Three Black Crows Strategy
Three Black Crows is the bearish counterpart to Three White Soldiers, consisting of three long down candles after an advance. The pattern suggests that sellers have seized control as each close lands near the session low.
Testing indicates an average annual return of about 178%. It performs best in the stocks market.
This strategy initiates a short position once the third crow appears, expecting momentum to continue lower. It can also be used to exit longs that were opened by other systems if the pattern forms at resistance.
Risk is managed with a tight percent stop above the pattern high, and trades exit if price closes back above that level.
Details
- Entry Criteria: pattern match
- Long/Short: Both
- Exit Criteria: stop-loss or opposite signal
- Stops: Yes, percent based
- Default Values:
CandleType= 15 minuteStopLoss= 2%
- Filters:
- Category: Pattern
- Direction: Both
- Indicators: Candlestick
- Stops: Yes
- Complexity: Intermediate
- Timeframe: Intraday
- Seasonality: No
- Neural networks: No
- Divergence: No
- Risk level: Medium
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using Ecng.Common;
using StockSharp.Algo.Indicators;
using StockSharp.Algo.Strategies;
using StockSharp.BusinessEntities;
using StockSharp.Messages;
namespace StockSharp.Samples.Strategies;
/// <summary>
/// Three Black Crows strategy.
/// Enters short when three consecutive bearish candles with falling closes are detected.
/// Enters long when three consecutive bullish candles with rising closes are detected.
/// Uses SMA for exit confirmation.
/// Uses cooldown to control trade frequency.
/// </summary>
public class ThreeBlackCrowsStrategy : Strategy
{
private readonly StrategyParam<int> _maLength;
private readonly StrategyParam<DataType> _candleType;
private readonly StrategyParam<int> _cooldownBars;
private ICandleMessage _candle1;
private ICandleMessage _candle2;
private int _cooldown;
/// <summary>
/// MA period for exit.
/// </summary>
public int MaLength
{
get => _maLength.Value;
set => _maLength.Value = value;
}
/// <summary>
/// Candle type.
/// </summary>
public DataType CandleType
{
get => _candleType.Value;
set => _candleType.Value = value;
}
/// <summary>
/// Cooldown bars.
/// </summary>
public int CooldownBars
{
get => _cooldownBars.Value;
set => _cooldownBars.Value = value;
}
/// <summary>
/// Constructor.
/// </summary>
public ThreeBlackCrowsStrategy()
{
_maLength = Param(nameof(MaLength), 20)
.SetRange(10, 50)
.SetDisplay("MA Length", "Period of SMA for exit", "Indicators");
_candleType = Param(nameof(CandleType), TimeSpan.FromMinutes(1).TimeFrame())
.SetDisplay("Candle Type", "Type of candles to use", "General");
_cooldownBars = Param(nameof(CooldownBars), 500)
.SetRange(1, 1000)
.SetDisplay("Cooldown Bars", "Bars to wait between trades", "General");
}
/// <inheritdoc />
public override IEnumerable<(Security sec, DataType dt)> GetWorkingSecurities()
{
return [(Security, CandleType)];
}
/// <inheritdoc />
protected override void OnReseted()
{
base.OnReseted();
_candle1 = null;
_candle2 = null;
_cooldown = default;
}
/// <inheritdoc />
protected override void OnStarted2(DateTime time)
{
base.OnStarted2(time);
_candle1 = null;
_candle2 = null;
_cooldown = 0;
var sma = new SimpleMovingAverage { Length = MaLength };
var subscription = SubscribeCandles(CandleType);
subscription
.Bind(sma, ProcessCandle)
.Start();
var area = CreateChartArea();
if (area != null)
{
DrawCandles(area, subscription);
DrawIndicator(area, sma);
DrawOwnTrades(area);
}
}
private void ProcessCandle(ICandleMessage candle, decimal smaValue)
{
if (candle.State != CandleStates.Finished)
return;
if (!IsFormedAndOnlineAndAllowTrading())
return;
var prev2 = _candle1;
var prev1 = _candle2;
_candle1 = _candle2;
_candle2 = candle;
if (prev2 == null || prev1 == null)
return;
if (_cooldown > 0)
{
_cooldown--;
return;
}
// Three Black Crows: 3 bearish candles with falling closes
var threeBlack =
