[U]Expanding BB :[/U]
3 green soldiers, 3 red rosellas.
[U]Contracting BB :[/U]
Evening star, morning doji star, engulfing long and short, dark cloud cover, piercing pattern.
That just about does it.
It always puzzles me about these people who need cards to identify these patterns.
There are so few of them listed here that you can learn them in a few minutes. 
Hope this helps.
About the three greens and crows , i have read the description on the page you linked as "consecutively higher closes " for soldiers , so what do the candle size and wick size matter ? They dont all have to be bigger than the next i believe , just closeing higher than the last , but how do the other factors effect the pattern ?
Can i assume that any three greens that close higher than the rest are a quality pattern ? I would assume that if the next candle was larger than the previous then the pattern would be stronger , rather than getting smaller as they rise … Maybe i answered my own question there , but thought id ask .
It always puzzles me about these people who need cards to identify these patterns.
There are so few of them listed here that you can learn them in a few minutes.
I don’t think it’s that the patterns are so difficult per se - its that newbs don’t know how literally/precisely to interpret the patterns (definitely a problem I’m having) and the explanations of the patterns usually don’t address which details of the pattern have to be precise and which can be more liberally interpreted.
I have similar questions to Kentsboots about patterns - and on the websites and explanations I’ve seen so far there is usually only one picture of the pattern - making it seem like it has to be [U]exactly[/U] as shown or it doesn’t qualify as a pattern or at least not a quality one.
The questions I always have with any pattern are pretty much the same and rarely answered. This is why I asked earlier, Tymen, if you were going to show examples of trades with the other patterns you use, because maybe you don’t realize it, but you often answer these questions in your explanations.
For example with the 3 green soldiers the following are the questions that come to mind for me. (I’m not expecting answers to these questions, this just shows how in some people’s minds - ME and obviously Kentsboots - its not quite as simple as you might think.)
Maybe I’m (we’re) making it much more difficult than it should be. :o
E.G. re 3 Green Soldiers
[ul]
[li]If the candles overlap, does it matter by how much?
[/li][li]Does candle size matter since the pictures usually show larger candles or are ANY 3 gr candles in a row with consecutively higher closes considered 3 GR S’s?
[/li][li]Do the candles have to be similar in size to each other?
[/li][li]Can there be gaps in the candles?
[/li][li]Do wick sizes matter? If so, how?
[/li][li]What if the wick is unusually long in one direction as in a hammer/hanging man/shooting star - does this then have to be separated out or can it be considered part of a 3 Gr S’s (or 3 R R’s) pattern?
[/li][li]If a hammer/hanging man/shooting star CAN be considered part of a pattern and IS the right colour to be part of a 3 Gr S’s (or 3 R R’s) but on its own would signal a reversal, is the 3 Gr S’s (3 R R’s) pattern still valid or do you leave it alone? (maybe this never happens, but in theory…)
[/li][/ul]
And, I probably have a list equally as long for each pattern - hence the difficulty!
Any and all advice in this regard is most welcome!
I think you have answered your own question.
Any doubts click here :
I believe that you may be overthinking it. Once you get a feel for what a quality pattern is, you WILL recognize them. Just like anything else, it just takes practice. There is no substitute.
One good way to practice pattern identification is to go back on the historical data of your charts and look for them, and see how often they affect direction.
Firstly, you must see if the pattern is actually there - it either is or is not.
Most of these subtleties you describe are irrelevant.
I can assure you that the important fine points that influence the trade are given in the following hyperlink, which I have given many times.
I recommend that you memorize the fine points in the descriptions given in this website.
Japanese Candlestick Charting Explained
Further, I would recommend purchasing a textbook on candlesticks such as any of those by the world authority on candlesticks, Steve Nison.
Thank you for answering this one VulcanClassic!!
You beat me to it.
Good to see you back in these last days of this thread!! 
When it closes (it will be locked by the Admin), all discussion will be transferred to the UMS and UML threads.
Hi Tymen,
I’ll be sorry to see you go for the winter, but I realize you probably have alot of things going on. Looking forward to your new presentation next year.
I haven’t been able to really focus on trading for almost a month now, due to all kinds of things, but mostly work and alot of travel (jobs are expensive). This week should be the end of all that, so I should be going again soon. Still been check babypips though, keeps me in touch.
Heh, Heh.
It will be summer here!!
Christmas in summer is fun!!
Great for outdoors and my favourite, windsurfing.
I believe that is a big thing in Aruba near you too!!
I do really so much need the break. After all, I am doing the sharemarket too - and that is difficult fight now.
Keep posting if you can till the end of this thread.
I will also send you a private email when I go.
[B]Here is now my second Advanced level example trade :[/B]
It is a trade of USD/JPY on a 25 minute chart.
