Many traders consider Pin Bar one of the most reliable patterns, which is used both as a fully autonomous strategy and in combination with other techniques, so do not be surprised at the appearance of the same name indicators.

Before proceeding to describe the experts review, we should remind that a pin bar is a candle that has a short body and at least one long shadow. This pattern was invented by Martin Pring, who noticed the following: when the market is ready to reverse, there are "traps", and the last candle sees the growing "nose" like Pinocchio had when he lied. This is not a joke, the original pattern was called "Pinocchio", but later its abbreviated name came into use.

Today's topic will be interesting, and it may even seem contradictory, as many traders are used to carrying out a clear line between the indicators and any candlestick patterns, i.e. they either use a formula or work by a Price Action method (choose one thing).

In fact, the pin bar indicator is a common application, a kind of software that only automates the search for models, without making any additional calculations that can lead to delay of the signals at the same time.

Pin bars indicator called PinBar

What can I say, the developers of this algorithm were right and decided not to reinvent the unique name for an algorithm designed to display only one pattern of the same name. The main thing is that the authors approached the work responsibly, and therefore this expert today is recognized as one of the best for the Metatrader4 terminal. It is represented on the chart as follows:

Pin bar indicator automatically marks bullish patterns with green arrow, after the appearance of which the market can with high probability reverse after a decline, and the red indicator accordingly marks bearish patterns, often formed on the decline of the bullish trend.

We can’t even mention anything about the settings, because the default algorithm is completely "collected" and does not require the intervention of the trader, i.e. in order to avoid confusion, the developers generally removed the ability to customize any filters and only left the color of the arrows open for editing.

There are no obvious flaws in this case, as false alarms that occur from time to time, are not related to errors in the code and are simply due to the specific nature of the search and interpretation of the pattern, i.e. you must master the theory (to successfully filter out low-quality model), and only then start trading.

MTF PinBar Scan: pin bar indicator for multiple timeframes

It's no secret that one of the main advantages of candlestick patterns is versatility, i.e. possibility of use on all timeframes (except minute charts), while a combination of strategies on one pair is a very common phenomenon today.

Unfortunately, not all traders, especially beginners, can afford workstation with multiple monitors (to monitor the situation on multiple timeframes), either because they see no point to invest in the equipment before achieving the stable result, or simply objectively cannot afford to spray attention, as they have a main job along with trading.

To solve such problems, the pin bar indicator MTF PinBar Scan was written, which displays the patterns on multiple timeframes, while the authors of the algorithm didn’t limit the possibilities to the arrows and added a filling of the signal candle (or bar) with color. The figure above shows an example, and below the main parameters that the user can adjust at their discretion are briefly described:

• barsback – for what period (expressed in number of candles) the patterns are displayed. The increase in the index for small timeframes can sometimes lead to deadlock of the terminal;
• arrows – to enable or disable arrows;
• arrowsize – font size of the arrows;
• bullarrow and beararrow – color of the arrows;
• paintbar – enable or disable the candles filling; 
• barthickness – line width, which is used as a fill;
• bullishcol and bearishcol – the color of bullish and bearish patterns (fill color);
• alarm and sound – the sound notification settings;
• alert – enabling pop-up alarm window;
• m5, m15, m30, m60, etc. – add or remove the corresponding timeframes on which the indicator will search patterns;

other settings can be left as default.

Pin bar indicators for MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5

In contrast to the reviewed experts, the next example, referred to as PinbarDetector, has been optimized for both versions of the MT terminal (written in mql4 and mql5). Visually, it practically does not differ from the PinBar indicator, it just uses emoticons – green for a bullish pattern, red to a bearish – to identify the signal instead of arrows, for example:

At first glance, emoticons do not look serious, but in fact, this pin bar indicator can be useful for experienced traders who prefer to customize the algorithm to display only the models that deserve attention. We put emphasis on the setting not without a reason – the matter is that PinbarDetector allows to adjust all the important parameters, such as:

• UseCustomSettings – if true, the user settings come into force for the calculation of patterns, which, by the way, will be discussed further one by one;
• CustomMaxNoseBodySize – limit for the ratio of the shadow of the main candle to the body; respectively, the higher the value, the more reliable the signal;
• CustomLeftEyeOppositeDirection – if enabled, the right eye of the bearish pin bar should be strictly below the left eye, and above in the case of the bullish pattern. We remind you that the "eyes" are essential element of the “Pinocchio”, just like the "nose";
• CustomNoseSameDirection - If true, only those patterns whose body of the candle and the "nose" are in the same direction will be taken for calculation, i.e. if the pattern is bearish, then the close price should be lower that open, and vice versa at the formation of a bullish pattern;
• CustomNoseBodyInsideLeftEyeBody – this setting allows to specify a rule for the indicator to take into account only models that have a range of a central candle body located between the high and low of the left eye;
• CustomLeft EyeMinBodySize – minimum ratio of the main body of the candle with respect to the left eye;
• CustomNose BodyToLeftEyeBody – limiting ratio of the size of the nose to the range of the left eye of the pin bar;
• CustomLeft EyeDepth – minimum ratio of the depth of the left eye to its length. Those who are not familiar with the theory of the pattern are not recommended to change the setting.

In conclusion, we should note that each of the experts discussed today has its strengths – for example, the PinBar algorithm will be useful for beginners, the PinBar Scan indicator will be useful for traders who prefer to work simultaneously on multiple timeframes, and PinbarDetector will appeal to experienced traders.