Shooting Star: the inverted hammer shape as a top warning
Identical shape to an inverted hammer, opposite context — a small body low in the range with a long upper wick, appearing after an advance.
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Open the chartWhat it measures
A shooting star has the same shape as an inverted hammer — small body near the bottom of the range, long upper wick, minimal lower wick — but forms after an uptrend rather than a decline.
It measures a failed push to new highs within the bar: price extended up and sellers took almost all of it back before the close.
How it is calculated
These are the steps Basis performs, verified against the published definition.
- 1
Body in the lower portion of the range.
- 2
Upper wick at least roughly double the body.
- 3
Minimal lower wick.
- 4
Occurs after an existing advance, which is what makes it a shooting star rather than an inverted hammer.
How to read it
- The rejected new high is the signal — buyers reached for more and could not hold it.
- Confirmation, a lower close the following bar, separates a real reversal candidate from a one-bar wick that gets absorbed the next session.
Where it misleads
A single shooting star inside a strong uptrend is common and usually resolves as a pause, not a top — the pattern is easy to see in hindsight and unreliable as a standalone trigger.
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Updated 2026-08-27 · Educational reference, not financial advice.