Glossary · Candlestick patterns

Three black crows

Three consecutive long bearish candles, each opening within the previous body and closing near its low — a picture of strong selling.

By Sky Trade editorial teamUpdated November 5, 2026

Three black crows mirror the three white soldiers: three long bearish candles in a row, each opening within the previous body and closing near its low. When they appear after a rise or at the top of a range, the pattern is read as sellers taking over decisively.

Details that change the reading:

Candles of similar size with short lower wicks describe steady, orderly selling.
Increasingly long lower wicks suggest buyers are absorbing the decline.
A third candle far larger than the first two can be a capitulation spike rather than the start of a trend.

The pattern means most when it breaks something — support, a trend line, the floor of a range. In the middle of an existing downtrend, three bearish candles are simply continuation and add little new information.

As with all momentum patterns, the trap is acting at the end. Opening a Lower trade right after the third crow means selling at the most stretched point, where sharp short-term rebounds are common. Waiting for a weak bounce that fails is the more patient alternative. See three white soldiers and three black crows and momentum.

Example

GBP/JPY falls on three M15 candles closing at 191.40, 191.05 and 190.70, breaking support at 191.20 on the second. A rebound to 190.95 fails, and price slides to 190.50.

Learn more in the academy

Three white soldiers and three black crows: momentum or exhaustion?
How three white soldiers and three black crows form, what they say about momentum, why the same run can signal exhaustion, and how to judge them in context.

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