Technical & Chart Analysis
Shooting Star
A candle with a small body near the bottom of its range and a long upper wick, appearing after an advance as a potential topping signal.
What Shooting Star means
A shooting star is the bearish mirror of the hammer. The real body sits in the lower part of the period range, the upper shadow is usually at least twice the body length, and the lower shadow is minimal. It must appear after an upward move to earn the name. The structure shows that buyers pushed price substantially higher during the period but could not hold the gain, and the close came back down near the open, leaving the advance unsupported at the highs.
The typical response is to wait for the following candle to close below the shooting star low, then enter short with a stop above the wick high, which represents the level at which the bearish reading fails. The identical shape appearing after a decline is an inverted hammer and is read bullishly, so prior trend is essential to classification. Shooting stars carry more weight when the wick rejects a known resistance level or a prior swing high, and much less weight when they form inside a quiet range.
Worked example
USD/JPY rallies to 152.40, then a four-hour candle opens at 152.35, spikes to 152.95 and closes at 152.28. The long upper wick with a small lower body is a shooting star, invalidated on any close above 152.95.
Related terms
- Candlestick ChartA price chart where each period is drawn as a body spanning open to close plus wicks marking the period high and low.
- Hammer CandlestickA candle with a small body near the top of its range and a long lower wick, appearing after a decline as a potential bottoming signal.
- Pin BarA candle with one long wick and a small body, showing that price probed a level and was firmly rejected within the period.
- ResistanceA price area where selling interest has previously been strong enough to stop or reverse an advance.
Frequently asked questions
What does Shooting Star mean in forex trading?
A candle with a small body near the bottom of its range and a long upper wick, appearing after an advance as a potential topping signal.
How does Shooting Star work in practice?
The typical response is to wait for the following candle to close below the shooting star low, then enter short with a stop above the wick high, which represents the level at which the bearish reading fails. The identical shape appearing after a decline is an inverted hammer and is read bullishly, so prior trend is essential to classification. Shooting stars carry more weight when the wick rejects a known resistance level or a prior swing high, and much less weight when they form inside a quiet range.
What is an example of Shooting Star?
USD/JPY rallies to 152.40, then a four-hour candle opens at 152.35, spikes to 152.95 and closes at 152.28. The long upper wick with a small lower body is a shooting star, invalidated on any close above 152.95.
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