A candle-pattern marker that puts a vertical line on a single candle in a downtrend with a long upper shadow and almost no lower shadow.
- Weapon tier
- Starter tier
- Slots used
- Candle markings 1/3
Concept
A candle with a small body sitting near the bottom and a long shadow reaching up — “Hammer” turned upside down. It shows the price climbed far during the session and was pushed back near the close.
In a downtrend it is commonly read as "buyers have started testing higher". Because it was pushed back by the close, many traders see it as weaker than a hammer. The same shape in an uptrend is “Shooting Star”.
- Inverted Hammer
Charts by TradingView Lightweight Charts™
80 candles with volume. The price slides a long way down, and at candle 60 (yellow vertical line) a candle with a long upper shadow appears. The price then falls for two more candles to a new low before it starts to rise. Keyboard: ←/→ to move, +/− to zoom, 0 to see the whole chart.
The candle with the yellow vertical line is the inverted hammer. Notice that the marked candle was not the bottom — the price fell for two more candles before rising. This scene was picked because the price eventually rose; it is just as common for it to keep falling. Drag the chart sideways with a finger or the mouse to move it, and pinch with two fingers to zoom in. With a keyboard, click the chart, then use ←/→ to move and +/− to zoom.
How it is calculated
The close must be below the average close of the last 10 candles — meaning "inside a downtrend".
The upper shadow (high − top of the body) must be at least the body length × 2.
The lower shadow (bottom of the body − low) must be at most the full candle length (high − low) × 0.15. A candle that meets all of this gets the marker.
Parameters
| What it sets | Name in the game | Default | Range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Candles used for the trend (average) before it | trendPeriod | 10 | 3 – 60 |
| Upper shadow must be at least this many bodies long | shadowMultiple | 2 | 0.5 – 5 |
| Lower shadow must be at most this share of the full candle | lowerShadowMax | 0.15 | 0.02 – 0.5 |
Trading ideas
Since the inverted hammer was pushed back by the close, many traders wait for the next candle to close above its body before acting.
Check whether volume rose with it. A long shadow on a quiet day means less.
Common traps
- As in the chart on this page, the price often falls further after the marker. Do not assume the marked candle is the bottom.
- The "downtrend" check only asks whether the close is below the average, so the marker also appears in sideways stretches.
- This scene was picked because the price eventually rose. Falling straight on after the same shape is common too.
In the game
- “Inverted Hammer” is an “Starter tier” weapon and uses 1 “Candle markings” slot (limit 3).
- The game draws a faint grey vertical line in the price area on every candle where the event happens, and writes the weapon name only on the most recent line.
- The same shape in an uptrend is marked by “Shooting Star”.
Related indicators and lessons
- Three White Soldiers — A candle-pattern marker that puts a vertical line on the third of three big up candles closing higher one after another.
- Three Black Crows — A candle-pattern marker that puts a vertical line on the third of three big down candles closing lower one after another.
- Morning Star — A candle-pattern marker for a three-candle bottom shape — big down candle, small-bodied candle, big up candle — with a vertical line on the third candle.
- Evening Star — A candle-pattern marker for a three-candle top shape — big up candle, small-bodied candle, big down candle — with a vertical line on the third candle.
- Hammer — A candle-pattern marker that puts a vertical line on a single candle in a downtrend with a long lower shadow and almost no upper shadow.
- Hanging Man — A candle-pattern marker that puts a vertical line on a single candle in an uptrend with a long lower shadow and almost no upper shadow.
- Shooting Star — A candle-pattern marker that puts a vertical line on a single candle in an uptrend with a long upper shadow and almost no lower shadow.
- Doji — A weapon that finds and marks candles whose open and close are almost the same, so the body is very thin. It is a candle where buyers and sellers ended up evenly matched.
- Bullish Marubozu — A weapon that finds and marks rising candles with almost no shadows and a body far longer than usual. Buyers pushed all the way through the candle.
- Bearish Marubozu — A weapon that finds and marks falling candles with almost no shadows and a body far longer than usual. Sellers pushed all the way through the candle.
- Bullish Engulfing — A weapon that marks a large rising candle whose body completely wraps the previous falling candle’s body, in a downtrend.
- Bearish Engulfing — A weapon that marks a large falling candle whose body completely wraps the previous rising candle’s body, in an uptrend.
- Piercing Line — A weapon that marks, in a downtrend, a rising candle that opens below a long falling candle and closes above the middle of that candle’s body.
- Dark Cloud Cover — A weapon that marks, in an uptrend, a falling candle that opens above a long rising candle and closes below the middle of that candle’s body.
- Bullish Harami — A weapon that marks, in a downtrend, a small rising candle that fits entirely inside the body of the long falling candle before it.
- Bearish Harami — A weapon that marks, in an uptrend, a small falling candle that fits entirely inside the body of the long rising candle before it.
- 1. Reading a single candle
- 2. Trends and sideways moves