Inverted hammer
A long wick up at the bottom: buyers tested their strength. Weak on its own, it needs the next bar.
Inverted hammer — what it is?
An inverted hammer is the mirror shape: a small body at the bottom, a long upper wick, almost no lower one. It appears after a decline.
The meaning is that price was pushed up but brought back down by the close. Even so, the very fact of the attempt says a buyer has shown up where there wasn't one before.
As a standalone signal it's weak. It gains meaning in combination: an inverted hammer at the edge of a zone, followed by confirmation from a change of structure.
Inverted hammer — how it is built?
The upper wick at least twice the length of the body, the lower one almost absent. The shape reads the same on any timeframe, but the higher the timeframe, the more weight it carries.
Inverted hammer — common mistakes
Confusing it with a shooting star: the same shape, but at the top of a move and with the opposite meaning.
Entering on the candle straight away without waiting for confirmation.
Looking for perfect proportions. Location matters more than millimetres.
Judging the candle by colour rather than by the ratio of body to wicks.
Related to
Glossary
- candle body
- the rectangle between the open and the close.
- long
- buying in expectation of a rise.
- wick
- the thin lines above and below the body that show the high and the low of the period.
- close
- the last price of the period. Considered the most important of the four: breakouts are confirmed by the close.
- timeframe
- the period one candle holds: M5 is five minutes, H1 an hour, D1 a day.
- Shooting star
- shaped like an inverted hammer, but at the top.
Test yourself
Which chart has a hammer — a long lower wick?
Correct. The app has tasks like this in every lesson — 119 lessons on real charts. Solve in the app →
Not this one. The right answer is the other chart. The app has tasks like this in every lesson — 119 lessons on real charts. Solve in the app →