What is Hammer?
Bolg'a (hammer)
In short
A small-bodied candle with a long lower wick. After a decline it shows buyers pushed price back up.
Also known as: bolg'a
A hammer is a candle with a small body, a long lower wick and a very short or missing upper wick. It only counts as a hammer when it appears after a decline. What it says: during the period sellers drove price well lower, but buyers pushed it back and it closed near the open.
Typical criteria
- The lower wick is at least twice the length of the body.
- The body sits in the upper part of the range.
- The upper wick is tiny.
- The body can be green or red; a green one is considered slightly stronger.
How it is used
A hammer signals a possible reversal, not a guaranteed one. Many traders wait for confirmation: the next candle should close above the hammer's high. A hammer that forms at a support level on above-average volume is a stronger signal. The stop is usually placed just below the low of the hammer's wick.
Don't mix it up
The same shape after a rally is called a hanging man and is read differently. The mirror version with the long wick on top is the inverted hammer.
Both candles look almost the same: a small body and a long lower wick. At the end of a decline, at support, it is a hammer (the next candle rose to $104.10 and confirmed it). At the end of a rally, at resistance, it is a hanging man (the next candle closed at $108.50, below its low).
Example
Illustrative case: a stock falls from $60 to $50 over two weeks. The next daily candle opens at $50.40, drops to a low of $48.00, closes at $50.80, with a high of $51.00.
- Body: $50.80 − $50.40 = $0.40 (green).
- Lower wick: $50.40 − $48.00 = $2.40 — six times the body.
- Upper wick: $51.00 − $50.80 = $0.20.
The next day closes at $51.20, above the hammer's high — confirmation. With an entry at $51.20 and a stop at $47.90 (below the wick), the risk per share is $3.30. On a $10,000 account risking 1% ($100): 100 ÷ 3.30 ≈ 30.3 → 30 shares. You can check this with the position size calculator.
Mistakes and tips
Only look for hammers after a decline — the same candle in the middle of a rally or a range means something else.
Entering without confirmation is a common mistake: after many hammers the decline simply continues.
A very long lower wick pushes the stop further away, so shrink your position size to match.
Frequently asked questions
- Does a red hammer candle still count?
- Yes — colour isn't the main criterion, the shape is. A green hammer is considered a bit stronger because price closed above the open.
- What is the difference between a hammer and a pin bar?
- Pin bar is a general name for a candle with a long wick in either direction. A hammer is the specific version with a long lower wick that appears after a decline.
Learn it in the Academy
This term is covered with hands-on examples and a quiz in these lessons of the interactive course.
- Reading candlesticksOne candle shows a whole battle in four prices: body, wicks, timeframes, single-candle patterns and their context.Open lesson · 12 min
- Fibonacci: retracements, the golden pocket and targetsPicking the right swing, the 38.2/50/61.8/78.6% levels, the golden pocket, confluence and 1.272/1.618 extensions to plan an entry, stop and target.Open lesson · 12 min
- Order blocks: footprints of big playersWhat an order block is, which conditions make it valid, how to define the zone, mitigation and breaker blocks, entries, stops and targets, failures, and combining OBs with Fibonacci and FVGs.Open lesson · 13 min
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