Evening Doji Star Candlestick Pattern: The Three Candles Before Target's 2023 Slide and Zoom's 2022 Fall

On April 12, 2023, after a 12% bounce from its March low, Target completed an evening doji star. Sold at that close with a stop above the pattern's high, the trade risked 4.7%. By October 2 the stock was down 34.8%, at its lowest close since April 2020.

On February 2, 2022, the day before Meta's record one-day loss of market value, Zoom completed one at the top of a 15.9% bounce. The risk was 5.4%. By May 18 the stock was down 42.8%, at its lowest close since January 2020.

Neither stock gapped down 5% or more on the way. Zoom has never traded above its pattern's high since, and Target's held for 226 sessions. Here is how to read an evening doji star, where the stop goes, and how to find the next one.

What the fall cost#

An evening doji star is a sell signal for holders and an entry for short sellers.

Prices are split-adjusted, as on the chart.

The evening doji star in one table#

An evening doji star is three daily candles: a long green day, a doji at or above its close, then a red day that closes below the middle of the green day's body. Buyers ran the first day, the second day ended where it opened, and sellers took back more than half of the first day on the third.

These are the rules the VCP Scanner terminal uses to name an evening doji star on a daily chart.

The doji's colour does not matter. Target's doji closed 13 cents under its open and Zoom's 45 cents above.

The position rule matters most. An evening doji star comes after a rally. The same three days at the bottom of a decline, upside down, are a morning doji star.

Evening doji star and its look-alikes#

Every evening doji star is also an evening star, and the terminal shows it by the stricter name. The abandoned baby is stricter again: its doji gaps above day 1's high, and day 3 gaps back below the doji's low. When the doji sits inside the first day's body instead of above it, the two days are a harami cross, the doji case of the bearish harami.

Example 1: Target (TGT) before its 2023 slide, Apr 12, 2023#

Open TGT in the VCP Scanner terminal →

Day 3 opened 31 cents under its high and closed 32 cents above its low, which also makes it a bearish marubozu. Its close stood 38.6% under Target's Nov 16, 2021 record close of 266.39.

What followed:

• Next session (Apr 13): closed at 163.27, −0.1%.
• Two sessions later (Apr 14): 161.00, the first close below the pattern's low of 163.19.
• Ten sessions later (Apr 26): 155.45, −4.9%.
• Late May: in the ten days after its May 17 quarterly report, a boycott over its Pride merchandise cost Target about $10 billion of market value, by press estimates. It closed at 130.93 on May 31.
• Jun 12: 126.48, −22.6%.
• Aug 16: its one gap of 5% or more went up, an 8.0% higher open after its quarterly report. It closed 3.0% higher.
• Oct 2: 106.69, −34.8%, its lowest close since April 2020. That is 7.3 times the 7.73 risked on each share.
• The high of 171.24 held for 226 sessions, until Mar 6, 2024. On Nov 3, 2026 Target closed at 154.40, 5.6% under the pattern's close.

With $500 at risk, the stop sized the short at 64 shares, about $10,465. At the Oct 2, 2023 close those shares were up $3,636.

Example 2: Zoom (ZM) at the top of a bounce, Feb 2, 2022#

Open ZM in the VCP Scanner terminal →

Zoom closed 73.9% under its Oct 19, 2020 record close of 568.34, in Stage 4, so this top ended a bounce inside a downtrend. Day 3 carried five more names: its red body covered the doji's (a bearish engulfing), its high came within 10 cents of the doji's (a tweezer top), and it closed below the doji's low (a bearish key reversal).

What followed:

• Next session (Feb 3): closed at 137.94, −6.9%, already below the pattern's low of 145.90. That was the day Meta lost more than $200 billion of market value, a record for one day.
• Ten sessions later (Feb 16): 138.51, −6.5%.
• Mar 14: 94.64, −36.1%.
• May 18: 84.69, −42.8%, its lowest close since January 2020. That is 8.0 times the 7.94 risked on each share. No gap of 5% or more helped on the way down.
• The high of 156.05 was never taken out. Zoom's highest price since that day is 152.69, on Feb 10, 2022. On Nov 3, 2026 it closed at 91.84, 38.0% under the pattern's close.

With $500 at risk, the stop sized the short at 62 shares, about $9,183. At the May 18, 2022 close those shares were up $3,932.

Where an evening doji star counts: key levels#

An evening doji star at a level is sellers defending it. In the terminal, the Only at a key level switch is on by default and keeps the ones that close back below one of these:

Neither Target's nor Zoom's came at one of these levels. To see ones like them, turn Only at a key level off.

Target was in Stage 1, a base after its 2022 decline. Zoom was in Stage 4, Stan Weinstein's declining stage, so its pattern ended a bounce inside a downtrend.

How to trade an evening doji star#

1. Pick the place. An evening doji star comes after a rally: at a prior high, under a falling average, or at the top of a bounce in a downtrend, like Zoom's.
2. Check the three days. A long green day, a doji at or above its close, and a red day that closes below the green day's midpoint. Target's doji had a 0.13 body on a 1.86 range. Zoom's had 0.45 on 5.88.
3. Choose your entry. Holders sell or tighten their stop at the third day's close, and some short sellers enter there. Others wait for a close below the pattern's low. Zoom gave that close the next session and Target two sessions later.
4. Put the stop above the high. Above the highest of the three highs: Target's doji at 171.24, Zoom's third day at 156.05.
5. Size from the stop. Shares = money at risk ÷ (stop − entry). With $500 at risk on Zoom: 500 ÷ (156.05 − 148.11) = 62 shares.

Find evening doji stars on any chart in VCP Scanner#

• Open a stock in the terminal, for example TGT or ZM.
• Open Candles in the chart toolbar and tick Evening doji star, or use the Bearish quick pick for every bearish name.
• Only at a key level is on by default. Turn it off to see every evening doji star on the chart.
• The chart jumps to the latest evening doji star. A dot marks each one above its high, and the selected one shows its stop on the price scale.
• The inspector lists the dates, close, stop, risk to stop, level, volume and stage. 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#

• An evening doji star is three days at the end of a rally: a long green day, a doji above it, and a red day that gives back more than half of the green one.
• Target's came before its 2023 slide to the lowest close since 2020, and Zoom's at the top of a bounce in its 2022 decline. They risked 4.7% and 5.4%, and the stocks fell 34.8% and 42.8% within 120 sessions, without a 5% gap down.
• The pattern's high is the stop. It defines your risk before you take the trade.

Data: VCPScanner daily market data through Nov 3, 2026, split-adjusted. The examples are for education, not recommendations.