# Piercing Line Piercing Line is an indicator on [Vela](https://vela.luxalgo.com/chart), our next-generation charting platform, written in Pine Script®. Detects the piercing line, a two-candle bullish reversal where a long bearish candle meets a weak open and a close reclaiming over half its real body. Configurable open rules, a 50-bar SMA downtrend filter, and optional location and volume checks grade each print, while dashed trigger and stop levels plus four alerts track follow-through, trigger breaks, and invalidation. - Indicator in the LuxAlgo Library, by LuxAlgo, published Apr 23, 2026. - Access: free. - Concepts: [Piercing Line](https://www.luxalgo.com/library/concept/piercing-line/) (primary) - Open on Vela: https://vela.luxalgo.com/chart?pineScriptCodeId=ol7s7wou770bbsulrx4046d9 - Page: https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/piercing-line/ **Piercing Line** detects the classic two-candle bullish reversal: a long bearish candle, then a weak open answered by a close reclaiming more than half of the first body while staying below its open. The definitive clean build of the [piercing line](https://www.luxalgo.com/library/concept/piercing-line/) sizes the first candle against the average body of the preceding candles and screens prints by trend, location, and volume. ## How to Trade the Piercing Line? - **Pattern label**: the tooltip reports open qualification, penetration depth, volume versus average, and trigger and stop prices. - **Trigger break**: with the default Pattern High trigger, the reversal is active once price trades above the pattern's high; the break fires an alert. - **Invalidation**: a trade back below the second candle's low (the rejected gap-down low) is tracked by a dashed stop level and alert. Deeper closes are stronger evidence; the next candle closing higher is the conventional confirmation, with its own alert. ## Piercing Line Settings - **Open Requirement** (default Below Prior Close (Classic)): Strict wants a gap below the prior low; Relaxed accepts an open at the prior close. - **Body Average Length** (default 14): candles in the average body that sizes the first candle. - **Long Body Multiplier** (default 1): minimum first-candle body as a multiple of that average. - **Minimum Penetration %** (default 50): how far up the first body the close must reach. - **Downtrend Filter** (default enabled), **SMA Length** (default 50): the first candle must close below the average. - **New Low Location** (default disabled), **Window** (default 20): the pattern must print the window's lowest low. - **Volume Filter** (default disabled), **Multiple** (default 1), **Length** (default 20): requires elevated second-candle volume. - **Trigger & Stop Levels** (default enabled), **Trigger Level** (default Pattern High), **Levels Extension** (default 10): the drawn reference levels; Style toggles cover the rest. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is the bearish counterpart of the piercing line? [Dark Cloud Cover](https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/dark-cloud-cover/) is the mirror image at the top of an advance: a strong open closing down through a long bullish candle's midpoint. Same grading logic, opposite direction. ### Why doesn't a close above the first candle's open count? A second body swallowing the whole first body is an engulfing pattern, not a piercing line, so the build leaves it out by design. The close must land above the midpoint but below the first open. ### Do the context filters change the pattern definition? No. The anatomy is fixed. The filters only decide which prints deserve attention: a decline into the pattern, recent new lows, heavier recovery volume. ## Related indicators - [On-neck / In-neck / Thrusting](https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/on-neck-in-neck-thrusting/) (Chart & Candlestick Patterns): markdown at https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/on-neck-in-neck-thrusting.md - [Rising/falling Three Methods](https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/rising-falling-three-methods/) (Chart & Candlestick Patterns): markdown at https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/rising-falling-three-methods.md - [Swing Highs/Lows & Candle Patterns](https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/swing-highs-lows-candle-patterns/) (Hammer): markdown at https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/swing-highs-lows-candle-patterns.md - [Reversal Candlestick Structure](https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/reversal-candlestick-structure/) (Hammer): markdown at https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/reversal-candlestick-structure.md - [Candlestick Structure](https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/candlestick-structure/) (Doji): markdown at https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/candlestick-structure.md - [Evening Star](https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/evening-star/) (Chart & Candlestick Patterns): markdown at https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/evening-star.md - [Hanging Man](https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/hanging-man/) (Chart & Candlestick Patterns): markdown at https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/hanging-man.md - [Candlestick Channels](https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/candlestick-channels/) (Hammer): markdown at https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/candlestick-channels.md --- Source: https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/piercing-line/ (LuxAlgo Library). Free to use with attribution: https://www.luxalgo.com/library/license/