If you read my article on the pin bar rejection candle, you should know what one is. But not all pin bar reversal candles, or rejection candles work out. Why do some pin bar reversal candles fail, while others pay out?
Here are 3 reasons why pin bar reversal candles could fail.
1. A news release.
A classic reason for a pin bar reversal failure is a news release. I do not trade through news, but news can dramatically affect the likelihood of a successful outcome of a pin bar reversal set up. As a Forex trader you should always be aware of news releases, to make sure you are not either in a trade when news is coming up, or are about to get into a trade when news is pending. I subscribe to a news feed called Talking Forex that keeps me updated on any price sensitive news no matter how small it may be.
2. The components of the pin bar reversal candles.
How the candle is made up can also affect how successful the set up will be. The ideal components of pin bar reversal candles are a long pin, or wick as some people call it, and a small body. If the body is too large, or the pin is too small the likelihood is it will not work.
The picture on the right is a great example of a bearish pin bar reversal candle. You can see the wick is nice and large, and the body is small. It is also beneficial that the body is red if its a bearish candle, as this one is, or that it is green in the case of a bullish reversal candle.
You can see how successful this bearish pin bar set up is by the strong move down on the candle to the right of the pin bar. A lot of Forex traders would have recognized this great pin bar set up and quickly jumped into short positions to promote the aggressive move down in price that we can see.
3. The location of the pin bar reversal candles.
The location of the pin bar is a common reason for a pin bar set up to fail. If the pin bar is located at the wrong position within a trend it will fail. Pin bars work best when they are located at a swing high or swing low within a trend.
If a pin bar is located between 2 candles there is also a likelihood that it will fail. The pin bar set up works better when the pin bar is protruding from the 2 candles either side of it.
The chart above shows a number of pin bar set ups. Two that have failed and one that has worked out nicely. The two that have failed are marked with arrows.
You can clearly see from left to right that the first pin bar has failed for 2 reasons. The first reason was the size of the body. The second reason is the location within the trend. Also the body is bullish (green) and it should ideally be bearish (red).
The second pin bar set up worked out nicely for 4 reasons. The pin bar has a nice small body, that is the correct colour for a bearish set up (red), and its at the swing high within the down trend, and it is protruding from the candles around it.
The third pin bar failed because of its location within the trend and the candles either side of it. You can see that the pin bar has a nice wick and a very small almost non existent body, which is very good, but its totally in the wrong position within the move down, it is positioned at a swing low, and it is overpowered by the 2 candles either side of it.
Pin bar reversal candles work very well when the correct set up presents itself. This article covers basic price action set ups. What i teach is advanced price action trading. If you wish to learn how to trade Forex using advanced high probability price action Forex trading, please consider my Forex training course.
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