Categories
Forex Basic Strategies

Trading The ‘Three White Soldiers’ Candlestick Pattern (With RSI & EMA)

Introduction

The Three White Soldiers is a bullish candlestick pattern. This pattern is highly reliable and quite potent when it is found at a significant support area in a downtrend, which indicates sharp price reversals from a bear market to a bull market.

  1. Three White Soldiers pattern consists of three consecutive bullish candles; typically, this pattern should be traded when found at the end of a downtrend.
  2. Each candle should open and close higher than the previous candle.
  3. The candles must have small or no wicks. Because that indicates, the buyers managed to close the price of the currency pair at the high of a candle. If the third candle is smaller than the preceding two candles, it indicates that the buyers do not have much strength, and the market can easily print a new lower low.

Candles get printed on every trading chart in all the timeframe. But only the candlestick patterns in the right context of the market will be rewarded. The Three White Soldiers pattern that we are going to discuss is one of the most credible and reliable patterns we have come across. Trading legend Gregory L. Morris, in his book ‘Candlestick Charting Explained,’ said that the Three White Soldiers is extremely rewarding if traded correctly and it should never be ignored.

Trading Strategies

Three White Soldiers + RSI indicator

In this strategy, we have paired the Three White Soldiers pattern with the RSI indicator to identify good trading signals. RSI is a well-known oscillator, and it stands for the Relative Strength Index. The RSI indicator has a reading from 0 to 100. When the indicator line goes above the 70, it indicates the overbought conditions. When the indicator lines go below the 30 levels, it means the market is in an oversold condition.

Step 1 – First of all, find the Three White Soldiers pattern in a downtrend.

Step 2 – When market prints the Three White Soldiers, our next step is to check the RSI indicator. If the RSI indicator is at the oversold area and gives a sharp reversal, it means that both of the trading tools support the buying entry in any underlying currency pair.

In the example below, GBPNZD was in an overall downtrend. At first, market prints the Three White Soldiers pattern, and the RSI was at the oversold area. This condition indicates a potential trend reversal. We can see that the pattern candles are quite strong, and the RSI indicator also supported our strategy. This aspect creates an illusion for novice traders to take the trade immediately. However, it is not a good way to enter the trade. We suggest you always wait for 2-3 candles to confirm the stability of the pattern.

Step 3 – Step Loss & Take Profit

In this example, we have put the stop loss just below the low of the first candle of three green candles. When two leading trading tools indicate the same signal, always use smaller stops so that you can maximize your profits.

For this strategy, there are several ways to book the profit. We can close our position at a significant resistance area or when the RSI indicator reaches the overbought area. If your plan is to ride the longer moves, we suggest you closing your position when the market prints the Three Black Crows patterns. This pattern is the complete opposite of the Three White Soldiers pattern.

The example below belongs to the daily chart. Keep in mind that stronger the support/resistance area on the higher timeframe, more chances the market has to respect that area. In our example, the last time price respects the resistance line, so we decided to close our full position at a resistance area. Overall it was 1500+ pip move on the daily chart. These kinds of higher timeframe trades are suitable only for big investors.

Three White Soldiers + EMA

In this strategy, we have paired the Three White Soldiers pattern with the EMA to filter out the bad trading signals. EMA stands for Exponential Moving Average. The EMA is used to highlight the current trend and to spot the trend reversals. Trading signals can also be generated when the EMAs are read correctly. Generally, when the EMA goes above the price action, it indicates a sell signal, and when it goes below the price action, it indicates a buying signal.

Step 1 – Of course, the first step here is to identify the Three White Soldiers pattern on the charts.

Step 2 – When market prints, the Three White Soldiers, and EMA go below the price action, it indicates the buying signal.

In the below EURAUD weekly Forex chart, when the market prints the Three White Soldiers pattern, EMA was also below the price action. This indicates a potential price reversal of this currency pair. Even when both the pattern and EMA indicates the signal, we decided to wait for 3 to 4 candles to confirm the strength of the pattern. We can see that the market holds there for a couple of candles, which is a clear cut sign to go long on this pair.

Initially, the market goes higher for some candles, but it didn’t reach our major target. Our position goes into the loss a couple of times. Do not panic and lose trust in your strategy because the price didn’t hit the stop loss yet. Trading is a game of patience and only close your position when the market hit the stop loss or take profit. In this case, waiting patiently led to fruitful results as our trade hits the take profit.

Step 3 – Stop Loss & Take Profit

In the above chart, we have placed the stop loss above the exponential moving average because it works as a dynamic support/resistance to price action. We closed our full position when EMA goes above the price action.

Conclusion

Most of the times, Three White Soldiers pattern appears at the end of a downtrend. Sometimes it also prints after a lengthy consolidation phase. Although it is not a strong bullish sign if you want to trade the consolidation phase, always pair this pattern with other technical tools to filter out the negative signals. The volume is the most critical thing to enhance the reliability of the pattern when the market is in a consolidation phase.