Morning Star Candlestick Pattern: The Three Candles at Apple's COVID Low and SoFi's 2022 Bottom

On March 24, 2020, 35% below its January high, Apple completed a morning star at the COVID low. Bought at that close with a stop under the pattern's low, the trade risked 13.9%. By September 1 the stock was up 117%.

On December 29, 2022, 74% below where it traded a year earlier, SoFi completed one at its 2022 bottom. The risk was 7.6%. By June 14 the stock was up 112%.

Neither stock has traded below its morning star's low since. Here is how to read a morning star, where the stop goes, and how to find the next one.

What $10,000 became#

Prices are split-adjusted, as on the chart.

The morning star in one table#

A morning star is three daily candles: a long red day, a small star at or below its close, then a green day that closes above the middle of the red day's body. Sellers ran the first day, the second day stalled, and buyers took back more than half of the first day on the third.

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

The star's colour does not matter. Apple's star below was red, and SoFi's was a doji, which also makes SoFi's pattern a morning doji star.

The position rule matters most. A morning star comes after a decline. The mirror image at the top of a rally is an evening star.

Morning star and its look-alikes#

The abandoned baby is the rarer, stricter star: its doji gaps below the first day's low, and the third day gaps back above the doji's high. With two days instead of three, and the green body covering the red one, the pattern is a bullish engulfing.

Example 1: Apple (AAPL) at the COVID low, Mar 24, 2020#

Open AAPL in the VCP Scanner terminal →

The star was a hammer too: the same Mar 23 candle leads our hammer candlestick article. The morning star waits a day longer for the green confirmation, so its entry is higher and its risk wider.

What followed:

• Next session (Mar 25): closed at 61.38, −0.6%.
• Two sessions later (Mar 26): 64.61, the first close above the pattern's high of 62.96.
• Ten sessions later (Apr 7): 64.86, +5.1%.
• Jun 10: 88.21, +42.9%.
• Sep 1: 134.18, +117.4%. That is 8.5 times the 8.57 risked on each share.
• The low of 53.15 was never broken. Apple's lowest price since that day is 59.23. On Nov 3, 2026 Apple closed at 331.90, 437.8% above the morning star's close.

With $500 at risk, the stop sized the trade at 58 shares, about $3,580. At the Sep 1, 2020 close those shares were up $4,203.

Example 2: SoFi (SOFI) at its 2022 bottom, Dec 29, 2022#

Open SOFI in the VCP Scanner terminal →

What followed:

• Next session (Dec 30): closed at 4.61, +0.4%.
• Jan 4, 2023: 4.77, the first close above the pattern's high of 4.63.
• Ten sessions later (Jan 13): 5.44, +18.5%.
• Feb 2: 7.72, +68.2%.
• Jun 14: 9.74, +112.2%. That is 14.7 times the 0.35 risked on each share.
• The low of 4.24 was never broken. SoFi's lowest price since that day is 4.43, the star's own high. On Nov 3, 2026 SoFi closed at 16.77, 265.4% above the morning star's close.

With $500 at risk, the stop sized the trade at 1,428 shares, about $6,555. At the Jun 14, 2023 close those shares were up $7,354.

Where a morning star counts: key levels#

A morning star on a level is a test of that level. In the terminal, the Only at a key level switch is on by default and keeps the morning stars that close back above one of these:

Apple's morning star was a prior-low morning star: its star undercut the October 2019 low and the pattern closed back above it, so it shows with the default switch. SoFi's star only matched its Dec 7 low without undercutting it, so it sits on none of these levels. To see morning stars like that one, turn Only at a key level off.

Stage 2 is Stan Weinstein's advancing stage: the stock trades above a rising 30-week average.

How to trade a morning star#

1. Find the low. A morning star comes after a decline. Look for it at a prior low, a rising average or a fresh multi-month low, like Apple's in 2020 and SoFi's in 2022.
2. Check the three days. A long red day, a small star at or below its close, and a green day that closes above the red day's midpoint. Apple's star was 21% of the red body. SoFi's was a doji.
3. Choose your entry. Some traders buy the third day's close. Others wait for a close above the pattern's high. Apple gave that close two sessions later and SoFi three.
4. Put the stop under the low. Under the lowest of the three lows, usually the star's, or under the lowest low of the test if price went lower earlier in it. The terminal calls this "the low, test included".
5. Size from the stop. Shares = money at risk ÷ (entry − stop). With $500 at risk on SoFi: 500 ÷ (4.59 − 4.24) = 1,428 shares.

Find morning stars on any chart in VCP Scanner#

• Open a stock in the terminal, for example AAPL or SOFI.
• Open Candles in the chart toolbar and tick Morning star, or use the Reversals quick pick for every classic reversal candle.
• Only at a key level is on by default. Turn it off to see every morning star on the chart.
• The chart jumps to the latest morning star. A dot marks each one under its low, and the selected one shows its stop on the price scale.
• The inspector lists the 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#

• A morning star is three days at the end of a decline: a long red day, a small star, and a green day that takes back more than half of the red one.
• Apple's marked the COVID low and SoFi's its 2022 bottom. They risked 13.9% and 7.6%, and both stocks more than doubled within six months.
• The pattern's low 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.