Skip to main content
Track Candlestick patterns
51 / 54
Search the archiveLibrary
Library

2017issue C108-14

Confirm a one-white-soldier or one-black-crow before entry

A two-candle soldier or crow is only a reversal sketch. The archive workflow waits for a later candle to clear the signal close, places the stop beyond that candle, and uses a stochastic or RSI reading only to time the exit.

  • A one-white-soldier or one-black-crow remains a sketch until a later candle trades through the signal candle's close.
  • The protective stop sits beyond the signal candle's extreme; a close through that level, or two consecutive extremes beyond it, ends the setup.
  • A stochastic or RSI threshold is an oscillator-exit-filter used after entry, not a reason to invent the trade.
  • The same two-candle forms appear on daily and weekly charts, and a confirmed print still does not guarantee a completed reversal.
Entries in this reading3 entries
Current trackCandlestick patterns100 readingsStochastic oscillator170 readingsRelative Strength Index186 readings

Two-candle soldier and crow forms

A one-white-soldier is a two-candle bullish reversal after a decline. A light candle opens above the prior dark close and closes above the prior dark open, so the body opens inside and finishes outside the prior real body.

A one-black-crow is a two-candle bearish reversal after a rise. A dark candle opens below the prior light close and closes below the prior light open, so the body opens inside and finishes outside the prior real body. Candle lengths should not be short.

In a 2013 to 2016 website sample of confirmed exchange appearances, the two-candle soldier and crow forms occurred far more often than the three-candle soldier and crow forms. The archive reported similar profitability percentages for the two-candle and three-candle versions.

Confirmation and entry

Confirmation and entry occur only when a later candle clears the signal candle's close. That later break is the pattern-confirmation: it is both the validity check and the trade entry. An unconfirmed pattern does not start a trade.

Stop from the signal candle

A stop-loss-from-signal-candle is a protective level placed beyond the extreme of the signal candle. The trade ends if price closes through that level or prints two consecutive extremes beyond it.

Oscillators after entry

After entry, oscillators are used as an oscillator-exit-filter, not as a second entry engine. A stochastic drop below 20 or an RSI drop below 30 can mark a take-profit window. Waiting for the slower RSI threshold can leave more of the move on the table in exchange for extra uncertainty.

Daily and weekly charts

The same two-candle forms appear on both daily and weekly charts. A weekly signal can show a move that is not visible on the daily scale, so the two timeframes can be compared on the same index or ETF.

A confirmed print is not a completed reversal

Not every confirmed appearance is profitable. Several bullish and bearish examples on one airline chart in August and September 2016 mixed winning and losing outcomes. Location on the chart does not guarantee a completed reversal.

Alaska Air daily closes, July to October 2016

Daily closes taken from the Alaska Air candlestick chart show an August grind, a sharp early-September spike that reversed, a slide into the September low, and an October rally. That path is why a confirmed soldier or crow still needs a stop: several of those prints were later stopped out. Prices are approximate closes read off the published daily bars.
Daily closes taken from the Alaska Air candlestick chart show an August grind, a sharp early-September spike that reversed, a slide into the September low, and an October rally. That path is why a confirmed soldier or crow still needs a stop: several of those prints were later stopped out. Prices are approximate closes read off the published daily bars.ALK · daily · 2016-07-07T00:00:00.000Z to 2016-10-21T00:00:00.000Z

The source chart is daily OHLC with a two-dollar price grid. Closes are visual estimates to the nearest tenth of a dollar; not every session is plotted.

Educational research material, not investment advice. Historical source context does not establish present-day performance.
51 of 54 in the Candlestick patterns track
201812-15 pp.Next on Candlestick patternsSession control from marubozu and engulfing geometryConstruction depends on body-versus-shadow geometry and on whether buyers or sellers controlled the full session, not on display color.
All readings on this track · 54 readings
  1. 1990Constructing three-session rally and reaction volume signals
  2. 1991Constructing candlestick real bodies and multi-session patterns
  3. 1991Treat a candlestick reversal as incomplete until %D confirms it
  4. 1991Filtering candlestick signals with stochastic percent-D
  5. 1991Constructing compressed candlestick summaries
  6. 1993Intraday candlestick confirmation with oscillators
  7. 1993Candlestick hypotheses from a 1993 reading list
  8. 1994License candlestick signals with oscillators and weekly vetoes
  9. 1995Real-body support, resistance, and close-through breakouts
  10. 1997Weekly reversal as a three-part hypothesis
  11. 1998Turning fear levels into testable rules with a psychological matrix
  12. 2000Evaluating three-bar reversal reliability
  13. 2000Prior-day candles, open confirmation, and same-session stops
  14. 2000Intraday candlestick volume confirmation for daytrading
  15. 2001Count the key reversal up before coding a mechanical exit
  16. 2001Rising and falling three continuation candle construction
  17. 2002Treat a moving average as a contested fence
  18. 2003Candlestick signals need support and a risk-reward screen
  19. 2003Constructing one-day reversal tops and bottoms
  20. 2003Chart sentiment as a regime filter for hourly stochastic entries
  21. 2004Confirming index reversals with candlesticks, stochastics and averages
  22. 2004The harami inner close as a reversal barometer
  23. 2004Constructing a true-range volume power-shift filter
  24. 2005Weighing reversal clusters against moving-average support
  25. 2005Candlestick exits confirmed by overbought stochastics
  26. 2005Confirming piercing patterns with stochastics and moving averages
  27. 2006Candlestick cluster exits confirmed by overbought stochastics
  28. 2007Three black crows become a trade hypothesis only after regime, trend and nearby levels
  29. 2008Asymmetrical RSI lookbacks for divergence and candle confirmation
  30. 2008A permission checklist for the end of a trend
  31. 2010Mechanical entries still need confirmation gates
  32. 2010Crude oil as a case study in candlestick session reading
  33. 2010Gold weekly candles and the thousand resistance breakout
  34. 2010A three-layer gold chart drill from waves to candle confirmation
  35. 2011Why entry scans fail without trend filters
  36. 2011Price-zone oscillator trend-regime rules
  37. 2011A candlestick checklist before commodity entries
  38. 2013Step candle construction at price turning points
  39. 2013Two-bar step-candle construction
  40. 2014Small-range bars as a timed volume-climax hypothesis
  41. 2014Constructing volume-scaled candlestick charts
  42. 2015Weekly range midpoints as support and resistance
  43. 2015Constructing weekly body-midpoint pattern codes
  44. 2015Evaluating encoded candlestick sequence hypotheses
  45. 2015Constructing a breakout relative-strength index from two-day range candles
  46. 2016A three-gate classroom on hourly sterling
  47. 2016Fibonacci retracement as a pre-commitment stop map
  48. 2017Nine-zone filter for decade-level breakouts
  49. 2017Constructing pin-bar and inside-bar setups
  50. 2017Two-bar soldier and crow rules become a system only after filters and exits
  51. 2017Confirm a one-white-soldier or one-black-crow before entry
  52. 2018Session control from marubozu and engulfing geometry
  53. 2019Volume, acceleration, and candle filters on a completed double bottom
  54. 2019Sector-filtered candlestick scans and predrawn stops
By fieldEntry and exit rules206 readingsBy year2017100 readings
All 100 readings tagged Candlestick patterns
Also on Candlestick patterns5 readings
1993Intraday candlestick confirmation with oscillators1994License candlestick signals with oscillators and weekly vetoes2017Two-bar soldier and crow rules become a system only after filters and exits1991Treat a candlestick reversal as incomplete until %D confirms it1991Filtering candlestick signals with stochastic percent-D