How to read a candle chart
Each candle shows four prices. Once you can read one, the chart tells a story.
A candle shows what the price did over a set stretch of time, such as one, five or fifteen minutes.
The parts of a candle
- The body runs from the opening price to the closing price.
- Green means it closed higher than it opened. Red means it closed lower.
- The thin lines above and below, called wicks, show the highest and lowest prices in that time.
What candles can tell you
Long bodies mean one side was firmly in control. Long wicks mean the price tried to go somewhere and was pushed back. A run of big candles right after a news release shows how strongly the market reacted.
Candles on this site
This site builds its candles from its own price checks every 20 seconds, so they can differ slightly from your broker's chart. They are there to show the shape of the day, especially around the news.