Bearish Abandoned Baby Pattern: The Doji Between Two Gaps at Qualcomm's Record High

On June 18, 2024, the day the first Copilot+ PCs with its Snapdragon X chips went on sale, Qualcomm gapped up to a record high of 230.63 and printed a doji. After the Juneteenth holiday it gapped back down on June 20 and closed 5.1% lower: a bearish abandoned baby. Sold at that close with a stop above the doji's high, the trade risked 7.0%. By November 20, 2024 Qualcomm was down 28.4%.

On December 19, 2017, the day the House passed the tax cut, Altria gapped up into a doji and gapped back down the next day. That trade risked just 2.5%. By May 15, 2018 Altria was down 24.9%, at its lowest close since October 2015, with no gap of 5% or more along the way.

An abandoned baby is a buying day, a stalled day left alone above it, and a gap back down. It is rare. Here is how to read one, where the stop goes, and how to find the next one.

What the fall cost#

A bearish abandoned baby is a sell signal for holders and an entry for short sellers.

The $10,000 and reward rows use the 120-session numbers. Prices are split-adjusted, as on the chart.

The bearish abandoned baby in one table#

A bearish abandoned baby is three daily candles. A long green day, then a doji that opens with a gap and never trades back down to that day's high, then a red day that opens with a gap and never trades back up to the doji's low.

These are the rules the VCP Scanner terminal uses to name a bearish abandoned baby on a daily chart.

Both gaps must stay open all session, however small. Qualcomm's second gap was 10 cents: day 3's high of 225.90 against the doji's low of 226.00. Altria's was 7 cents.

The bearish abandoned baby and its look-alikes#

When day 3 closes below day 1's midpoint, an abandoned baby is also an evening doji star and an evening star, and the terminal lists those names under Also. Qualcomm's was. Altria's day 3 closed at 72.60, above day 1's midpoint, so it is only an abandoned baby. For the bullish mirror, see the bullish abandoned baby.

Example 1: Qualcomm (QCOM) at its record high, Jun 17 to 20, 2024#

Open QCOM in the VCP Scanner terminal →

Qualcomm closed at records on June 17 and 18. The second day, the first Copilot+ laptops with its Snapdragon X chips went on sale, and the stock opened 2.1% higher and closed near where it opened. That doji is the candle in our gravestone doji article. After the Juneteenth holiday, the AI chip rally paused: Nvidia hit a record and then closed down 3.5%, and the Nasdaq's run of seven straight records ended. Qualcomm opened under the doji's low and fell 5.1% on twice its average volume.

What followed:

• Next session (Jun 21): closed at 212.53, down 1.4%, its first close below the pattern's low of 212.84.
• Ten sessions later (Jul 5): 205.75, −4.5%.
• Aug 7, 2024: 156.12, −27.5%, its lowest close since Feb 28, 2024.
• Nov 20, 2024: 154.27, −28.4%, its lowest close since Feb 21, 2024. That is 4.0 times the 15.16 risked on each share.
• The high held 473 sessions, until May 11, 2026. On Nov 6, 2026 Qualcomm closed at 165.41, 23.2% below day 3's close.

Two 5% gaps nearly cancelled out: Jul 31 opened 5.2% higher, and Aug 1, the morning after Qualcomm's fiscal third-quarter report, opened 5.1% lower.

With $500 at risk, the stop sized a short at 32 shares, about $6,895. At the Nov 20, 2024 close the short was up $1,958.

Example 2: Altria (MO) in the tax-cut week, Dec 18 to 20, 2017#

Open MO in the VCP Scanner terminal →

The Marlboro maker had climbed back toward its June 2017 record of 77.79 as Congress moved to cut the corporate tax rate to 21%. On December 19, the day the House passed the bill, Altria opened 1.7% higher, above the prior day's whole range, and closed where it opened. On December 20 it opened back under the doji and closed down 1.8%.

What followed:

• Next session (Dec 21): closed at 71.94, down 0.9%.
• First close below the pattern's low (Dec 28): 71.27, five sessions later.
• Ten sessions later (Jan 5, 2018): 70.40, −3.0%.
• Mar 20, 2018: 61.52, −15.3%, its lowest close since Sep 21, 2017.
• May 15, 2018: 54.52, −24.9%, its lowest close since Oct 1, 2015. That is 10.2 times the 1.78 risked on each share.
• The high held 2,100 sessions, more than eight years, until May 1, 2026. On Nov 6, 2026 Altria closed at 76.12.

The whole fall to May 15 came without a gap of 5% or more.

The 2.5% stop made the position large. With $500 at risk, it sized a short at 280 shares, about $20,328. At the May 15, 2018 close the short was up $5,062.

Where a bearish abandoned baby counts: key levels#

A bearish abandoned baby at a level is sellers turning price back at resistance. In the terminal, the Only at a key level switch is on by default and keeps the patterns at one of these:

Neither example sat on one of these levels: Qualcomm's came at a record high, Altria's at a 60-session high. To see patterns like them, turn Only at a key level off.

Qualcomm was in Stage 2, Stan Weinstein's advancing stage, where the stock trades above a rising 30-week average. A bearish abandoned baby in Stage 2 marks a top forming inside an uptrend: a place to take profits or tighten a stop as much as a place to short. Altria was in Stage 1, a base, and the baby turned it down from the top of its range.

How to trade a bearish abandoned baby#

1. Find the doji alone. After a long green day, look for a doji whose whole range sits above that day's high.
2. Wait for the gap back down. Day 3 must be red and stay below the doji's low all session.
3. Choose your entry. Some traders sell day 3's close. Others wait for a close below the pattern's low. Qualcomm gave that close the next session, Altria five sessions later.
4. Put the stop above the doji's high. The terminal draws it there. The doji is the pattern's high.
5. Size from the stop. Shares = money at risk ÷ (stop − entry). With $500 at risk on Altria: 500 ÷ (74.38 − 72.60) = 280 shares.

A tight stop makes a large position: check the dollar size before you trade it. A short also carries more risk than a long: a stock can gap up past the stop overnight.

Find the bearish abandoned baby on any chart in VCP Scanner#

• Open a stock in the terminal, for example QCOM or MO.
• Open Candles in the chart toolbar and tick Bearish abandoned baby.
• Only at a key level is on by default. Turn it off to see every one on the chart.
• The chart jumps to the latest one and shades its three days. A dot marks it above its high, and the selected one shows its stop on the price scale.
• The inspector lists the close, stop, risk to stop, level, volume and stage, and other names under Also. Walk through the others with the ← and → keys.
• Mark the ones you care about with the drawing tools. The arrows in the charts above are the Arrow Marker (Alt+A): click where the arrow starts, then click the candle.

Candles are free, on daily, weekly and monthly charts.

Bottom line#

• A bearish abandoned baby is a long green day, a doji gapped above it, and a red day gapped back below the doji. It is rare.
• Qualcomm's at its 2024 record and Altria's in the 2017 tax-cut week risked 7.0% and 2.5%. Qualcomm fell 28.4% within 120 sessions, Altria 24.9%.
• The doji's high is the stop. It defines your risk before you take the trade.

Data: VCPScanner daily market data through Nov 6, 2026, split-adjusted. The examples are for education, not recommendations.