Hi MBA
Having refreshed my memory regarding these patterns, it would seem to me that they should all be considered as 'failed' once price moves below the pattern (in bullish signals) and the above in the case of bearish signals as you can see from the list below.
Bullish Engulfing pattern - below the low of the two candle pattern
Three Outside Up pattern - below the low of the three candle pattern
Bullish Harami pattern - below the low of the two candle pattern
Three Inside Up pattern - below the low of the three candle pattern
Piercing Line pattern - below the low of the two candle pattern
Three White Soldiers pattern - below the low of the three candle pattern
Morning Doji Star - below the low of the two candle pattern
As for the stop loss/profit expectation I mentioned yesterday, I realise that in some of these cases putting the stop loss (say 20 points) below the low of a pattern will still result in a 150 point stop loss - and possibly more. Therefore I think you would do well to consider the time frame/stop loss/profit target conundrum see if you can reconcile the three and find the best time frame in your chosen instrument to give you a comfortable risk. Once you have done this you can then look for a respectable profit margin. One possible way, for example, would be to change the code so the profit expectation was three times the stop loss.
Also in you post you said that some of the candles don't show up at all - can you give some examples on this? Was it random in that (say) an engufing pattern showed up once but then missed the next two occurances. Or did the programme just not 'see' the three white soldiers at all when, in fact, there was two clear examples.
Depending upon the circumstances could it be that the code did actually seen the pattern but then that pattern superceeded by the next bar as in the case of a bullish Harami. This two bar pattern is not only a pattern in itself, but it is also the first two bars of the three bar 'Three Inside'. Just something for you to consider.
I look forward to reading you comments on this as I feel this is potentially a really good EA.
Regards
-Llamedos