Doji and spinning top candles signal indecision between buyers and sellers. A doji has nearly identical open and close prices, while a spinning top has a small body with long wicks on both sides. These patterns are most significant at the end of extended trends where they can foreshadow reversals.
Doji types (standard, long-legged, dragonfly, gravestone), Spinning top anatomy, Indecision interpretation, Confirmation requirements, Volume context
Doji/spinning top after an extended trend, Confirmation candle in the opposite direction, Higher volume on the confirmation candle, Support/resistance confluence
Close below the confirmation candle's low (for bearish reversal), Close above the confirmation candle's high (for bullish reversal), Time-based exit if no follow-through within 3 candles
All timeframes — most reliable on 4H, Daily, Weekly
Never trade a doji in isolation — always wait for confirmation. Count how many candles are in the preceding trend to gauge exhaustion potential.
The morning star is a three-candle bullish reversal: a large bearish candle, a small body candle (the star) that gaps down, and a large bullish candle that closes well into the first candle's body. The evening star is the bearish mirror. These are among the strongest candlestick reversal patterns.
Pin bars are single-candle reversal patterns with a long tail (shadow) on one side and a small body on the opposite side. The tail shows a sharp rejection of a price level. Pin bars are the most widely used price action signal among naked chart traders and work on all markets and timeframes.
The piercing line is a two-candle bullish reversal pattern where a down candle is followed by an up candle that opens below the prior low and closes above the midpoint of the prior body. The dark cloud cover is its bearish counterpart — an up candle followed by a down candle that opens above the prior high and closes below the midpoint. Both patterns signal a potential shift in sentiment when they appear at key support or resistance levels.
The shooting star is a bearish reversal candle with a small body near the low and a long upper shadow (at least 2× the body). It appears at the top of uptrends and signals that buyers pushed price higher but sellers took control. It is the inverted version of the hammer.