Morning Star and Evening Star

What are morning star and evening star patterns?

Morning star and evening star patterns are three-candle reversal formations. A morning star follows a decline with a long down body, a small middle body below it, and an up body that closes back into the first; traders read it as bullish. An evening star follows an advance with the directions reversed and is read as bearish.

Read the three completed candles together. The middle body marks the pause; the third close measures how much of the first body has been recovered.

Star pattern rules: body separation and penetration

The worked morning star has bodies of $3.50, $0.15 and $2.40. The middle body is 4.3% of the first and 6.3% of the third.

Its $48.20–$48.35 body sits below the first $48.90–$52.40 body. The third body begins at $48.80, also above the star body. Shadows overlap on both sides, so these are body gaps rather than gaps between complete candle ranges.

Morning-star penetration = (C3 − C1) / (O1 − C1). Evening-star penetration = (C1 − C3) / (C1 − O1). The example requires a result above 0.5.

Entry levels: third-candle vs full-pattern breakout

The example’s planned $51.45 trigger is above candle 3's high. With an assumed $51.45 entry fill and $47.55 stop reference, entry-to-stop distance is $3.90.

A full-pattern trigger at $52.61 with the same stop would give $5.06. These are two different entry plans. The displayed sequence ends at candle 3, before either later trigger.

The mirrored evening star has third-candle low $49.95 and full-pattern low $48.70. Its planned $49.85 short trigger with $53.75 stop reference also gives a $3.90 distance under the assumed fill.

Morning doji star, evening doji star and abandoned baby

A morning or evening doji star uses an equal or near-equal open and close in the middle candle. An abandoned baby adds a middle doji whose complete range is separated from both neighboring candle ranges. Check the body and wick conditions individually.

How traders use star patterns

Locate the setup at Support or Resistance, and define the preceding trend and the confirmation in the same interval and session as the pattern. When the third candle confirms, Options Flow shows whether traders are paying the ask in the reversal’s direction, and the Options Profit Calculator prices each structure from that close to your target.

Limitations of morning star and evening star patterns

• Trade it only after a trend, with the stop beyond the pattern. The example’s star follows six sessions of decline, and the $47.55 stop just under the $47.60 pattern low is where the bullish read ends if the prior trend resumes.
• Star size, body gaps and the penetration threshold differ between scans, so match all three before you trust another platform’s signal. The example screens for a third close past 50% of the first body.
• Size from the wider stop the late completion creates. The pattern completes only at the third close, after part of the turn has already happened: in the example the third close has already recovered 65.7% of the first body.
• The third-candle and full-pattern triggers risk different amounts, $3.90 and $5.06 a share in the example, so choose the trigger before the pattern completes and size from its distance.
• When the chart includes extended hours, the opens and closes that define the body gaps change, so read the pattern on the session and interval you trade.

Bottom line

Morning and evening stars mark a pause and a strong reversal candle after a trend, measured by how much of the first body the third close recovers. Use them at clear support or resistance, choose the trigger rule before the pattern completes, and size the trade from the stop distance that rule creates.