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.
Long tail representing rejection (>66% of the total range), Small body near the opposite end, Tail should 'stick out' from surrounding price action, Bullish pin bars have long lower tails; bearish have long upper tails
Pin bar with tail poking through and rejecting a key level, Pin bar at a moving average bounce, Pin bar coinciding with Fibonacci retracement, Pin bar at a round number or weekly high/low
Enter on break of pin bar's nose (opposite end from the tail), Stop beyond the tail tip (or 50% of the tail for aggressive entry), Target 2× the pin bar's range minimum
Effective on all timeframes from 15M to Weekly
The best pin bars 'stick out' from the surrounding candles — the tail protrudes beyond recent price action, showing a genuine failed test of a level.
The abandoned baby is a rare three-candle reversal pattern considered one of the most reliable candlestick signals. It forms when a doji gaps away from the preceding candle and the following candle gaps in the opposite direction, leaving the doji isolated with gaps on both sides. The pattern indicates a dramatic shift in market sentiment where momentum completely reverses between sessions.
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.
A harami (Japanese for 'pregnant') is a two-candle pattern where a small candle is completely contained within the prior candle's body. A bullish harami appears in downtrends; a bearish harami in uptrends. Haramis signal fading momentum but require confirmation before trading.
A bullish engulfing pattern occurs when a large green candle completely engulfs the prior red candle near the bottom of a trend. A bearish engulfing is the opposite — a large red candle swallows the prior green candle at the top. Engulfing patterns are among the most reliable two-candle reversal signals.