Three Drives Pattern
The Three Drives is a structure pattern consisting of three equal-sized impulse legs separated by 0.618 retracements. It signals exhaustion at D after the market has made three progressively extended pushes.
Structure
Points: X → A (drive 1), A → B (retrace 1), B → C (drive 2), C → D (retrace 2 / entry).
| Direction | X | A | B | C | D |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bullish | High | Low | High | Low | Low → Buy |
| Bearish | Low | High | Low | High | High → Sell |
Rules
| Check | Measurement | Target | Tolerance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Retrace 1 | |AB| / |XA| | 0.618 | ±0.08 |
| Drive 2 equality | |BC| / |XA| | 1.0 | ±10% |
| Retrace 2 | |CD| / |BC| | 0.618 | ±0.08 |
All three checks must pass. Drive equality confirms the three impulses are proportionally equal; the two retracements confirm the fractal rhythm.
Confidence
confidence = 1 − (ret1Error + ret2Error + driveEqualityError) / 3
Clamped to [0, 1].
SL/TP
- SL: beyond X, ±0.1% buffer
- TP1: D ± 0.382 × drive1Size
- TP2: D ± 0.618 × drive1Size
- TP3: A price
(± direction-dependent; drive1Size = |XA|)
Levels are scalable via per-pattern TradingConfig multipliers. See TP Level Calculation.
Related
- ABCD Pattern — the 4-point precursor concept
- Swing Point Detection
- Markets — Pattern Detection Overview