Shooting Star
A small body near the bottom with a long upper wick at the top of an uptrend — buyers were rejected at the high — a bearish reversal warning.
The Shooting Star has a small body near the session low and a long upper wick — at least twice the body. It occurs at the top of an uptrend. The pattern is the bearish counterpart to the Inverted Hammer.
Buyers pushed price dramatically higher during the session, but sellers appeared in size and drove price back down near the open. That rejection at the high is the warning shot. A bearish confirmation candle the next session solidifies the setup. The smaller the body and the longer the upper wick, the stronger the signal.
Example
A momentum stock hits an all-time high and prints a Shooting Star right at a prior gap-fill level. The next session opens inside the body and closes bearish — traders short with a stop above the Shooting Star's high.
Related Terms
Bearish Engulfing
A large bearish candle that completely wraps the prior bullish candle's body — supply takes control — a reversal warning at the top of an uptrend.
BeginnerBelt Hold
A single long candle with no wick on the opening side — either a bullish open at the low or a bearish open at the high — an early-session dominance signal.
BeginnerDark Cloud Cover
Two-candle bearish reversal: a bullish candle followed by a bearish candle that opens above the prior high and closes below the midpoint of the first body.
BeginnerEvening Star
A three-candle bearish reversal: a long bullish candle, a small indecision candle gapping higher, then a large bearish candle reclaiming the midpoint.
BeginnerHanging Man
A Hammer-shaped candle appearing at the top of an uptrend — the long lower wick hints that selling pressure is creeping in — a bearish warning.
BeginnerInverted Hammer
A small body near the bottom with a long upper wick — buyers attempted to push higher during the session — a tentative bullish reversal signal after a downtrend.
BeginnerPin Bar
A candle with a small body and a long wick on one side — a sharp price-rejection signal widely used in price-action trading.
BeginnerTweezer Top
Two consecutive candles with matching highs at the top of an uptrend — the shared high was rejected twice, hinting at a ceiling.
BeginnerWick
The thin lines above and below a candle's real body, marking the session's high and low extremes beyond the open/close range.
Beginner