What is the dark cloud cover pattern?
The dark cloud cover is a bearish candlestick pattern. A green candle, then a red one opening above it and closing back below its midpoint.
How to spot a dark cloud cover
- 1Find a long green candle after an advance.
- 2The next candle opens above the green candle's high.
- 3It closes red, below the midpoint of the green body but not below its open.
How does the dark cloud cover form?
A long green bar, then a bar that opens above its high and closes back below the midpoint of that green body.
How do you confirm a dark cloud cover?
The bar has to open above the prior high. Opening inside the previous range is an ordinary red bar, whatever it closes at.
When does the dark cloud cover fail?
A gap up that fills is common at the open of a session; without real supply behind it the pattern completes on the chart and nothing follows.
No chart pattern works every time. The examples on this page were chosen because they show the pattern clearly, and in real markets patterns fail often.
Practice on real charts
3 real examples of the dark cloud cover, cut off where the pattern completed. Make your call, then see what happened.
The shaded area is a dark cloud cover. Where did price go next?
Dark Cloud Cover: common questions
Is the dark cloud cover bullish or bearish?
The dark cloud cover is bearish. The gap up that fails is what makes this different from an ordinary red day.
How do you spot a dark cloud cover?
Find a long green candle after an advance. The next candle opens above the green candle's high. It closes red, below the midpoint of the green body but not below its open.
What is the difference between the dark cloud cover and the piercing line?
The dark cloud cover: A green candle, then a red one opening above it and closing back below its midpoint. The piercing line: A red candle, then a green one opening below it and closing back above its midpoint.
How reliable is the dark cloud cover?
No chart pattern works every time. A gap up that fills is common at the open of a session; without real supply behind it the pattern completes on the chart and nothing follows. That is why it helps to wait for confirmation and to practice on many real examples before relying on it.
How can I practice spotting the dark cloud cover?
Use the real charts on this page: each one stops where the dark cloud cover completed, so you can make a call and then see what happened. The free Chartle app mixes the dark cloud cover in with 48 other patterns in short daily sessions.
Keep learning
- Chart pattern gameGuess where price goes next on real charts, all 49 patterns mixed.
- All 49 chart patternsEvery bullish and bearish pattern, with a printable cheat sheet.
- How to read candlestick chartsBodies, wicks and colors explained from the start.
- Cheat sheet PDFAll patterns on two printable pages.