The pattern is a [U]Dark Cloud Cover [/U]- I have not shown one of these yet on this forum, so here we are now.
Lets begin :
[B]Advanced level 2 - Chart 1[/B] >>>
By tymen4 at 2008-11-10
Here we see the main chart with the dark cloud cover highlighted.
The Bollinger bands whilst appearing to be expanding, are actually contracting.
This I know because I have a range of charts 25, 30 35 min…1 hour.
By looking at the longer time frame charts, the BB are clearly turning inwards.
The dark cloud is a shorting pattern, therefore, traded with a contracting BB.
Now firstly, we must set the PCI, and this is set 3 pips plus spread above the highest candle point - 99.53
You cannot see it on the chart - the scale is too large. The last figure on the scale is 99.40
None of the following charts will show it - but believe me, it is there.
[B]Advanced level 2 - Chart 2 [/B] >>>
By tymen4 at 2008-11-10
We now turn to the[U] 5 minute starc band[/U] chart.
As I switched over, the last green candle suddenly shot right up as you can see.
The starc bands at this point are level and the BB are slightly up.
[B]Advanced level 2 - Chart 3[/B] >>>
By tymen4 at 2008-11-10
The first [U]short entry[/U] made near the top of the candle and just below the upper starc band.
You cannot make a mistake here.
All entries are good, even though you could do better.
[U]An entry is only bad if you make a loss on the exit.[/U]
Now I entered this time with only [U]1 amount[/U] thinking that I can improve on the price with the [U]2nd amount.[/U]
However, I discovered again that I am bogged down with the screen printing, saving and filing, so my attempt to enter the 2nd amount did not work.
But you, the reader will not have this problem since you are concentrating only on trading.
So the rest of my trades in this example will be done with the [U]full 2 amounts.[/U]
[B]Advanced level 2 - Chart 4[/B] >>>
By tymen4 at 2008-11-10
Another quick look at our [U]main chart [/U]shows that we have an excellent [U]retrace first [/U]trade.
[B]Advanced level 2 - Chart 5 [/B] >>>
By tymen4 at 2008-11-10
Nothing much to see here except the entry candle and the next developing candle.
The starc bands are going up slightly.
[B]Advanced level 2 - Chart 6 [/B] >>>
By tymen4 at 2008-11-10
I missed a good exit at point A. I am so busy with the screen printing - it is definitely a handicap to good trading.
Still, I need to do it to show you the examples!!
S1 is our first short entry - S is for “sell”.
[B]Advanced level 2 - Chart 7 [/B] >>>
By tymen4 at 2008-11-10
Simply by waiting, another red candle arrives and we exit at the lowest point I can as shown on the chart.
Because we had entered only [U]1 amount[/U], we cannot lose.
If the price goes up - we enter the [U]2nd amount[/U].
If the price goes down - we exit this first amount.
This is a powerful operation in the strategy of this Advanced level.
But I am not really able to do it properly because I am tied down with the screen printing.
As you see, I exited the [U]first amount[/U].
Normally, [U]you would have 2 amounts[/U] of pips now.
But I have only 1 amount since I did not get to do the second entry.
So now we have Entry minus Exit.
That is, 99.43 - 99.27 = 16 pips. That is just for me.
[B]For 2 amounts that is 32 pips so far.[/B]
[B]Advanced level 2 - Chart 8[/B] >>>
By tymen4 at 2008-11-10
Ahhhh :o :o :o
I am violating my own rules (again the screen printing is uppermost in my mind.)
That exit could have been much better.
The rules state that when the starc bands are [U]going down[/U]…
…to exit on the [U]2nd candle[/U] after the first candle that touches or passes thro the lower BB.
[B]Obeying the rules helps!![/B]
[B]Advanced level 2 - Chart 9[/B] >>>
By tymen4 at 2008-11-10
The price action has gone up somewhat and we have done another short entry at 99.25
Will this be the best price we can get?
Considering the steepness of the starc bands going down, and the candles walking the lower starc band, it sure looks like it.
[B]Advanced level 2 - Chart 10 [/B] >>>
By tymen4 at 2008-11-10
The price we entered at was not the best price - it went up quite a few more pips and we had to wait for the price action to fall again.
This it did, and we get a casual exit at 99.18
This time I traded 2 amounts by entering and exiting both amounts.
Now Entry minus Exit
That is 99.25 - 99.18 = 7 pips.
For 2 amounts that is 14 pips.
[B]So far we have 32 + 14 = 46 pips.[/B]
These pips are [U]pure gain[/U], that is, the spread has already been accounted for.
[B]Advanced level 2 - Chart 11 [/B] >>>
By tymen4 at 2008-11-10
We look again at the [U]main chart[/U].
You can see a nice price drop towards the middle Bollinger band.
The Bollinger bands can clearly be seen to be contracting as was explained previously.