---
title: "The Shooter: Trapped Longs, Tighter Stop"
canonical: https://thestrat.ai/docs/shooter/
updated: 2026-10-29
author: Alex Sopa (AlexsOptions)
source: TheStrat docs (https://thestrat.ai/docs/)
---

Tools for AI agents: https://mcp.thestrat.ai — see https://thestrat.ai/agents/

# The Shooter: Trapped Longs, Tighter Stop

By [Alex Sopa (AlexsOptions)](https://thestrat.ai/docs/alex-sopa/) · Updated October 29, 2026

**Definition** A shooter is a bar with a large upper wick that opens and closes in the bottom 33% of its range. Buyers reached up and got completely absorbed: an [actionable signal](https://thestrat.ai/docs/actionable-signals/) of potentially trapped longs. It is the [hammer](https://thestrat.ai/docs/hammer/)‘s mirror.

A shooter is not a universal truth. Unlike the [1s, 2s, and 3s](https://thestrat.ai/docs/price-only-trades-in-3-ways/), trapped longs cannot be known for certain. Use shooters in addition to other signals, not instead of them. **Edge:** a tighter stop: at worst one penny above the entry bar’s high, never above the shooter’s wick.

## The normal shooter

Structure: a [2-2 reversal](https://thestrat.ai/docs/2-2-reversal/). Up bar, shooter (a 2u closing in the bottom third of its range), confirmation bar down. **Trigger:** the shooter’s low. **Magnitude:** the prior candle’s low.

[Figure: The middle bar is the shooter: it took the prior high (a 2u), buyers got absorbed, and the body closed in the bottom third of the range. The break of its low triggers the reversal; the target is the prior candle’s low, and the prior high the shooter took and closed back under is the level of reclaim. The stop goes one penny above the entry bar’s high.]

## The momo shooter

A momo shooter fires *with* a downtrend, ideally an aggressive one: 2d-2d(shooter)-2d-2d. **Trigger:** the break of the shooter’s low. **Stop:** spread plus a penny above the trigger, or the high of the entry bar. It is a continuation, so it has no magnitude. Target with a [measured move](https://thestrat.ai/docs/measured-move/) (measure the leg before the pause, project it forward).

[Figure: Aggressive downtrend: 2d, a 2d shooter with the trend, then the break of the shooter’s low (the trigger), and momentum continues. Stop: spread plus a penny over the trigger, or the entry bar’s high. No magnitude; target with a [measured move](https://thestrat.ai/docs/measured-move/). Manage tightly: momos can fail fast as the bar closes.]

## Shooter countered by a hammer

A shooter immediately countered by a [hammer](https://thestrat.ai/docs/hammer/) is a named two-bar standoff: sellers absorb the buyers, then buyers absorb the sellers right back. It maps onto [2-2 reversal](https://thestrat.ai/docs/2-2-reversal/) logic: the second bar’s break is the trigger. The mirror also holds: a shooter that immediately follows a hammer is treated as a momentum shooter. The counter blows out the trapped shorts and fuels violent resumption of the downside. These sequences are among the intraday signals to prioritize on the 30/60. See the full treatment on the [hammer](https://thestrat.ai/docs/hammer/) page.

## Execution rules

**Entry:** hit the bid as soon as price is below the shooter’s low. Don’t offer it for a higher price and let the other team shoot first. **Stop:** one penny above the entry bar’s high, not the shooter’s wick, which is way too high: it will have failed long before then. Same rule for the momo shooter. **Target:** the prior candle’s low (the normal shooter); the momo shooter has no magnitude, so use a [measured move](https://thestrat.ai/docs/measured-move/). Manage momos tightly: once the trapped side’s stops are blown out, the move can fail fast as the bar closes. Full treatment: [Types of Reversals](https://thestrat.ai/docs/types-of-reversals/).

**Related:** [Hammer](https://thestrat.ai/docs/hammer/) · [2-2 Reversal](https://thestrat.ai/docs/2-2-reversal/) · [Inside Bar](https://thestrat.ai/docs/inside-bar/)
**Back to:** [Actionable Signals →](https://thestrat.ai/docs/actionable-signals/)

TheStrat was developed by Rob Smith. These docs are written by Alex Sopa (AlexsOptions) and quote his teaching.