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Technical Analysis
Written by Nathalie Okde
Fact checked by Rania Gule
Updated 5 November 2025
Table of Contents
The Shooting Star is a bearish reversal candlestick pattern that signals potential trend exhaustion. It features a small body near the session’s low and a long upper shadow, showing that early buyers lost control as sellers took over.
This shift indicates weakening bullish momentum and possible downside ahead. Though simple and visually clear, the pattern works best when confirmed by other technical indicators or chart signals.
This guide explains how to identify the Shooting Star pattern and understand the market mechanics behind its formation.
Key Takeaways
The shooting star candlestick is a bearish reversal pattern and a significant indicator in technical analysis.
This pattern occurs when the market sentiment shifts from bullish to bearish, signaling a potential price decline.
The shooting star candlestick pattern consists of a small body near the session's low, a long upper shadow, and little to no lower shadow.
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The shooting star candlestick pattern is a bearish reversal pattern and is a significant indicator in technical analysis.
A bearish reversal pattern is a type of pattern in technical analysis that signals a potential shift from a bull market to a bear market.
This pattern occurs when the market sentiment changes from bullish (positive) to bearish (negative), indicating that the price, which has been rising, is likely to start falling.
To illustrate the shooting star candle, consider a stock with a solid uptrend.
For example, let's say the stock opens at $100, rises to $110 during the trading session, but then closes at $102.
The resulting candlestick would have a small body near the bottom of the day's range with a long upper shadow, forming a shooting star stock pattern.
The Shooting Star pattern shows a sudden failure of buyers after a strong uptrend. The long upper wick represents a price push that sellers aggressively rejected, closing the session near its open.
The Psychology: It signals a shift from bullish optimism to bearish doubt as sellers overwhelm buyers.
The Confirmation: The signal is only valid once the next candle closes below the star's low.
The Statistics: Studies show a ~65–70% reliability rate when this confirmation rule is followed on higher timeframes (source - Thomas Bulkowski).
To manage the risk, a stop-loss is placed above the pattern's high. Always use conservative position sizing, as no pattern is a guarantee.
A valid Shooting Star appears after 3-5 bullish candles in a clear uptrend. It has a small body near the low, a long upper wick (at least twice the body), and little to no lower shadow.
Statistically, Shooting Star patterns precede short-term price drops about 55-60% of the time when confirmed by volume or resistance, making them moderately reliable reversal signals.
A red Shooting Star is slightly stronger than a green one, showing greater selling pressure. For confirmation, look for above-average volume during formation. Avoid patterns in sideways markets, where reversals are less reliable.
When it comes to understanding market reversals, the Shooting Star candlestick pattern isn’t the only candlestick pattern to watch.
Other patterns also share some similarities but serve different purposes.
Pattern
Trend Position
Visual Similarity
Meaning / Signal
Key Difference from Shooting Star
Inverted Hammer
Bottom of a downtrend
Looks almost identical
Bullish reversal
Appears after a downtrend, signaling a potential move up, opposite of the Shooting Star’s bearish signal.
Doji Candlestick
Top or bottom of a trend
Small or no body, may look similar in indecisive candles
Indecision / Neutral
Reflects hesitation between buyers and sellers, while the Shooting Star clearly shows buyer exhaustion.
Hanging Man
Top of an uptrend
Small body with a long lower shadow
Bearish reversal
Has a long lower wick instead of an upper one, showing intraday selling pressure rather than failed buying pressure.
Gravestone Doji
Long upper shadow, no real body
Has no body (open and close are equal), often viewed as a stronger reversal signal when confirmed by volume.
Evening Star
Multi-candle formation (3 candles)
A three-candle pattern offering stronger confirmation than the single-candle Shooting Star.
The Shooting Star trading pattern appears across all markets, including forex, stocks, and crypto, and on multiple timeframes.
The Shooting Star's reliability changes depending on where and when you use it. Its success rate is highest on longer timeframes and drops on shorter ones due to increased market noise.
Timeframe Performance:
Daily: ~70% Success Rate (Most Reliable)
4-Hour: ~65% Success Rate
1-Hour: ~58% Success Rate
15-Minute: ~53% Success Rate (Least Reliable)
Always defer to the higher timeframe's trend if charts conflict. For a stronger signal, look for the pattern to appear on at least two consecutive timeframes.
The pattern's effectiveness also varies by market. It performs best in traditional, liquid markets and is weaker in highly volatile ones.
Market Performance:
Stocks: ~70% Success (Especially at resistance)
Forex: ~66% Success (Strong in major pairs)
Crypto: ~58% Success (Requires stricter confirmation)
Adjust your strategy accordingly, crypto traders need wider stop-losses and stronger confirmation than stock traders.
While the Shooting Star candlestick pattern is a valuable bearish reversal signal, traders often misuse it by ignoring key context factors.
To avoid costly errors, be mindful of the following:
Misidentifying a Shooting Star when there’s no clear uptrend preceding it.
Entering trades too early without waiting for a confirmation candle.
Ignoring volume confirmation which weakens the signal’s reliability.
Over-relying on the pattern without considering trend strength or resistance zones.
Applying the setup in sideways or low-volatility markets leads to false signals.
The Shooting Star is a critical warning of potential bullish exhaustion. Its effectiveness hinges on confirmation and context, not standalone use.
Ultimately, its value comes from being part of a broader strategy. Combine it with technical indicators and risk management for informed decisions.
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Its accuracy is highly context-dependent. It is most reliable after a clear uptrend and at a recognized resistance level.
Approximately 65-70% when properly confirmed, especially on higher timeframes like the daily chart.
A red Shooting Star signals stronger selling pressure, while a green one still shows reversal potential but with weaker bearish momentum.
No, it’s primarily a bearish reversal pattern, signaling potential trend exhaustion at the top.
The daily timeframe is most effective, showing about a 70% success rate. Lower timeframes are more prone to false signals.
Look for above-average volume, a bearish confirmation candle, or rejection at a key resistance level.
Nathalie Okde
SEO Content Writer
Nathalie Okde is an SEO content writer with nearly two years of experience, specializing in educational finance and trading content. Nathalie combines analytical thinking with a passion for writing to make complex financial topics accessible and engaging for readers.
Rania Gule
Market Analyst
A market analyst and member of the Research Team for the Arab region at XS.com, with diplomas in business management and market economics. Since 2006, she has specialized in technical, fundamental, and economic analysis of financial markets. Known for her economic reports and analyses, she covers financial assets, market news, and company evaluations. She has managed finance departments in brokerage firms, supervised master's theses, and developed professional analysis tools.
This written/visual material is comprised of personal opinions and ideas and may not reflect those of the Company. The content should not be construed as containing any type of investment advice and/or a solicitation for any transactions. It does not imply an obligation to purchase investment services, nor does it guarantee or predict future performance. XS, its affiliates, agents, directors, officers or employees do not guarantee the accuracy, validity, timeliness or completeness of any information or data made available and assume no liability for any loss arising from any investment based on the same. Our platform may not offer all the products or services mentioned.
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