A pin bar is a candle whose wick is at least twice its body, poking INTO a meaningful level and closing back away from it. The story is complete inside one candle: one side pushed hard, ran into real orders, and got ejected. The wick is the failed attempt; the close is the verdict.
What makes a pin bar tradeable
- Location first: a pin bar AT support/resistance, a moving average, or a prior breakout level. In the middle of nowhere it's noise.
- The wick should poke BEYOND the level — it swept the stops sitting there before reversing. That fuel matters.
- The close should sit in the top (bullish) or bottom (bearish) third of the range. A mid-close is indecision, not rejection.
Entry discipline: trade the pin bar's close or a retrace into its body — never chase beyond its extreme. Your invalidation is the wick tip; past it the story is simply wrong.
Failure mode to respect: a second test of the same level right after a pin bar weakens it — the defenders already spent orders. One clean rejection then immediate re-approach often precedes the break.