Indecision pattern
Spinning Top Candlestick: What Indecision Really Means
A small body with shadows either side. Price travelled in both directions and finished near where it began: a stalemate, and a change in character worth noticing.
- Signal
- neutral
- Type
- Indecision
- Candles
- 1
- Works after
- Any; the meaning comes entirely from context
- Confirmation
- Essential: the next candle decides
- Reliability
- Also known as
- Spinning top star
A spinning top is a candle with a small real body and shadows extending on both sides. Price travelled meaningfully up and meaningfully down during the session, then closed close to where it opened.
The message is a stalemate. Buyers pushed, sellers pushed back, and by the close neither had achieved anything. Like the doji, it carries no direction on its own. What it can tell you about is momentum.
Identification
The real body is small, commonly under a third of the candle’s total range. There are visible shadows above and below, roughly comparable in length. And position is irrelevant to the shape: a spinning top is a spinning top wherever it appears.
The two-sided shadow is what distinguishes it. If the shadow appears on one side only, you have a hammer, a hanging man, a shooting star or an inverted hammer, all of which carry more information because a one-sided rejection points somewhere.
Why it matters, when it matters
The value of a spinning top is entirely in the contrast with what came before it.
After a strong trend, the one-directional pressure that had been driving price stopped for a session. That is a change in character worth noting, particularly if it arrives after an extended run or at a level you had already marked. Inside a range it means nothing; sideways markets are built from indecision. On low volume it is often just a quiet session. On high volume it means more, because heavy volume with no net price change means large amounts of stock changed hands with neither side winning, and that frequently marks a transition zone.
How to trade it
The structure is the same as for any indecision candle, and it works because the candle hands you a compact, well-defined range.
- Mark the high and the low of the spinning top. These are now your decision levels.
- Wait for a close beyond one of them. Above the high favours the buyers; below the low favours the sellers.
- Enter on that close, or on a stop order just beyond the level.
- Place the stop beyond the opposite extreme, plus a small buffer.
A wide spinning top means a wide stop, and therefore a smaller position for the same risk. Run it through the position size calculator rather than using your usual size.
Where it fits
Think of the spinning top as punctuation. It marks a break in the flow and tells you to pay attention to what comes next, without telling you what that will be.
The traders who get value from it have already identified a level that matters and are using the candle as one input among several: volume, trend structure, and where price sits relative to the levels they marked in advance.
Read the doji next for the more extreme version of the same message, or the hammer to see how a single one-sided shadow turns indecision into something tradeable.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a spinning top and a doji?
Degree. A doji has essentially no body; open and close are nearly identical. A spinning top has a small but clearly visible body. Both signal indecision, but the doji states it more emphatically. In practice they are read the same way.
Is a spinning top bullish or bearish?
Neither on its own. It signals that neither side could close the session in their favour. Whether that matters depends entirely on what preceded it. After a long trend it is a meaningful pause; inside a range it is unremarkable.
How small does the body need to be?
A common working rule is a real body under about a third of the candle's total high-to-low range, with visible shadows above and below. If the shadow is only on one side you are looking at a hammer, hanging man, shooting star or inverted hammer instead.
How do I trade a spinning top?
You trade what follows it. Mark the candle's high and low, then wait for a close beyond one of them. That close is your trigger and the opposite extreme becomes your stop level.
Do spinning tops matter in a sideways market?
Very little. Ranges are made of indecision, so a spinning top there is the market doing exactly what it has been doing. The candle earns attention when it interrupts a strong, one-directional move.