What it looks like
Three down candles in a row during a fall. Each body is smaller than the one before, and each lower wick (the thin line below the body) is longer than the one before. Price is still making lower closes, but by less each time.
What it means
Sellers are still winning each candle, but by less, and buyers are pushing back off the lows more each time. The fall is losing energy. It is a hint that it is tiring and no more than that, because sellers have not yet lost a single candle.
How to trade it
- 1
Do not buy during the three candles. Mark the pattern's high (top of the first candle) and its low.
- 2
Wait for a candle to close above the pattern's high, then buy.
- 3
Put the stop just below the pattern's low.
- 4
Aim first for one to two times the stop distance, or the last swing high.
- 5
Example: on the gold 1 hour chart a descent block spans 18 points. A candle closes above its high, you buy with a stop about 20 points away and target 20 to 40 points.
A close below the pattern's low.
Where it works best
Near a known floor such as the previous day's low or a round number, after a fall that has already run for a while.
WickSpeak finds the descent block 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
- Buying the third candle because the bodies look small, before any confirming close.
- Ignoring the wicks: shrinking bodies without growing lower wicks is just a quiet market.
- Using a pattern high that is far away, which makes the stop and target too wide to be worth it.
Related patterns
Questions traders ask
What is a descent block?
It is three down candles in a fall where each body shrinks and each lower wick grows. It shows sellers are tiring. It is the falling mirror of the advance block.
Is the descent block a reversal signal?
Only a gentle one. It says the fall is losing energy, not that it has turned. Wait for a close above the pattern's high before buying.
Where does the stop go on a descent block?
Just below the pattern's low. A close below that low proves the pattern wrong.
How is it different from three black crows?
Three black crows are three strong down candles closing near their lows, showing pressure. A descent block's candles shrink and grow lower wicks, showing that pressure fading.