prev2.ClosePrice < prev2.OpenPrice &&
prev1.ClosePrice < prev1.OpenPrice &&
candle.ClosePrice < candle.OpenPrice &&
prev1.ClosePrice < prev2.ClosePrice &&
candle.ClosePrice < prev1.ClosePrice;
// Three White Soldiers: 3 bullish candles with rising closes
var threeWhite =
prev2.ClosePrice > prev2.OpenPrice &&
prev1.ClosePrice > prev1.OpenPrice &&
candle.ClosePrice > candle.OpenPrice &&
prev1.ClosePrice > prev2.ClosePrice &&
candle.ClosePrice > prev1.ClosePrice;
if (Position == 0 && threeBlack)
{
SellMarket();
_cooldown = CooldownBars;
}
else if (Position == 0 && threeWhite)
{
BuyMarket();
_cooldown = CooldownBars;
}
else if (Position < 0 && candle.ClosePrice > smaValue)
{
BuyMarket();
_cooldown = CooldownBars;
}
else if (Position > 0 && candle.ClosePrice < smaValue)
{
SellMarket();
_cooldown = CooldownBars;
}
}
}
import clr
clr.AddReference("StockSharp.Messages")
clr.AddReference("StockSharp.Algo")
clr.AddReference("StockSharp.Algo.Indicators")
clr.AddReference("StockSharp.Algo.Strategies")
from System import TimeSpan
from StockSharp.Messages import DataType, CandleStates
from StockSharp.Algo.Indicators import SimpleMovingAverage
from StockSharp.Algo.Strategies import Strategy
class three_black_crows_strategy(Strategy):
"""
Three Black Crows strategy.
Enters short when three consecutive bearish candles with falling closes are detected.
Enters long when three consecutive bullish candles with rising closes are detected.
Uses SMA for exit confirmation.
"""
def __init__(self):
super(three_black_crows_strategy, self).__init__()
self._ma_length = self.Param("MaLength", 20).SetDisplay("MA Length", "Period of SMA for exit", "Indicators")
self._candle_type = self.Param("CandleType", DataType.TimeFrame(TimeSpan.FromMinutes(1))).SetDisplay("Candle Type", "Type of candles to use", "General")
self._cooldown_bars = self.Param("CooldownBars", 500).SetDisplay("Cooldown Bars", "Bars to wait between trades", "General")
self._candle1 = None
self._candle2 = None
self._cooldown = 0
@property
def candle_type(self):
return self._candle_type.Value
def OnReseted(self):
super(three_black_crows_strategy, self).OnReseted()
self._candle1 = None
self._candle2 = None
self._cooldown = 0
def OnStarted2(self, time):
super(three_black_crows_strategy, self).OnStarted2(time)
self._candle1 = None
self._candle2 = None
self._cooldown = 0
sma = SimpleMovingAverage()
sma.Length = self._ma_length.Value
subscription = self.SubscribeCandles(self.candle_type)
subscription.Bind(sma, self._process_candle).Start()
area = self.CreateChartArea()
if area is not None:
self.DrawCandles(area, subscription)
self.DrawIndicator(area, sma)
self.DrawOwnTrades(area)
def _process_candle(self, candle, sma_val):
if candle.State != CandleStates.Finished:
return
prev2 = self._candle1
prev1 = self._candle2
self._candle1 = self._candle2
self._candle2 = candle
if prev2 is None or prev1 is None:
return
if self._cooldown > 0:
self._cooldown -= 1
return
cd = self._cooldown_bars.Value
sv = float(sma_val)
# Three Black Crows: 3 bearish candles with falling closes
three_black = (
prev2.ClosePrice < prev2.OpenPrice and
prev1.ClosePrice < prev1.OpenPrice and
candle.ClosePrice < candle.OpenPrice and
prev1.ClosePrice < prev2.ClosePrice and
candle.ClosePrice < prev1.ClosePrice
)
# Three White Soldiers: 3 bullish candles with rising closes
three_white = (
prev2.ClosePrice > prev2.OpenPrice and
prev1.ClosePrice > prev1.OpenPrice and
candle.ClosePrice > candle.OpenPrice and
prev1.ClosePrice > prev2.ClosePrice and
candle.ClosePrice > prev1.ClosePrice
)
if self.Position == 0 and three_black:
self.SellMarket()
self._cooldown = cd
elif self.Position == 0 and three_white:
self.BuyMarket()
self._cooldown = cd
elif self.Position < 0 and float(candle.ClosePrice) > sv:
self.BuyMarket()
self._cooldown = cd
elif self.Position > 0 and float(candle.ClosePrice) < sv:
self.SellMarket()
self._cooldown = cd
def CreateClone(self):
return three_black_crows_strategy()