Hanging Man

The Hanging Man is a bearish reversal candlestick pattern that appears at the top of an uptrend or near a resistance level. It has the same visual appearance as a hammer — a small real body near the top of the range with a long lower shadow at least twice the body length and little or no upper shadow — but its location within the trend gives it the opposite meaning. The psychology is concerning for bulls: during an established uptrend, sellers suddenly pushed the price significantly lower intraday (creating the long lower shadow) before buyers managed to pull it back near the open. This initial display of selling pressure suggests that bears are becoming active and the uptrend may be losing momentum. The body color can be either bullish or bearish, though a bearish (red) body is considered a stronger warning signal. Crucially, the hanging man requires bearish confirmation on the following session — a gap down or strong red candle — because without confirmation, the pattern may simply represent a temporary pullback within the ongoing uptrend.