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Two bearish "crows" landing at the top of an uptrend. A gap up followed by weakness signals trouble ahead.
The Two Crows is a three-candle bearish reversal pattern. A long bullish candle is followed by a bearish candle that gaps up (but closes within the first candle's body), then a second bearish candle that opens within Candle 2's body and closes within Candle 1's body.
The 'crows' are the two bearish candles that appear at the top of the uptrend, like dark crows gathering at the peak. Despite the gap up on Candle 2 (initially bullish), the two bearish closes signal that sellers are taking control at the highs.
The Two Crows show sellers gaining ground at the top of an uptrend. Candle 1 is a strong bullish candle — the uptrend looks healthy. Candle 2 gaps up at the open, initially seeming bullish, but then reverses and closes lower, back into Candle 1's body. The gap up was a trap.
Candle 3 opens within Candle 2's body and continues lower, closing further into Candle 1's body. Now there are two consecutive bearish candles after the bullish peak — two 'crows' sitting at the top of the tree.
The failed gap on Candle 2 is the critical warning — what should have been bullish continuation became a reversal. Candle 3's follow-through confirms that the selling is real, not a one-day anomaly.
Conservative: Enter short on a break below Day 3's low.
Aggressive: Enter short at close of Day 3.
Above the high of the second candle (the first crow that gaps up). The gap-up high represents the last gasp of bullish momentum - if exceeded, the pattern fails.
T1: The open of the first (large bullish) candle. T2: Previous swing low or support. The two crows show distribution after a strong advance.
Minimum 1:2. The gap provides a clean stop reference.
The Two Crows pattern gets its name from the Japanese superstition of crows as harbingers of bad news. Two bearish candles at the peak, especially with a failed gap up, signal trouble for the uptrend.
Gap up followed by two bearish candles. The gap fill confirms sellers are overwhelming the bulls.
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