean the selling is running out. Where they appear and how the following correction behaves decide what they mean.
What's the difference between three black crows and three white soldiers?
They're the two directions of the same pattern. Three white soldiers are three long bullish candles in a row, each closing higher, and mean most at the bottom of a decline. Three black crows are three long bearish candles, each closing lower, and mean most at the top of a rally. The read and the stop logic are the same; only the direction flips.
Where do you put the stop on three black crows?
The idea breaks at the first candle's high, so the stop goes a little above it. Because the three candles are big, that distance is long. Pulling the stop to the middle of the second candle means getting knocked out by an ordinary correction. It's healthier to cut the position size or wait for price to correct up and build a closer structure.
