The short answer

Three black crows is three consecutive long down candles, each opening inside the previous body and closing near its own low. After an advance it shows supply arriving session after session rather than in a single drop.

A three black crows forming after an advance, drawn from the pattern's real open, high, low and close proportions First Second Third

Drawn to the real proportions the formation rules describe. Lead-in candles are dimmed; the pattern itself is bracketed.

  • Traditional bias Bearish
  • Type Reversal
  • Built from Three candles
  • Context After an advance

How to spot it

  • Three consecutive candles that close below their open.
  • Each body is long relative to recent candles.
  • Each opens within the previous candle's real body.
  • Each closes at or near its own low, so lower wicks stay short.
  • It follows an advance or forms at the top of a range.

What it actually means

The mirror of three white soldiers. Every session opens inside the previous range, so the decline is being sold rather than gapped away, and every session closes on its low, so there is no late recovery. Three of those consecutively is distribution with staying power.

What confirms it

Largely self-confirming by the third close. Volume rising across the three sessions and the decline breaking a level that previously supported price both add weight.

What invalidates it

A close back above the open of the first crow, which unwinds the whole sequence.

Where people get it wrong

After a decline has already run a long way, the same three candles more often mark capitulation than the start of something new, so the sequence can appear at the end of a move rather than the beginning of one. Long lower wicks also undercut the pattern: they mean buyers kept stepping in, which is the opposite of what the closes-on-the-low requirement is testing for.

Common questions

Is the three black crows bullish or bearish?
The traditional reading is bearish. The mirror of three white soldiers. It carries that reading only after an advance.
What confirms a three black crows?
Largely self-confirming by the third close. Volume rising across the three sessions and the decline breaking a level that previously supported price both add weight.
When does the three black crows stop working?
A close back above the open of the first crow, which unwinds the whole sequence. Beyond that, after a decline has already run a long way, the same three candles more often mark capitulation than the start of something new, so the sequence can appear at the end of a move rather than the beginning of one.

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Formation rules follow Japanese Candlestick Charting Techniques by Steve Nison. Reviewed 2026-09-14.