What it looks like
In a rise, two long up candles with higher closes, then a third candle with a small body that adds only a little above the second. The third candle often opens near the second one's close.
What it means
Buyers had two strong candles, then could hardly push on. That sudden stall shows them hesitating near the top. It is a hint the rise is tiring and no more than that.
How to trade it
- 1
Do not sell on the small third candle. Mark the pattern's low (the bottom of the first candle) and its high.
- 2
Wait for a candle that closes below the pattern's low, then sell.
- 3
Put the stop just above the pattern's high.
- 4
Target one to two times the stop distance, or the nearest swing low.
- 5
Example: on the US30 15 minute chart the pattern spans 70 points. A candle closes below its low, you sell with a stop about 75 points away and target 75 to 150 points.
A close above the pattern's high.
Where it works best
Into a ceiling that already mattered, such as the previous day's high, after an extended rise.
WickSpeak finds the deliberation automatically on any chart and names it on the candles that made it. It writes what it is, how to trade it and what proves it wrong right on the chart. Playbook can use it, or any of the 146 patterns, as a condition alongside up to 12 conditions on any of 12 timeframes, and backtest the play on past candles with your costs.
Common mistakes
- Selling the small third candle without waiting for confirmation.
- Calling every small candle after two big ones a deliberation, even early in a fresh trend.
- Not checking how far the pattern's low is, which sets the size of the trade's risk.
Related patterns
Questions traders ask
Is deliberation bullish or bearish?
The classic deliberation is bearish: it forms at the top of a rise. WickSpeak also names a bullish deliberation, its mirror at the bottom of a fall.
Why is it also called the stalled pattern?
Because the third candle stalls after two strong ones. The rise has not reversed, it has simply stopped making much progress.
How do you trade the deliberation pattern?
Wait for a close below the pattern's low, then sell. The stop goes just above the pattern's high.
What proves deliberation wrong?
A close above the pattern's high. Buyers have pushed through and the stall was only a pause.