What it looks like
Three rising legs, each ending at a new high, separated by two dips. Each drive extends 127 to 162% of the dip before it. The drives tend to look similar in size and spacing, like a rhythmic stair-step up.
What it means
Three pushes to new highs, each less convincing than the last. The buyers who wanted to buy have mostly done so, and the move is running out of fuel. After the third push there is often a sharp drop as late buyers take profit or get stopped.
How to trade it
- 1
Label the three drives and the two dips, and check the 127 to 162% proportions.
- 2
Confirmation: the third drive completes and a candle turns down from the high.
- 3
Entry: sell after the third push.
- 4
Stop: just above the third high. Example on US30: third drive runs from 47,100 to 47,400. Sell at 47,380, stop at 47,430, a 50 point risk.
- 5
Target: the start of the third push, 47,100.
A close above the third high.
Where it works best
On 15 minute to 4 hour charts at the end of a long, steady rise into resistance.
WickSpeak finds three drives tops automatically and labels them on the candles that made them. Each note says what it is, how to trade it and that a close above the third high proves it wrong. In Playbook you can use it as a condition in a play, alone or alongside other patterns and indicators (any of the 146 patterns can be a condition), and backtest it on past candles with your own costs.
Common mistakes
- Selling after only two drives.
- Counting drives that do not meet the extension proportions.
- Fighting a strong trend where a fourth push is common.
Related patterns
Questions traders ask
How do you trade a three drives top?
Wait for the third push to a new high, then sell with a stop just above it. The first target is the start of the third push.
What are the three drives ratios?
Each drive extends 127 to 162% of the pullback just before it.
What proves a three drives top wrong?
A close above the third high. The rise still has buyers behind it.
Is the three drives top a reversal pattern?
It signals an exhausted rise and a likely pullback. Whether that becomes a full reversal depends on what price does after the first target.