A candlestick with a small body and a long wick on one side (at least 2/3 of the total candle length), showing strong rejection of a price level.
What Is a Pin Bar?
A pin bar (short for "Pinocchio bar") is a price action candlestick characterized by a small body at one end and a long wick (shadow) extending from the other. The wick should be at least two-thirds of the total candle length. The small body shows the close was near the open, while the long wick shows the price traveled far in one direction before being rejected.
Bullish and Bearish Pin Bars
A bullish pin bar has a long lower wick and a small body at the top. It is similar to a Hammer and signals rejection of lower prices. A bearish pin bar has a long upper wick and a small body at the bottom, similar to a Shooting Star, signaling rejection of higher prices.
On GBP/USD, a bullish pin bar with the wick poking below a Support level and closing back above it is one of the most popular price action entries. It shows the market tested below support, found no acceptance, and snapped back.
Trading Pin Bars
Enter on a break of the pin bar's body in the rejection direction (above the body for bullish, below for bearish). Stop loss goes beyond the tip of the wick. The wick tip represents the level the market rejected, so price should not return there if the signal is valid.
Pin bars at key Support and Resistance levels are the highest-probability setups. Pin bars in the middle of a range or without a clear level of interest behind them are much less reliable. Combining pin bars with the prevailing Trend direction further improves success rates.
Related Terms
Hammer
A bullish reversal candlestick with a small body at the top and a long lower wick at least twice the body length. It appears at the bottom of a downtrend.
Shooting Star
A bearish reversal candlestick with a small body at the bottom and a long upper wick. It appears at the top of an uptrend, showing that buyers were overwhelmed by sellers.
Inside Bar
A candlestick whose entire range (high to low) fits within the range of the previous candle. It signals consolidation and often precedes a breakout.
Support
A price level where buying interest is strong enough to prevent further decline. The price tends to bounce upward when it reaches support.
Resistance
A price level where selling interest is strong enough to prevent further advance. The price tends to reverse downward when it reaches resistance.
Ready to trade live?
XTB. Our pick for technical analysis. The xStation 5 platform with advanced charting, $0 minimum deposit, FCA and KNF regulated.
71% of retail CFD accounts lose money when trading with this provider.