Three Line Strike: Explained in 60 Seconds
A three-line strike is a four-candle formation in which one large candle fully engulfs the range of the three candles that precede it.
What the pattern is
Three consecutive candles close higher than the one before them. The fourth candle then opens above the third close and closes below the first open, swallowing every candle in the sequence. The result is a single, dominant candle that erases the prior three-session advance.
What forms it
The first three bars must print successively higher closes; no exceptions. The fourth bar must trade through the entire three-bar range in one session, finishing on the opposite side of the initial open. Volume on this fourth bar is required to confirm participation.
What confirms it
Confirmation rests on the three rules above: the three higher closes, the strike candle that fully covers them, and the volume spike that accompanies the strike. Without any one of these elements the pattern is considered incomplete.
How it fails
Traders commonly mistake the strike candle itself for a reversal signal and attempt to short into it. Because the strike is the loudest bar on the chart, it draws attention, yet the formation gives no information about what price will do next; it only marks where prior momentum has been absorbed.
