A single price bar that shows open, high, low, and close for a given time period — the foundation of technical analysis.
A candlestick is the most common way to draw price on a forex chart. Each candle represents one time period — one minute, one hour, one day, etc. It has a rectangular "body" and two thin "wicks" (also called shadows). The body shows the open and close. The wicks show the high and low.
If the close is higher than the open, the candle is usually green (bullish). If the close is lower, it's red (bearish). The BODY tells you who won the period — buyers or sellers. The WICKS tell you how far each side pushed before losing control.
Candles compound into patterns: hammers, dojis, engulfing bars, shooting stars, morning stars. Each pattern is a story about what buyers and sellers did in that timeframe. Reading candles is reading order flow — it's how pros think about the market.
The Jan 2024 EUR/USD daily candles showed textbook bearish engulfing after the ECB held rates — the candle swallowed the previous 3 days' range and triggered a 200-pip sell-off.
Frequently asked about candlestick
What is a candlestick in trading?+
A single price bar that shows open, high, low, and close for a given time period — the foundation of technical analysis.
When will I see candlestick used in real trading?+
On every modern forex chart. The only alternative is line charts (just closes) which hide most of the information.
What is the most common mistake traders make with candlestick?+
Trading every candlestick pattern you see without context. A hammer at the top of an uptrend is meaningless. A hammer at major support after a selloff is a trade.
What do experienced traders know about candlestick that beginners don't?+
The most important part of any candle is where it CLOSES, not where it wicks. Traders who chase intra-candle moves get chopped up. Wait for the close.
Read the lesson here. Mark the chart on TradingView. Compare brokers with the checklist.
TradingView is the chart workspace most learners already recognize: watchlists, alerts, drawings, and clean multi-market charts. Broker research stays methodology-first: jurisdiction, costs, platform, withdrawals, and risk before any account decision.