Evening Star

The Evening Star is a bearish three-candlestick reversal pattern that signals the potential end of an uptrend. It is the bearish counterpart to the Morning Star pattern and consists of three candles forming in sequence. The first candle is a large bullish (green/white) candle that continues the existing uptrend, showing strong buying conviction. The second candle is a small-bodied candle (which can be bullish, bearish, or a doji) that gaps above the first candle's close, indicating that while buyers initially pushed higher, their momentum has stalled — the small body reflects indecision. The third candle is a large bearish (red/black) candle that gaps down from the second candle and closes well into the body of the first candle (ideally past the midpoint), confirming that sellers have taken control. The Evening Star tells a clear psychological story: enthusiasm (first candle), uncertainty (second candle), and capitulation (third candle). The pattern is more reliable when the second candle is a doji (called an Evening Doji Star), when the third candle's body is larger than the first, when volume increases on the third candle, and when the pattern occurs at significant resistance levels or after extended uptrends. The gap between the first and second candles is ideal but not always present in all markets (particularly forex, which trades nearly 24 hours). Confirmation typically involves waiting for follow-through selling the next day.