Morning and evening star
A three-bar sequence describing impulse, hesitation and opposing close.
What to look for
- Strong first candle
- Small middle body
- Third candle closes materially into the first
The third candle closes more than halfway back through the first bearish body. Because weekday FX often has no textbook gap, use clear body-size and recovery rules instead.
For an evening star, reverse the sequence: a strong rise, a small candle near the high, then a bearish close well back into the first body.When the pattern is confirmed
The third close plus a predefined structural or regime filter.
Where the idea is wrong
Beyond the pattern extreme.
The easy mistake
Gap-based textbook definitions translate poorly to continuous weekday FX.
A complete morning and evening star example
Show the three-candle sequence after a measurable directional move into support or resistance. For weekday FX, define the middle candle by body proportions rather than requiring an equity-style price gap.
First rule to test
Third-close entry — enter no earlier than the close of the third candle when it has closed the required distance into the first body.
Alternative rule
Pattern break — wait for a later trade beyond the full three-candle high or low in the reversal direction.
Place it where the pattern is wrong
Place the example stop one fixed ATR fraction beyond the furthest extreme of the three-candle sequence.
Context, trigger and risk
The pattern handles timing. The other tools decide whether the location makes sense and how far normal price movement can reach.
Provides the location from which the three-candle reversal is being tested.
Defines strong, small and material candle bodies consistently.
Supports a separate momentum-exhaustion test without replacing price confirmation.
First exit to test
Fixed-R comparison — close at one chosen multiple of the initial stop distance.
Alternative exit
Structure target — close at the next opposing swing or range boundary that existed when the pattern completed.
Patterns need a method around them
Open a related strategy to see the wider market filter, entry, stop, exit and no-trade rule.
RSI divergence reversal
Tests whether a mismatch between price and RSI swings adds value after exhaustion.
- ENTRY
- Enter next bar open after price closes beyond the highest high of the five bars ending at the confirmed second low for bullish divergence; mirror below the five-bar low for bearish divergence.
- STOP
- Stop is 0.20 × ATR(14) beyond the second price pivot. Risk 0.50% of equity and round down to 0.01 lot.
- EXIT
- Take profit at 2R. Exit at market after 20 completed H4 bars if neither stop nor target has traded.
Support and resistance rejection
A framework for testing reactions at levels that genuinely predate the trade.
- ENTRY
- Enter at the next H1 open after the first qualifying rejection close back above the prior-day low or below the prior-day high.
- STOP
- Place stop 0.20 × ATR beyond the rejection candle extreme. Risk 0.50% of equity and round down to 0.01 lot.
- EXIT
- Take profit at 2R. Exit after 12 completed H1 bars if neither stop nor target trades.
Trend pullback
Research whether shallow retracements inside an objective trend resume in its direction.
- ENTRY
- After eligibility is true, place a market order at the next H1 open when the signal candle closes beyond the highest high of the previous two pullback bars for a long, or below their lowest low for a short.
- STOP
- Place the stop 0.25 × ATR(14) beyond the pullback extreme. Size so entry-to-stop risk equals 0.50% of demo equity, rounded down to 0.01 lot; never widen the stop.
- EXIT
- Place a fixed target at 2R immediately after entry. If neither stop nor target trades first, exit at market after 24 completed H1 bars.
Try it on older charts
Use body ratios rather than requiring equity-style gaps.