Three candle, bearish reversal

Evening Star

The Evening Star is the bearish mirror of the Morning Star — a three-candle reversal pattern at uptrend tops. Long bullish candle, small indecision candle, then long bearish candle. Among the most reliable bearish reversal signals.

Bearish

Bias

Very strong

Reliability

Uptrend top + horizontal resistance

Best context

4H, Daily, Weekly

Timeframe

What is the Evening Star?

The Evening Star unfolds over three candles at the top of an uptrend:

Candle 1: A long bullish candle continuing the uptrend. Candle 2: A small-bodied candle showing indecision. Candle 3: A long bearish candle that closes well into Candle 1's body.

The pattern shows aggressive buying (Candle 1), pause (Candle 2), then decisive selling (Candle 3). The three-candle structure produces more reliable signals than single-candle reversals.

How to identify a Evening Star

Requirements:

1. Pattern appears at the top of a clear uptrend. 2. Candle 2 has a small body relative to Candles 1 and 3. 3. Candle 3 closes at least 50% into Candle 1's body. The deeper the close, the stronger the signal.

An Evening Doji Star (Candle 2 is a Doji) is the highest-conviction variant. The complete indecision in the middle candle followed by aggressive selling produces a decisive reversal narrative.

How to trade the Evening Star

Standard entry.

Confirmation entry: Enter short at the close of Candle 3. Stop loss above the highest high of the pattern. First target at the previous swing low or 1.5-2x stop distance.

Retest entry: Wait for a pullback to Candle 3's midpoint before entering. Tighter stop just above Candle 2's high.

Evening Stars at horizontal resistance with RSI bearish divergence are among the highest-conviction short setups in price action. Three-candle confirmation dramatically reduces false signals.

More patterns and definitions in the forex glossary, or see them stacked on real charts in the trading blog.

Evening Star FAQ

What is an Evening Doji Star?

A variant of the Evening Star where the middle candle (Candle 2) is a Doji rather than just a small-bodied candle. The complete indecision plus aggressive selling on Candle 3 produces the strongest version of the pattern.

How is Evening Star different from Bearish Engulfing?

Both are bearish reversals. Bearish Engulfing is two candles (bullish then engulfing bearish). Evening Star is three candles (bullish, small, bearish). Evening Star is generally more reliable due to the three-candle confirmation.

Does Candle 3 need to fully engulf Candle 1?

No. Candle 3 only needs to close at least 50% into Candle 1's body. Full engulfing is stronger but not required.

Does Evening Star require gaps?

Traditionally yes, but in forex (no gaps), the small-body Candle 2 above the close of Candle 1 and above the open of Candle 3 is sufficient.

What timeframe works best?

4H, Daily, Weekly. Daily Evening Stars at horizontal resistance produce exceptionally high-quality short setups.

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