Forex glossary
Spinning Top
A spinning top has a small body and shadows on both sides, usually longer than the body. The open and close are close but need not be almost equal as with a doji. It describes little net change relative to range, without establishing reversal or equal order quantities.
Illustrative example
How does it work in practice?
Assume open 100, close 101, high 104 and low 97. The body is one unit and each shadow three units; the candle meets a simple hypothetical rule for identifying a spinning top.
A case to work through
Small net change, wide range
Hypothetically, O=200, C=201, H=210 and L=192.
- Body=1, range=18; the shadows span 9 and 8.
- The body occupies about 5.56% of the range despite substantial intrabar movement.
What follows? Record net change separately from range.
Example boundary: OHLC does not count transactions; small-body thresholds depend on the definition.
A useful distinction
Spinning Top / Doji Candle
Spinning top has a small body and shadows; doji additionally requires near-equal open and close under a tolerance.
Check your understanding
Calculate a small body's share of a wide range.
Show the answer and explanation
10%
Body share is 2 / 20 × 100 = 10%. Shadows account for the other 90% of the range; this does not determine the next bar’s direction.
Bodies, shadows and context
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Read the fuller explanation
Related terms
Sources and documentation
- TA-Lib – ta_CDLSPINNINGTOP
Original OHLC body/shadow detection code and configurable candle thresholds; implementation is not effectiveness evidence.
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