What is the morning star pattern?
The morning star is a bullish candlestick pattern. Three candles: a long red, a small indecisive body gapping lower, then a strong green pushing back into the first.
How to spot a morning star
- 1Find a long red candle at the end of a decline.
- 2The middle candle has a small body and sits below or at the bottom of it.
- 3A green third candle closes well up into the first red body.
How does the morning star form?
Three bars: a long red one, then a small-bodied bar that gaps or stalls below it, then a strong green bar closing well back into the first bar's range.
How do you confirm a morning star?
How deep the third bar closes into the first is the measure. Past the midpoint is a different statement from a token bounce.
When does the morning star fail?
It fails when the third bar is small. The middle bar's indecision never gets resolved, and the sequence becomes a pause rather than a turn.
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 morning star, cut off where the pattern completed. Make your call, then see what happened.
The shaded area is a morning star. Where did price go next?
Morning Star: common questions
Is the morning star bullish or bearish?
The morning star is bullish. The middle candle is the pause; the third is the answer.
How do you spot a morning star?
Find a long red candle at the end of a decline. The middle candle has a small body and sits below or at the bottom of it. A green third candle closes well up into the first red body.
What is the difference between the morning star and the evening star?
The morning star: Three candles: a long red, a small indecisive body gapping lower, then a strong green pushing back into the first. The evening star: Three candles: a long green, a small body stalling above it, then a red candle pushing back down into the first.
How reliable is the morning star?
No chart pattern works every time. It fails when the third bar is small. The middle bar's indecision never gets resolved, and the sequence becomes a pause rather than a turn. 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 morning star?
Use the real charts on this page: each one stops where the morning star completed, so you can make a call and then see what happened. The free Chartle app mixes the morning star 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.
