Pin Bar

A pin bar is a candle or bar with one long wick and a small body at the opposite end. The long wick is the "pin". It shows that price travelled a long way in one direction during the period, then moved back before the period closed.

Traders read the pin as rejection: price tested a level and was pushed back.

What does a pin bar look like?

A pin bar looks like a candle with one wick much longer than its body, a small body at the other end, and little or no wick on the other side. Both bullish and bearish bodies count, and the long wick can point up or down depending on which way price was pushed back.

A candle records four prices for one period: open, high, low and close. MetaTrader 5 can show price as bars or as Japanese candlesticks, which is why the name says "bar" even though many traders mean a candle. The lesson on candlestick anatomy explains the body and wicks. A pin bar is usually described as:

• One wick much longer than the body, often described as at least two or three times its size.
• A small body at the other end of the range.
• Little or no wick on the body's other side.

"Long" and "small" are judged against nearby candles, not a fixed number of pips.

How is a pin bar related to the hammer and shooting star?

The pin bar is the general shape, and the hammer and shooting star are named versions of it with the long wick pointing down or up. The hammer candlestick is a pin bar with a long lower wick, and the shooting star candlestick is one with a long upper wick.

The usual difference is context: those two names are normally tied to the trend before them, while "pin bar" is used without that condition.

Worked example: pin bar on USDZAR

Suppose USDZAR trades in one hour as follows:

The body is 0.0020, the lower wick is 0.0530 and the upper wick is 0.0060. The lower wick is about 26 times the body, so the shape fits the description. The wick describes a 0.0530 move, which on an assumed $1,000 is about R53. Traders who buy on a bullish pin bar commonly place the stop just below its low: a $1,000 buy at the 18.1980 close loses R53 if price falls to 18.1450 and gains R53 if it rises the same 0.0530 to 18.2510.

How do you spot a pin bar in MetaTrader 5?

MetaTrader 5 has no pin bar tool, so you switch the chart to bars or candlesticks and judge each wick and body against recent candles yourself. Press Alt+1 for bars or Alt+2 for candlesticks to switch views, then check the shape once the candle has closed.

The Data Window and Crosshair show exact prices at a point, and the OHLC line shows the last bar's prices.

What do traders often get wrong about pin bars?

The common mistake is counting a pin bar as soon as the long wick appears, before the candle has closed. A candle still forming can change shape until its period ends, so traders judge a pin bar only once it closes. It carries the most weight at a support or resistance level, with the pin pointing through the level.

Sources

• MetaQuotes, MetaTrader 5 Help: View and Configure Charts, accessed 19 October 2026: price charts can be shown as bars or Japanese candlesticks; the Crosshair and Data Window show precise price, time or indicator values. https://www.metatrader5.com/en/terminal/help/charts_analysis/charts
• MetaQuotes, MetaTrader 5 Help: Chart Settings, accessed 19 October 2026: bar chart and candlestick chart types; the OHLC line shows the last bar prices. https://www.metatrader5.com/en/terminal/help/charts_advanced/charts_settings
• MetaQuotes, MetaTrader 5 Help: Hot Keys, accessed 19 October 2026: Alt+1 shows the chart as bars and Alt+2 as candlesticks. https://www.metatrader5.com/en/terminal/help/start_advanced/hotkeys