Single candle, rejection pattern

Pin Bar

The Pin Bar is a single-candle rejection pattern characterized by a small body and a long wick (the "tail" or "nose"). The wick direction determines bias: long lower wick = bullish; long upper wick = bearish. The most-traded single-candle pattern in price action.

Direction follows wick (long lower = bullish, long upper = bearish)

Bias

Strong (at structure)

Reliability

At horizontal support or resistance

Best context

4H, Daily, Weekly

Timeframe

What is the Pin Bar?

The Pin Bar ("pinocchio bar") is a rejection candle defined by a small body and a long wick that pierces a key level — support, resistance, an EMA — but closes back on the other side. The 'nose' of the pin (the long wick) tells you where price tried to go and was rejected.

Pin Bars are functionally identical to Hammers (bullish, at support) and Shooting Stars (bearish, at resistance) — but the Pin Bar terminology is used more broadly in price action trading, covering both directions and various trend contexts.

How to identify a Pin Bar

Three requirements:

1. The wick (the long tail) is at least 2x the body length. 2. The body sits at the opposite end of the candle from the wick. 3. The wick pierces a meaningful level (horizontal support / resistance, EMA, Fib level) and the close returns to the other side.

Bullish Pin Bar: long lower wick, body near the top. Bearish Pin Bar: long upper wick, body near the bottom. The shorter the body relative to the wick, the stronger the signal.

How to trade the Pin Bar

Standard rules across both directions.

Bullish Pin Bar entry: Enter long on a close above the Pin Bar's high (or aggressive: at 50% retracement of the wick). Stop below the Pin Bar's low. Target at the previous swing high or 1.5-2x stop distance.

Bearish Pin Bar entry: Inverse — close below the Pin Bar's low, stop above the high.

Pin Bars at major horizontal levels with confluence (200 EMA, key Fibonacci retracement, obvious round number) are among the highest-conviction price-action setups available. Pin Bars in the middle of a range without a level to anchor against are noise — skip them.

More patterns and definitions in the forex glossary, or see them stacked on real charts in the trading blog.

Pin Bar FAQ

Is a Pin Bar the same as a Hammer or Shooting Star?

Mechanically yes — Hammer is a bullish Pin Bar at the bottom of a downtrend; Shooting Star is a bearish Pin Bar at the top of an uptrend. Pin Bar is the broader price-action term covering both directions and various contexts (not only at trend reversals).

How long should the wick be?

At least 2x the body length. Some traders require 3x for a higher-conviction signal. The longer the wick relative to the body, the more pronounced the rejection.

Does the Pin Bar need to close in a specific direction?

Not strictly. A bullish-bodied bullish Pin Bar (close above open with long lower wick) is marginally stronger than a bearish-bodied one. The wick length and the level it pierces matter more than body color.

What timeframe is best for Pin Bars?

4H, Daily, and Weekly. Pin Bars on the 4H Daily produce the highest-conviction signals; 1m / 5m Pin Bars are mostly noise.

Why are Pin Bars so popular in price action?

They distill the core idea of price action — the rejection of a level — into a single clearly-visible candle. They form at obvious places (support, resistance, EMAs) and produce clean trades with defined risk. Most price-action systems treat the Pin Bar as a foundational setup.

Mentorship · Free for life

Want my daily institutional setups?

Verified trade ideas posted live every NY session. Entry, stop, target on every idea. Free for life when you sign up with a trusted broker.

See the mentorship

Mentorship is free for life when you sign up with a trusted broker through my referral link. Read the broker partnership disclosure