Trading The Pin Bar – A Candle To Watch

Aside from my short-term technical indicator and longer term fundamental analysis, I am also a student of Japanese Candle Sticks. The formations created and the understanding of “what they suggest” (with respect to pure price movement) can be an extremely valuable tool for traders of any asset class.

Price is price no matter what you are trading, so learning to recognize and understand the “shapes and patterns” of a given candle or “series” of candles is a skill that you’ll eventually want to come as second nature.

The “Pin Bar” is a fantastic candle to keep your eyes open for as it usually suggests that price has been soundly rejected at a certain level and has moved quite dramatically during the duration of the candle. Lets have a look, as I had suggested “looking out for these” in both NZD/USD as well AUD/USD earlier in the week in the comments section.

Forex_Kong_Pin_Bar

Forex_Kong_Pin_Bar

You can see that price “originally” was as high as the “upper wick” of the candle extends, but as the week progressed continued lower, and lower to finish / close the candle at the absolute opposite end / lowest portion of the formation.

What does this simple “graphic representation of price action” tell you about the entire week’s activity? You’ve got it – in a single glance you’ve deduced that NZD/USD was literally “sold” right from the start of the week.

A simple strategy some traders look to employ – is to simply place a “sell order” under the low of the pin bar candle…and allow further movement in price to pick up them up as price continues to move lower.

Re entry in a number of pairs (obviously NZD/USD) is looking good however it appears that markets are stalling / sitting idle here. I’ve got several open trades but see the weekend coming and will look to re-evaluate before close here on Friday.

Japanese Candle Formations – Excellent Signs

If you haven’t already looked into japanese candle formations – you need to. I use my knowledge of this type af analysis literally every single day – day in day out on all time frames – everywhere and always.

Looking at the symbol $DXY this morning – one can clearly see a very tall “wick” on the daily chart – with a teeny tiny little body right at the very bottom. Known as an “inverted hammer” or possibly a ” shooting star” – this type of candle formation indicates that “price” (was at one point) at the top of the candles wick, but over the course of only one day ( and in this case even less time) selling pressure has taken price all the way down to the bottom of the formation. This is a very bearish formation – indicating that buying interest has all but dried up , and that the “bears” have more than likely  – taken over. Commonly, traders will wait for the formation of the “next day’s” candle for some form of confirmation but for those of us who are already in the trade (short the dollar) this type of candle serves as indication that “perhaps we where a touch early” but that good things are likely soon to follow.

I would consider –  that the dollar is finally, and I do say finally – as this has been a “grueling correction” to say the least….finally ready to roll over – paving the way for a myriad of trade opportunities including “long” NZD/USD, AUD/USD , EUR/USD, GBP/USD – as well “short” USD/CAD, USD/CHF.

I am currently in all pairs mentioned above as well as holding my “short” JPY’s against everything under the sun.