A shooting star is a bearish reversal candle with a small body and a long upper wick, forming at the top of an uptrend. The long wick shows buyers pushed price up but sellers overwhelmed them and dragged the close back down - a warning that the advance is running out.
What it looks like
It is the mirror of the hammer: same shape flipped, opposite meaning. The body is small and sits near the low of the bar, the upper wick is long, and there is little or no lower wick. Its bullish counterpart, the inverted hammer, has the same shape at the bottom of a downtrend. As always, the level it forms at decides whether it matters.
Anatomy at a glance
How to trade it
A candle is a trigger, not a system. Take it only where it means something - at a level, with the trend - and give it a clear stop and target:
Where traders go wrong: taking the candle anywhere. In the middle of a range this signal is noise. Wait for it to form at support or resistance or in line with the trend, and size the trade with the position size calculator so a failed signal costs a small, fixed amount.
Prove it before you trade it
This candle is a hypothesis about what happens next, nothing more. Replay real charts, take the pattern only at meaningful levels across a large sample, and read the win rate and risk-reward it delivers on your pairs before you rely on it.
Shooting Star FAQ
What does a shooting star candlestick indicate?
A shooting star indicates rejection at the top of an uptrend. Price rallied to a new high during the bar but sellers pushed it back to close near the open, leaving a long upper wick. It warns the uptrend may be reversing, and is strongest when it forms at a resistance level with confirmation.
Is a shooting star bullish or bearish?
Bearish. It forms at the top of an uptrend and signals sellers are taking control. Its same-shape counterpart at the bottom of a downtrend, the inverted hammer, is bullish - so the shape alone is not enough; the trend context tells you which signal you are looking at.
How do you confirm a shooting star?
Wait for the next candle to close below the shooting star's low, ideally with the pattern sitting at a resistance level or the end of an extended move. Place the stop above the tip of the long upper wick. Without a confirming close, the candle is just a single rejection that price can easily overrun.