Shooting Star Candlestick

A shooting star is a candlestick with a small body near the bottom of its range and a long upper wick, shown after price has been rising. Traders read it as sellers rejecting higher prices. It is the upper-wick form of the pin bar, named for where it appears.

What does a shooting star look like?

A shooting star has a small body near the candle's low, an upper wick much longer than the body, little or no lower wick, and a run of higher prices before it. The body can be bullish or bearish. The full description is below.

A candlestick records four prices for one period: open, high, low and close. MetaTrader 5 shows these as a sequence of Japanese candlesticks, and the lesson on candlestick anatomy explains each part. The usual description of a shooting star is:

• A small body near the low of the candle.
• An upper wick much longer than the body, often described as at least twice its size.
• Little or no lower wick.
• A run of higher prices just before it.

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

What does a shooting star tell traders?

A shooting star describes one period in which price pushed higher, then fell back and closed near where it started. Traders read that as buying pressure fading after a rise, and confirm it when the next candle closes below the shooting star's body.

How is a shooting star different from an inverted hammer?

A shooting star and an inverted hammer share one shape, a small body at the low and a long upper wick, and differ only in context. By convention, a shooting star appears after a rise, and an inverted hammer appears after a fall, the same context rule that separates a hanging man from a hammer.

The hammer candlestick entry covers the related lower-wick shape. The pin bar is a broader name for a candle with one long wick.

Worked example: shooting star on USDZAR

Suppose USDZAR rises over several one-hour candles, closing near 18.1500, 18.1800 and 18.2000. The next hour is:

The body is 0.0050, the upper wick is 0.0550 and the lower wick is 0.0020. The upper wick is eleven times the body, so the shape fits the description. On an assumed $1,000, a 0.0550 move is R55. A $1,000 sell at the 18.2000 close with the stop just above the high at 18.2600 loses R60 if the stop is hit and gains R60 if price falls the same 0.0600 to 18.1400.

How do you spot a shooting star in MetaTrader 5?

MetaTrader 5 has no shooting star label, so you switch the chart to candlesticks and judge the wick, body and recent candles yourself. Press Alt+2 for candlesticks, then open the Data Window (Ctrl+D) to see bar parameters for the candle under the cursor.

The OHLC line shows the last bar's open, high, low and close. Candle colours are a chart setting.

What do traders often get wrong about shooting stars?

The common mistake is counting a shooting star as soon as the long wick appears, before the candle has closed. A candle still forming can change shape until its period ends. Traders judge it on the closed candle and wait for the next candle to close below the body.

Sources

• MetaQuotes, MetaTrader 5 Help: View and Configure Charts, accessed 19 October 2026: charts can be shown as Japanese candlesticks; the Data Window shows bar parameters at the cursor. https://www.metatrader5.com/en/terminal/help/charts_analysis/charts
• MetaQuotes, MetaTrader 5 Help: Chart Settings, accessed 19 October 2026: the OHLC line shows bar open, high, low and close; bull and bear candle colours are user settings. https://www.metatrader5.com/en/terminal/help/charts_advanced/charts_settings
• MetaQuotes, MetaTrader 5 Help: Hot Keys, accessed 19 October 2026: Alt+2 shows the chart as candlesticks; Ctrl+D opens the Data Window. https://www.metatrader5.com/en/terminal/help/start_advanced/hotkeys