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Morning Star

A morning star is a three-candle reversal pattern. It shows selling pressure, a pause, and then a stronger buyer response.

At A Glance

Name: Morning Star
Category: Bullish Candle Patterns
Type: Bullish Reversal
Number of candles: 3 candles
Typical context: After a down move, selloff, or test into support.

How To Identify It

Body: First candle is a strong red body, second is small, third is a strong green body.
Wicks: The middle candle may have wicks, but its small body is the main pause clue.
Relationship: The third candle closes above the midpoint of the first red candle body.

Look for a long red candle, a small middle body below it, and a long green candle that closes above the midpoint of the first red body. In the classic daily pattern, the middle body gaps below the first body and the third candle opens higher than the middle body. Intraday charts may show a similar reversal sequence without those gaps; distinguish that sequence from the classic pattern.

Context

Morning star behavior is most useful when it appears after a clear move lower.

Morning stars matter most after a selloff, pullback, or test into support. The pattern is less useful when it forms inside a tight sideways mess with no clear prior move.

What It Shows

The first candle shows sellers pressing. The middle candle shows that selling slowed. The third candle shows buyers stepping in strongly enough to take back part of the drop.

What To Watch Next

Watch whether price can hold the third candle body and build away from the middle candle low. That low becomes the area the reversal attempt should protect.

The read weakens if price falls back below the middle candle or loses the third candle body. That means the buyer response did not hold.

Common Confusion

Do not confuse the small middle candle alone with the pattern. The three-candle sequence is the pattern.

Key Takeaway

A morning star shows a shift from selling pressure to buyer response across three candles, especially when it forms after weakness.