Free course · Lesson 1 of 14

What a candle shows

The building block of every chart.

Step by step

1. This is one candle. It shows everything price did in a set amount of time, for example 5 minutes.
2. The thick part is the body. Price opened at the bottom of it and closed at the top. Green means it closed higher than it opened: buyers won those 5 minutes.
3. The thin lines are called wicks. They show the highest and lowest price reached. Price got there, but it didn’t stay.
4. A red candle closed lower than it opened. Sellers won this one. Its open is at the top of the body and its close at the bottom.
5. Put candles side by side and you have a price chart: the story of the market, told one candle at a time.

Remember: Green closed higher, red closed lower. Wicks show where price went but couldn’t stay.