A candle-pattern marker for a three-candle bottom shape — big down candle, small-bodied candle, big up candle — with a vertical line on the third candle.
- Weapon tier
- Standard
- Slots used
- Candle markings 1/3
Concept
The first candle is a big down candle, the second is a small-bodied "star", and the third is a big up candle that climbs back above the middle of the first body. The name compares it to the morning star that rises at the end of the night.
It is commonly read as "selling stalled (the star) and buyers hit back (the third candle)". It matters most at the end of a downtrend. The marker goes on the third candle.
- Morning Star
Charts by TradingView Lightweight Charts™
80 candles with volume. The price slides a long way down from the top, and at the bottom candle 60 (yellow vertical line) gets the morning star marker. The price then moves sideways for a while before rising on growing volume. Keyboard: ←/→ to move, +/− to zoom, 0 to see the whole chart.
The candle with the yellow vertical line and the two before it are the morning star. This scene was picked because the price rose afterwards. Dipping once more to test the bottom after the pattern is also common. Drag the chart sideways with a finger or the mouse to move it, and pinch with two fingers to zoom in. With a keyboard, click the chart, then use ←/→ to move and +/− to zoom.
How it is calculated
Take the average body length of the last 10 candles as the "usual body".
First candle: a down candle with a body bigger than the usual body × 1. Second candle (the star): body smaller than the usual body × 0.6, and it opens no higher than the first close + the usual body × 0.3.
Third candle: an up candle with a body bigger than the usual body × 1, closing above the middle of the first body. The third candle that completes all three gets the marker.
Parameters
| What it sets | Name in the game | Default | Range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Candles used for the "usual body" | lookback | 10 | 5 – 30 |
| How many times the usual body the first and third bodies must exceed | bodyMultiple | 1 | 0.3 – 3 |
| The star body must be smaller than this multiple of the usual body | starBodyMax | 0.6 | 0.1 – 1.5 |
| How far the star may open above the first close (multiple of the usual body) | gapTolerance | 0.3 | -0.5 – 2 |
Trading ideas
A morning star after a long decline is commonly used as a sign that "it is time to check whether a bottom is forming". Check whether volume rose on the third candle and whether the next candles hold its low.
Many traders see a stronger buyer push the further the third candle climbs back into the first body.
Common traps
- A morning star in the middle of a downtrend often turns out to be only a short pause.
- The third candle has already risen a lot, so buying right after it sometimes means buying the high of the next few days.
- The chart on this page was picked because the price rose afterwards. Falling again after the same pattern is common too.
In the game
- “Morning Star” is a “Standard” weapon and uses 1 “Candle markings” slot (limit 3).
- The game draws a faint grey vertical line in the price area on every candle where the event happens, and writes the weapon name only on the most recent line.
- The opposite shape at a top is marked by “Evening Star”.
Related indicators and lessons
- Three White Soldiers — A candle-pattern marker that puts a vertical line on the third of three big up candles closing higher one after another.
- Three Black Crows — A candle-pattern marker that puts a vertical line on the third of three big down candles closing lower one after another.
- Evening Star — A candle-pattern marker for a three-candle top shape — big up candle, small-bodied candle, big down candle — with a vertical line on the third candle.
- Hammer — A candle-pattern marker that puts a vertical line on a single candle in a downtrend with a long lower shadow and almost no upper shadow.
- Inverted Hammer — A candle-pattern marker that puts a vertical line on a single candle in a downtrend with a long upper shadow and almost no lower shadow.
- Hanging Man — A candle-pattern marker that puts a vertical line on a single candle in an uptrend with a long lower shadow and almost no upper shadow.
- Shooting Star — A candle-pattern marker that puts a vertical line on a single candle in an uptrend with a long upper shadow and almost no lower shadow.
- Doji — A weapon that finds and marks candles whose open and close are almost the same, so the body is very thin. It is a candle where buyers and sellers ended up evenly matched.
- Bullish Marubozu — A weapon that finds and marks rising candles with almost no shadows and a body far longer than usual. Buyers pushed all the way through the candle.
- Bearish Marubozu — A weapon that finds and marks falling candles with almost no shadows and a body far longer than usual. Sellers pushed all the way through the candle.
- Bullish Engulfing — A weapon that marks a large rising candle whose body completely wraps the previous falling candle’s body, in a downtrend.
- Bearish Engulfing — A weapon that marks a large falling candle whose body completely wraps the previous rising candle’s body, in an uptrend.
- Piercing Line — A weapon that marks, in a downtrend, a rising candle that opens below a long falling candle and closes above the middle of that candle’s body.
- Dark Cloud Cover — A weapon that marks, in an uptrend, a falling candle that opens above a long rising candle and closes below the middle of that candle’s body.
- Bullish Harami — A weapon that marks, in a downtrend, a small rising candle that fits entirely inside the body of the long falling candle before it.
- Bearish Harami — A weapon that marks, in an uptrend, a small falling candle that fits entirely inside the body of the long rising candle before it.
- 1. Reading a single candle
- 2. Trends and sideways moves