Trading term

What is Shooting star candlestick?

A shooting star is a candle with a small body at the bottom of its range and an upper wick at least twice the body's length. Forming after a rally, it shows buyers pushed price up and sellers drove it all the way back.

It is the hammer turned upside down and moved to the other end of a trend. Price opens, rallies substantially, and then gives the entire advance back to close near the open — leaving a long upper shadow, a small real body at the low end, and almost no lower shadow. The classical requirement is an upper wick of at least twice the body.

What it describes is a failed attempt. Buyers had control for part of the period and could not hold any of it, which after an extended rally suggests the demand that drove the trend is thinning. The high of that wick becomes a meaningful level: it is the price at which buying visibly failed.

The same shape appearing after a decline rather than a rally is an inverted hammer and is read bullishly instead. As always with single candles, position in the trend assigns the meaning, and confirmation from the following candle is standard before acting.

A rally that couldn't hold any of it
IN CONTEXTA rally, then one candle gives the whole advance straight back.ZOOMED INthe failed highlong upper wicksmall body at the bottomshooting starThe mirror of the hammer — and it only counts AFTER a rally.

Price spiked to $101.80 and closed at $96.00, leaving a long upper wick and a small body at the bottom. That wick's high is where buying visibly failed.

For example

After a strong run a stock opens at $96.60, spikes to $101.80 during the session, then sells off to close at $96.00 — a $0.60 body under a $5.20 upper wick. The following candle closes lower, confirming the signal, and the rally rolls over.

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Why it matters to you

A shooting star gives you a precise ceiling — the wick's high — where buying was demonstrably rejected. That is both an early warning that a rally is running out of participants and a clean invalidation level: if price later closes above that high, the failure has been overcome and the bearish read is simply wrong.

⚠ One failed push doesn't end a trend

Strong uptrends produce plenty of shooting stars on the way up, and shorting each one is a reliable way to fight a trend and lose. The pattern earns attention when it forms at a resistance level or after an extended, stretched advance — and it should be confirmed by the next candle closing lower before it's treated as a reversal.

Frequently asked questions

What is a shooting star candlestick?

It's a candle with a small body at the bottom of its range and an upper wick at least twice the body's length, forming after a rally. It shows that an advance within the period was completely reversed before the close.

Is a shooting star bullish or bearish?

Bearish, when it forms after an advance — it signals failed buying. The identical shape after a decline is called an inverted hammer and is read as bullish instead, which is why identifying the preceding trend comes first.

What's the difference between a shooting star and a gravestone doji?

Both have long upper wicks and signal failed buying at a top. A gravestone doji is the extreme version where the open and close are effectively identical, leaving no real body. A shooting star has a small but visible body.

How do you trade a shooting star?

Most traders wait for the next candle to close below the shooting star's body, then place a stop just above the wick's high. That high is the price at which the failed-buying interpretation stops being true, which makes it a natural and tight invalidation point.

Related terms

Anchored VWAPAnchored VWAP is a volume-weighted average price that starts from one candle you choose, rather than resetting at the start of each session. You anchor it to a meaningful event — an earnings gap, a major low, a breakout — and it tracks the average price everyone has paid since.Ascending triangleAn ascending triangle is a bullish continuation pattern: a flat horizontal resistance line on top, with a rising trendline of higher lows beneath it. As the higher lows squeeze price against the ceiling, pressure builds — and it usually resolves with a breakout up through the resistance.ATR (Average True Range)ATR (Average True Range) measures how much a security typically moves in a period — its volatility — as an average of recent trading ranges. It doesn't say which direction price is heading, only how far it tends to travel, which makes it a core tool for stop-losses and position size.Bearish engulfingA bearish engulfing is a two-candle reversal pattern in which an up candle is followed by a down candle whose body completely covers it. The second candle opens above the previous close and closes below the previous open.
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