FallingThreeMethods

Five-bar bearish continuation. A long black candle is followed by three small bars that drift up but stay inside its range (a brief rest), then a second long black candle closes below the first, resuming the decline.

Quick reference

Field	Value
Family	Candlestick Patterns
Input type	Candle
Output type	f64 — -1.0 bearish, 0.0 otherwise (never +1.0)
Output range	{-1.0, 0.0}
Default parameters	none — FallingThreeMethods::new()
Warmup period	5 (first four bars always 0.0)
Interpretation	Bearish continuation after an in-range rest

Formula

long body = |close − open| >= 0.5 · (high − low)
bar1 black & long
bar2, bar3, bar4 small bodies, each contained within bar1's high/low range
bar5 black, closing below bar1's close

Bearish-only (never +1.0); the bullish mirror is RisingThreeMethods. See crates/wickra-core/src/indicators/falling_three_methods.rs.

Parameters

None. Constructed with FallingThreeMethods::new().

Signed ±1 encoding

Single-direction shape: −1.0 bearish, 0.0 no pattern — one feature-matrix dimension.

Inputs / Outputs

use wickra::{Indicator, FallingThreeMethods, Candle};
// FallingThreeMethods: Input = Candle, Output = f64
const _: fn(&mut FallingThreeMethods, Candle) -> Option<f64> = <FallingThreeMethods as Indicator>::update;

• Always emits a value. Never None; warmup and no-match bars return 0.0.
• Node. update(open, high, low, close) → number; batch(open, high, low, close) → Array<number>.
• Python. update(candle) → float; batch(open, high, low, close) → 1-D numpy.ndarray (0.0 on warmup / no-match).

Warmup

warmup_period() == 5. The first four bars return 0.0 (first_four_bars_return_zero, accessors_and_metadata).

Edge cases

• Middle bars must stay in range. A resting bar breaking bar1's high/low yields 0.0 (middle_bar_breaks_range_yields_zero).
• Fifth bar must make a new low. A fifth close that does not clear bar1's close downward yields 0.0 (bar5_not_new_low_yields_zero).
• Reset. reset() clears the four-bar cache (reset_clears_state).

Examples

Rust

use wickra::{Candle, Indicator, FallingThreeMethods};

fn main() -> Result<(), Box<dyn std::error::Error>> {
    let mut t = FallingThreeMethods::new();
    println!("{:?}", t.update(Candle::new(15.0, 15.1, 9.9, 10.0, 1.0, 0)?));  // long black
    println!("{:?}", t.update(Candle::new(11.0, 12.1, 10.9, 12.0, 1.0, 1)?)); // small, in range
    println!("{:?}", t.update(Candle::new(11.5, 12.6, 11.4, 12.5, 1.0, 2)?)); // small drift up
    println!("{:?}", t.update(Candle::new(12.0, 13.1, 11.9, 13.0, 1.0, 3)?)); // small drift up
    println!("{:?}", t.update(Candle::new(12.5, 12.6, 8.9, 9.0, 1.0, 4)?));   // long black, new low
    Ok(())
}

Output:

Some(0.0)
Some(0.0)
Some(0.0)
Some(0.0)
Some(-1.0)

Three small bars rest inside the first black candle's range, then bar 5 closes at 9.0 below bar1's close 10.0 — falling three methods. This matches falling_three_methods_is_minus_one.

Python

import numpy as np
import wickra as ta

o = np.array([15.0, 11.0, 11.5, 12.0, 12.5])
h = np.array([15.1, 12.1, 12.6, 13.1, 12.6])
l = np.array([9.9,  10.9, 11.4, 11.9, 8.9])
c = np.array([10.0, 12.0, 12.5, 13.0, 9.0])

print(ta.FallingThreeMethods().batch(o, h, l, c))  # [ 0.  0.  0.  0. -1.]

Node

const ta = require('wickra');
const t = new ta.FallingThreeMethods();
t.update(15, 15.1, 9.9, 10);
t.update(11, 12.1, 10.9, 12);
t.update(11.5, 12.6, 11.4, 12.5);
t.update(12, 13.1, 11.9, 13);
console.log(t.update(12.5, 12.6, 8.9, 9)); // -1

Streaming

use wickra::{Candle, Indicator, FallingThreeMethods};

let mut t = FallingThreeMethods::new();
let candle_stream: Vec<wickra::Candle> = Vec::new(); // your live OHLCV candle feed
for bar in candle_stream {
    if t.update(bar) == Some(-1.0) { /* downtrend resumes after an in-range rest */ }
}

Interpretation

1. Healthy pause in a decline. Three small bars holding inside a strong black candle's range, then a breakdown, is a textbook bearish continuation.
2. Stay short. Read it as a chance to remain with the downtrend rather than to call a bottom.
3. Confirm with the trend. Continuation pattern; use within a downtrend.

Common pitfalls

• Resting bar escapes the range. Any middle bar poking beyond bar1's range disqualifies the setup.
• No breakdown. The fifth candle must close below bar1's close.

References

• Steve Nison, Japanese Candlestick Charting Techniques (1991).

See also

• RisingThreeMethods — the bullish mirror.
• DownsideGapThreeMethods — gap-based bearish continuation.
• Indicators-Overview — the full taxonomy.