Candlesticks
Four prices in one shape: where a period opened, closed, and how far it reached either way.
Key ideas
- 1Each candle covers one period (15 minutes, an hour, a day). Its body runs from the open to the close; its wicks reach the high and the low.
- 2Green candles closed higher than they opened; red ones closed lower.
- 3Long wicks show prices that were reached and then rejected. A small body means the period ended near where it began.
- 4The same market looks different on different timeframes. Check a longer one before trading a shorter one.
Anatomy of a candle
Each candle sums up one period: where the price opened, where it closed, and the high and low it reached in between. The thick body spans open to close; the thin wicks reach the high and low.
Reading shapes
- Big body, small wicks: the price moved one way most of the period.
- Long lower wick: sellers pushed it down, buyers pushed it back.
- Long upper wick: buyers pushed it up, sellers pushed it back.
- Tiny body: the period ended near where it began; nobody won.
Timeframes
The same hours look different as 15-minute, 1-hour, 4-hour or daily candles. Short timeframes show more detail and more noise; long ones show the trend. A common habit: look at a longer timeframe first, then trade on a shorter one.
Made-up candles. Hover or drag across to read a candle’s open, high, low and close.
Common mistakes
- Reading one candle as a forecast. Patterns describe what happened, not what will.
- Trading off the last candle before it closes. It can change completely until its period ends.
- Staring at 1-minute candles. Short timeframes are mostly noise.
Check yourself
A candle has a tiny body near the top and a long lower wick. What happened in that period?
Try it in Lance
Switch the chart between 15m, 1h, 4h and 1d and hover a candle to see its open, high, low and close.
Change the timeframe