Pin Bar Setups
Overview
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.
Key Concepts
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
Entry Signals
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
Exit Signals
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
Best Timeframes
Effective on all timeframes from 15M to Weekly
Pro Tips
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.
More Topics in This Category
Inside Bars
An inside bar is a candle completely contained within the range (high to low) of the previous candle. It represents a contraction of volatility and indecision. Inside bars are used as breakout setups — traders wait for price to break above or below the inside bar's range (or the 'mother bar' range) to enter.
Morning & Evening Star
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.
Harami Patterns
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.
Shooting Star
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.