---
title: "Pin Bar Candle: Bullish and Bearish - Get Funded Now"
description: "A pin bar is a candle with a long wick and a small body at one end, showing a rejected move. Bullish and bearish pin bars, how to spot them, and limits."
url: "https://getfundednow.com/learn/pin-bar"
language: "en"
last_modified: "2026-09-22"
publisher: "Get Funded Now (getfundednow.com)"
translations:
  es: "https://getfundednow.com/es/learn/pin-bar"
  pt-BR: "https://getfundednow.com/pt-br/learn/pin-bar"
  fr: "https://getfundednow.com/fr/learn/pin-bar"
  it: "https://getfundednow.com/it/learn/pin-bar"
  de: "https://getfundednow.com/de/learn/pin-bar"
disclosure: "All trading at Get Funded Now is simulated. 'Funded' means a simulated or virtual account; GFN is not a broker and does not hold client funds."
---

Candlestick patterns

# The pin bar: a move that was pushed back.

A pin bar is a candle with a long wick on one side and a small body at the other end, showing that price moved sharply in one direction and was pushed back before the close. A bearish pin bar has a long upper wick; a bullish pin bar has a long lower wick. Location decides its meaning.

[All trading lessons](https://getfundednow.com/learn) · [Read the trading rules →](https://getfundednow.com/rules)

## The shape of a pin bar

The defining feature is the wick, or tail: typically at least two-thirds of the candle's full range, with the body in the remaining third at the opposite end. Traditional candlestick analysis has names for similar shapes - the hammer and the shooting star among them - and pin bar is the price-action traders' umbrella term.

**Bullish and bearish pin bars**

| Form | Long wick | Body | Usual reading |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Bearish pin bar | Upper | Near the low | Higher prices were rejected |
| Bullish pin bar | Lower | Near the high | Lower prices were rejected |

## Why location matters

A pin bar in the middle of a range is common and says little. At a well-watched [support or resistance](https://getfundednow.com/learn/support-and-resistance) level, after a sharp move into it, the same candle is read as a sign the level held for that session. In SMC terms the long wick is often a [liquidity](https://getfundednow.com/learn/liquidity-in-trading) sweep beyond the level that then reversed.

## How pin bars are commonly traded

A common approach enters on a break of the pin bar's body end in the direction of the rejection, with a stop beyond the tip of the wick. Because the wick is long, that stop is often far from the entry - the size must come from that distance.

Step by step

## How to identify it

Check the shape, then the place, then the timeframe.

1. Measure the wick: it should be the clear majority of the candle's range.
2. Check the body sits at the opposite end of the candle.
3. Check the location: a level, the edge of a range, or the end of a sharp move.
4. Use the same timeframe consistently; a pin bar on one timeframe may not be one on another.

Worked example

## The concept, walked through

### A bearish pin bar at resistance, described

An illustrative sequence in words, with round numbers standing in for price. It is not taken from any real instrument or date.

1. 1. Level Price has turned down twice near 150 in the past month.
2. 2. Pin bar A session opens at 148.5, spikes to 151, and closes at 148.2 - a long upper wick above the level.
3. 3. Plan A trader using the pattern would consider a short below 148, with a stop above 151.

The candle showed that one push above 150 failed. It did not show that the next push would; the stop above the wick is where the idea would be wrong.

Common mistakes

## Where traders go wrong

### Ignoring where it forms

Most pin bars are noise; the level gives the candle its meaning.

### Placing the stop inside the wick

The wick tip is where the rejection happened. A tighter stop is inside the move the pattern describes.

### Trading against a strong trend on one candle

A single rejection rarely stops a strong trend.

Limitations

## What it cannot tell you

No chart concept predicts price. These are the limits worth keeping in view.

- Candle shapes depend on timeframe and session boundaries, so the same price action can look different on different charts.
- There is no reliable evidence that pin bars predict direction on their own.

In an evaluation

## Using it on a simulated account

On a $100,000 simulated account the daily loss limit is $3,000 on Instant or $5,000 on 1 Step and 2 Step. Pattern stops are often wide, so size from the stop distance first - risking something like $500 a trade - rather than from how clean the pattern looks.

- [What is the daily loss limit?](https://getfundednow.com/rules/daily-loss-limit) - Trading rule - The ceiling on a day's losses - 3% on Instant and 5% on 1 Step and 2 Step.
- [Does slippage excuse a breach?](https://getfundednow.com/rules/slippage-and-spreads) - Trading rule - Wick-tip stops sit where price moves fast.
- [What is maximum drawdown?](https://getfundednow.com/rules/max-drawdown) - Trading rule - The overall floor beneath the account.

Questions

## Asked about this concept

A candle with a long upper wick and a small body near its low, showing that price pushed higher and was rejected before the close. It matters most at resistance.

Closely related. A hammer is a bullish pin bar after a decline in traditional candlestick terms; pin bar is the broader price-action name for the shape.

Keep learning

## Related lessons

- [Chart and candlestick patterns](https://getfundednow.com/learn/doji-candle) - Doji Candle: Meaning and Types - The candle with almost no body - what it shows about the session, the common types, and why a doji on its own says very little.
- [Price action and market structure](https://getfundednow.com/learn/support-and-resistance) - Support and Resistance, Explained - The levels where price has repeatedly stalled or turned - how to draw them as zones, why broken levels flip roles, and what they cannot tell you.
- [Smart money concepts (SMC and ICT)](https://getfundednow.com/learn/liquidity-in-trading) - Liquidity in Trading: Pools and Sweeps - Buy-side and sell-side liquidity, equal highs and lows, and what traders mean when they say price swept a level.
- [Chart and candlestick patterns](https://getfundednow.com/learn/inside-bar) - Inside Bar Candlestick Pattern - A candle that stays entirely within the previous candle's high and low - what the contraction shows, how breaks are traded, and why many fail.

Sources

## What this page relied on

1. [Hammer (candlestick pattern)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hammer_(candlestick_pattern)) - Wikipedia. Retrieved 23 September 2026. The long-wick, small-body candle shape that pin bars describe, and its inverted forms.
2. [Candlestick pattern](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candlestick_pattern) - Wikipedia. Retrieved 22 September 2026. Candlestick construction, the pattern names, and the Japanese origin of the charting method.

Educational content only, not investment advice or a recommendation to trade. Chart concepts describe what price has done; none of them predicts what it will do, and trading any strategy can lose money. Get Funded Now accounts are simulated and trade virtual funds. Last reviewed 22 September 2026.

Ready when you are

## Your capital stays yours. The risk is ours.

One evaluation fee, no time limits and up to 90% of simulated profits. Pick an account size and your credentials arrive by email within minutes.

[Start your challenge →](https://getfundednow.com/challenges) · [Read the rules](https://getfundednow.com/faq)

No subscriptions or hidden fees

Payouts every 14 days

$400,000 max total allocation

---

Source: https://getfundednow.com/learn/pin-bar
Facts about Get Funded Now in one file: https://getfundednow.com/llms.txt