Spinning Top Candlestick Pattern: What It Looks Like and What It Means
A spinning top is a one-candle pattern with a small body and wicks of similar length above and below it. Price moved up and down during the period but finished close to where it started, which shows buyers and sellers evenly matched. It signals indecision and does not say who wins.
How It Forms
Think of a candle as a snapshot of one trading period, like a day. The body marks where the period opened and closed, and the wicks are thin lines running out to its highest and lowest prices. Bullish candles close above their open; bearish ones close below it.
Buyers push the price up and sellers push it down, and neither side wins, leaving a short body between two wicks of comparable length. A doji is the case where the body all but disappears; a spinning top keeps a small one.
| Candle (made-up prices) | Open | High | Low | Close |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $9 | $20 | $6 | $17 |
| 2 | $17 | $33 | $15 | $30 |
| 3 (spinning top) | $33 | $45 | $15 | $30 |
| 4 | $31 | $33 | $12 | $15 |
| 5 | $15 | $17 | $7 | $10 |
Candles 1 and 2 both close above their opens in this made-up data, so the price is climbing. Candle 3 opens at $33 and closes at $30, a body only $3 wide. Its upper wick is $12 long and its lower wick $15, across a $30 range from low to high. Candles 4 and 5 then close below their opens.
How to Read It
A spinning top is read through balance, momentum and location.
- Balance. The wicks show how far each side pushed before the other pushed back.
- Cooling momentum. After a strong run, a spinning top can hint that the push is fading. In the drawing, the two rising bodies measure $8 and $13, and the spinning top's body is $3.
- Location. Spinning tops are common and often mean nothing mid-range. They earn attention at the ends of a trend, near a price level such as support or resistance.
What to Watch For
One spinning top in a quiet stretch tells you little. Like any indecision candle, it points to no direction by itself.
It has two common look-alikes:
- A doji has almost no body, with the open and close nearly equal. A spinning top keeps a small visible body. The difference is shape.
- A harami is a two-candle pattern in which a small candle sits inside the previous candle's large body. A spinning top is judged on its own shape, a harami on where its small candle sits against the one before. The difference is position.
Free or Premium
Spinning Top is one of the 10 extended patterns, the ones beyond the 13 core. Its chart marker comes with Rapunzl Premium, and Rapunzl's Stock Scanner offers the pattern for free.
Try It in Rapunzl
Put a stock on a Candlestick or OHLC chart, then go to Customize Chart → Chart Indicators → Levels, Patterns & AI Charts and turn on Pattern Markers. Indecision patterns are marked ◆, with a detected-patterns list below the chart. Spinning tops stay unmarked until you add the opt-in for 10 advanced patterns on top of the 13 core ones, part of Rapunzl Premium.
In the Stock Scanner, the Indecision candlestick filter matches a Doji or a Spinning Top on the latest daily bar, so Spinning Top appears there.
A 15-Minute Class Activity
Match the Candle. Pairs get the four made-up candle cards below, copied onto index cards.
| Card (made-up prices) | Open | High | Low | Close |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | $50 | $58 | $42 | $50 |
| B | $50 | $59 | $44 | $53 |
| C | $50 | $62 | $49 | $61 |
| D | $30 | $35 | $21 | $27 |
- 4 minutes. Pairs sort the cards into three piles: doji, spinning top and neither. The answers are A for doji, B and D for spinning top, and C for neither (an $11 body, $1 wicks).
- 5 minutes. Pairs draw cards B and D side by side and label each body and both wicks in dollars. Card B has a $3 body with $6 wicks above and below; card D has a $3 body with $5 above and $6 below.
- 3 minutes. Say that card B comes after six rising days and card D in the middle of a flat stretch. Which deserves a closer look? (B, because spinning tops matter most at the end of a trend.)
- 3 minutes. Exit ticket: in one sentence, say what the two wicks on a spinning top tell you.
Related Patterns
- Doji: the same idea with an almost nonexistent body.
- Harami: a small candle held inside the previous candle's body.
- How to Read a Candlestick Chart: reading small bodies and long wicks.
- Support and Resistance Levels: the price levels where a spinning top earns more weight.
Frequently Asked
Questions
A short body between two wicks of comparable length. Buyers and sellers were about even for the period.
No. It is neutral, a sign of indecision, and the candles that follow show which side is gaining ground.
A doji has almost no body, with the open and close nearly equal. A spinning top keeps a small visible body.
On a chart, the marker for this pattern needs the Premium opt-in for extended patterns. In the Stock Scanner, the Indecision candlestick filter includes it for free.
Practice Chart Reading in Your Classroom
Request a demo to see how Rapunzl's charts and simulator can anchor a lesson on reading price movement. Families can read more on our parents page.
Indicators, patterns and examples in this article are for education and are not investment advice or a recommendation to buy or sell any security.
By Maria Rodriguez, Curriculum Designer at Rapunzl.