Concept
Three Drives
Three Drives, also known as three-push pattern, are Elliott & Harmonics concepts. The Library holds 2 implementations, each one a working definition you can pull into Quant.
Top Three Drives indicators
2 total
What is the Three Drives pattern?
The Three Drives is a harmonic exhaustion pattern: three successive, symmetrical pushes to new extremes, each separated by a corrective pullback of similar depth. In the common reading each pullback retraces about 0.618 of the prior drive, and each new drive completes at a 1.27 or 1.618 extension of that pullback, so the second and third drives finish at measurable projections. Symmetry is the defining requirement: the drives should be comparable in price length and, ideally, in the time each one takes.
Three-pushes structures appear in older technical literature, and harmonic-pattern authors later formalized the ratios. Completion of the third drive is treated as a candidate terminal point for the entire move: a location to watch for reversal, not a reversal in itself. A clear fourth push beyond the projection means the pattern failed, not that it is late.
How traders use it
- To fade the third push: traders project the 1.27 to 1.618 extension of the second pullback, wait for the third drive to tag it, ideally with slowing momentum or divergence, and position for reversal with stops beyond the projection.
- To time exits: a trader riding the trend can treat the completed third drive as a signal to take profit, on the logic that the move's symmetry is fully expressed.
- As context for other setups: a reversal candle or sweep carries more weight printed at a third-drive completion than in the middle of a leg.
Three Drives vs related patterns
ABCD: An ABCD is a single two-leg symmetry; Three Drives chains three extensions with two corrections, and detectors sometimes resolve it as overlapping extended ABCDs.
Wolfe Waves: Wolfe Waves also count a swing sequence into a terminal fifth point, but completion is defined by trendline geometry and the pattern projects its own price objective; Three Drives is defined by Fibonacci symmetry.
Related concepts · Harmonic patterns
Concept family
Elliott & Harmonics
33 concepts mapped · 17 in the Library
Three Drives FAQ
How is the Three Drives pattern different from an Elliott five-wave count?
They can describe the same price action, since a five-wave impulse contains three pushes in the trend direction. The test differs: Three Drives requires harmonic symmetry, roughly 0.618 pullbacks and 1.27 to 1.618 extensions, while Elliott applies wave rules and tolerates unequal waves. Analysts use whichever framework's conditions the chart actually satisfies.
Does the Three Drives pattern signal a reversal?
It marks a location where a reversal becomes plausible: a third symmetric drive into a harmonic extension is read as exhaustion. It does not guarantee one. Common practice requires confirmation at the completion, such as a rejection candle, divergence, or a structure break, and abandons the idea once price extends into a clear fourth push.
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