Evening Star

Appearance: Tall white (green) body followed by a small body that gaps above the previous body.

Criteria: The small body must gap above the previous white (green) body (not necessarily the shadow). The color of the small body is irrelevant. It must be followed by a black (red) candle the body of which moves well into the level of the first white (green) candle.

Effect: The small candle body means that the bulls have failed to sustain the drive to higher prices, and the up-trend has run out of steam. This is confirmed by a substantial decrease in price the following bar.

Note: In candlestick descriptions, "white (green)" refers to an up-bar, and "black (red)" refers to a down-bar. Individual traders prefer different bar colors. For example, we personally trade with candles set to green for up and red for down. (TradeStation defaults their Candlesticks to this color convention.) Most related textbooks use white (or green, if color is used) for up and black (or red) for down.