Patterns › Inverted hammer vs Shooting star
Look-alikes
Inverted hammer vs Shooting star
They look alike, so beginners mix them up. Here is what each one means, and how often each one worked on real charts.
Inverted hammer
After a fall, buyers tried to push up. A first sign of interest.
An inverted hammer has a small body near the bottom and a long upper wick, with little or no lower wick. It appears after price has been falling. It shows buyers tried to push price up and got far before sellers pushed back. It is only a first sign of interest, so traders usually want the next candle to close higher before trusting it.
Mixing it up with a shooting star and ignoring whether price was falling or rising before it.
Shooting star
After a rise, buyers pushed up and sellers slammed it back down.
A shooting star has a small body near the bottom and a long upper wick, with little or no lower wick. It appears after price has been rising. It shows buyers pushed price up, but sellers slammed it back down before the close. It warns that the rise may be running out of steam, and traders look for a lower close next to confirm.
Calling a shooting star after a fall, when that shape is really an inverted hammer.
Real odds side by side
| Pattern | Found | Target first | Stop first | Went nowhere |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Inverted hammer | 6,734 | 37% | 55% | 8% |
| Shooting star | 10,013 | 36% | 57% | 7% |
Counted by the Trading Class research engine on real past candles: entry at the signal candle's close, target 1.5 × ATR(14), stop 1 × ATR(14), 12 candles to decide, a candle that touches both counts as the stop. How we count. Past data, not a forecast and not advice.