Shooting Star

Single-bar bearish reversal candidate. Same geometry as InvertedHammer — small body near the bottom, long upper shadow ≥ 2× body, short lower shadow — but read bearishly because it appears at the top of an uptrend.

Quick reference

Item	Value
Family	Candlestick Patterns
Input type	Candle
Output type	f64 — -1.0 if Shooting Star, 0.0 otherwise
Output range	{-1.0, 0.0}
Default parameters	none — ShootingStar::new()
Warmup period	1
Interpretation	Bearish reversal candidate (in uptrend context)

Formula

body         = |close - open|
upper_shadow = high - max(open, close)
lower_shadow = min(open, close) - low

star = (upper_shadow >= 2 · body)
    AND (lower_shadow <= body)
    AND (body > 0)

Output is -1.0 when the shape matches, 0.0 otherwise. See crates/wickra-core/src/indicators/shooting_star.rs.

Parameters

None.

Signed ±1 encoding

A Shooting Star is bearish by definition, so under the uniform candlestick sign convention (+1.0 bullish, −1.0 bearish, 0.0 none) it emits −1.0 when the shape matches and 0.0 otherwise — never +1.0. The same geometry read at the bottom of a downtrend is the bullish InvertedHammer, which carries the opposite sign.

Inputs / Outputs

Indicator<Input = Candle, Output = f64>. Python / Node same as other single-bar candlestick patterns.

Warmup

warmup_period() == 1. Stateless.

Edge cases

• Same shape as InvertedHammer. Inverted Hammer emits +1.0 (bullish reading); Shooting Star emits -1.0 (bearish reading).
• No trend filter. Shape only — combine with uptrend context.
• Reset. Stateless.

Examples

Rust

use wickra::{Candle, Indicator, ShootingStar};

fn main() -> Result<(), Box<dyn std::error::Error>> {
    // Long upper shadow, small body at bottom
    let c = Candle::new(100.5, 105.0, 100.0, 100.2, 1.0, 0)?;
    let mut ss = ShootingStar::new();
    println!("{:?}", ss.update(c));  // -1.0
    Ok(())
}

Python

import numpy as np
import wickra as ta

o = np.array([100.5])
h = np.array([105.0])
l = np.array([100.0])
c = np.array([100.2])

ss = ta.ShootingStar()
print(ss.batch(o, h, l, c))

Node

const wickra = require('wickra');
const ss = new wickra.ShootingStar();
console.log(ss.batch([100.5], [105], [100], [100.2]));

Streaming with uptrend filter

use wickra::{Candle, Indicator, ShootingStar, Sma};

let mut ss = ShootingStar::new();
let mut sma = Sma::new(50).unwrap();
let candle_stream: Vec<Candle> = Vec::new(); // your live OHLCV feed
for bar in candle_stream {
    let trend = sma.update(bar.close);
    if ss.update(bar) == Some(-1.0)
        && matches!(trend, Some(s) if bar.close > s)
    {
        /* bearish reversal candidate at top of uptrend */
    }
}

Interpretation

• Bearish exhaustion. Buyers pushed price to a new high intra-bar but couldn't hold it; sellers won the close. Classic exhaustion-of-rally signal.
• Confirmation. Many traders wait for the next bar to close below the Shooting Star's body before acting.
• Same shape, opposite signal. Shooting Star and Inverted Hammer are identical shapes — context determines which reading applies.

Common pitfalls

• Acting on shape without context. A Shooting Star shape in a downtrend is meaningless. Always pair with trend filter.
• Multiple shooting stars in a row. A consecutive series of Shooting Stars at the top of an uptrend is more significant than a single one — signals persistent rejection of higher prices.

References

• Steve Nison, Japanese Candlestick Charting Techniques (1991).

See also

• InvertedHammer — same shape, bullish reading.
• HangingMan — bearish, with long lower shadow.
• Indicators-Overview — full taxonomy.