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A rally that penetrates but falls short. Bulls thrust into the prior body but can't reach the midpoint.
The Thrusting Line is a two-candle bearish continuation pattern. After a bearish candle in a downtrend, a bullish candle opens below the prior low and closes into the prior candle's body — but below the midpoint. It 'thrusts' into the body without reaching halfway.
The Thrusting Line sits between the In Neck Line (which barely reaches the close) and the Piercing Line (which closes above the midpoint). The bullish candle makes a stronger recovery than the neck patterns but still fails to threaten a real reversal.
The Thrusting Line shows a moderate but insufficient buying attempt. Candle 1 is bearish in a downtrend. Candle 2 opens below the low (gap down) then rallies — better than On Neck or In Neck, but still not enough.
The close enters the prior candle's body but stays below the midpoint. Buyers showed more fight than in the neck patterns, but they still couldn't push past the 50% level. This halfway mark is critical — a close above it would be a Piercing Line, which is actually bullish.
The failure to reach the midpoint confirms that bears maintain control. The rally was 'thrusting' into the body but didn't have enough force to break through. The downtrend typically resumes.
Conservative: Enter short on a break below Day 2's low.
Aggressive: Enter short at Day 2's close - the thrust wasn't strong enough.
Above the high of the second (bullish) candle. If buyers push above this level, the bearish continuation thesis weakens significantly.
T1: The low of the first candle. T2: Previous swing low. Thrusting Line is a weak bearish continuation - the bounce was shallow, suggesting sellers remain dominant.
Minimum 1:1.5. This is a mild continuation signal, not an aggressive entry. Use with trend confirmation.
The Thrusting Line is more bearish than a Piercing Line but less bearish than In Neck or On Neck. The hierarchy: On Neck (most bearish continuation) > In Neck > Thrusting > Piercing Line (actually bullish). The 50% midpoint of Candle 1's body is the dividing line.
Often confused with piercing line, but the close must be below the midpoint. This is bearish continuation, not reversal.
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