Three Inside Up Pattern: The Candles at Uber's and Citigroup's October 2023 Lows

On October 30, 2023, one session after the S&P 500 closed in a correction, Uber completed a three inside up at a prior low. Bought at that close with a stop under its low, the trade risked 6.2%. By February 15, 2024 the stock was up 90.5%.

The next day, October 31, 2023, Citigroup completed one at its lowest price since April 2020. The risk was 3.3%. By April 1, 2024 the stock was up 60.7%.

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

What $10,000 became#

Prices are split-adjusted, as on the chart.

The three inside up in one table#

A three inside up is three daily candles: a long red day, a small day whose body sits inside the red body, then a green day that closes above where the red day opened. The first two days are a bullish harami: the selling stalls. The third day confirms it: buyers take back the whole red day.

These are the rules the VCP Scanner terminal uses to name a three inside up on a daily chart.

Day 2's colour doesn't matter, and a doji there makes the first two days a harami cross. Uber's day 2 closed 2 cents above its open; Citigroup's was a small green day.

The position rule matters most. A three inside up comes after a decline. The same three bars upside down after a rally are a three inside down, and read bearish.

Three inside up and its look-alikes#

The three outside up is the same idea with a stronger second day: day 2's body covers day 1's, a bullish engulfing, instead of sitting inside it, and day 3 closes higher still. The morning star puts its small middle day below day 1's close instead of inside its body.

Example 1: Uber (UBER) at a prior low, Oct 26-30, 2023#

Open UBER in the VCP Scanner terminal →

Uber's day 1 was the Thursday of the sell-off that took the S&P 500 into a correction on Friday, Oct 27. Day 3 closed 59 cents above day 1's open.

What followed:

• Next session (Oct 31): closed at 43.28, +1.3%, already above the pattern's high of 43.00.
• Ten sessions later (Nov 13): 52.24, +22.3%.
• Jan 25, 2024: 66.00, +54.5%. Uber had joined the S&P 500 on Dec 18, 2023.
• Feb 15, 2024: 81.39, +90.5%. That is 14.6 times the 2.64 risked on each share.
• The low of 40.09 was never broken. The lowest Uber has traded since is 42.20. On Nov 3, 2026 it closed at 66.60, 55.9% above the pattern's close.

Its only 5% gap came on Feb 14, 2024, the day Uber announced its first share buyback, and it was about a seventh of the run.

With $500 at risk, the stop sized the trade at 189 shares, about $8,076. At the Feb 15, 2024 close those shares were up $7,307.

Example 2: Citigroup (C) at its lowest since 2020, Oct 27-31, 2023#

Open C in the VCP Scanner terminal →

What followed:

• Next session (Nov 1): closed at 39.60, +0.3%, already above the pattern's high of 39.53.
• Ten sessions later (Nov 14): 44.36, +12.3%.
• Jan 5, 2024: 54.33, +37.6%.
• Apr 1, 2024: 63.46, +60.7%. That is 18.2 times the 1.32 risked on each share.
• The low of 38.17 was never broken. The lowest Citigroup has traded since is 39.28. On Nov 3, 2026 it closed at 122.71, 210.7% above the pattern's close.

There was not one 5% gap in the run: it was steady buying.

With $500 at risk, the stop sized the trade at 378 shares, about $14,927. At the Apr 1, 2024 close those shares were up $9,061.

The same day, two more banks#

Citigroup was not alone. On Oct 31, 2023, JPMorgan and Bank of America completed a three inside up too, and none of the three lows has broken since.

The best closes came on Apr 1, Apr 23 and Mar 28, 2024. The last column is the Nov 3, 2026 close against the pattern's close.

None of the three had a 5% gap within 120 sessions. JPMorgan's also came at a prior low, its Jun 23, 2023 low of 137.62.

Where a three inside up counts: key levels#

A three inside up 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 ones that close back above one of these:

Uber's came at a prior low, so it shows with the switch on, and the inspector reads "at a prior low". Citigroup's came at a fresh low, on none of these levels. To see ones like it, turn Only at a key level off.

Uber was in Stage 2, Stan Weinstein's advancing stage, so its pattern marked the low of a pullback inside an uptrend. Citigroup was in Stage 4, the declining stage, so its pattern marked the end of a downtrend.

How to trade a three inside up#

1. Find the low. A three inside up comes after a decline. Look for it at a prior low, a rising average or a fresh multi-month low, like Uber's and Citigroup's in October 2023.
2. Check the bars. Day 1 is a long red day, day 2 sits inside its body, and day 3 is green and closes above day 1's open. Uber's day 3 closed 59 cents above that open and Citigroup's 16 cents.
3. Choose your entry. Some traders buy day 3's close. Others wait for a close above the pattern's high. Uber and Citigroup both gave that close the next session.
4. Put the stop under the low. Under the lowest of the three lows, or under the lowest low of the test if price went lower earlier in it. The terminal calls this "the low, test included". Uber's risk was 6.2% and Citigroup's 3.3%.
5. Size from the stop. Shares = money at risk ÷ (entry − stop). With $500 at risk on Citigroup: 500 ÷ (39.49 − 38.17) = 378 shares.

Find three inside up patterns on any chart in VCP Scanner#

• Open a stock in the terminal, for example UBER or C.
• Open Candles in the chart toolbar and tick Three inside up, or use the Bullish quick pick for every bullish name.
• Only at a key level is on by default. Turn it off to see every three inside up on the chart.
• The chart jumps to the latest one. A dot marks each one under its middle bar, 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#

• A three inside up is a bullish harami confirmed: a long red day, a small day inside it, then a green day that closes above the red day's open.
• Uber's and Citigroup's marked their October 2023 lows. They risked 6.2% and 3.3%, and the stocks rose 90.5% and 60.7% within 120 sessions.
• 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.