Candlestick Charts

Playing Markets

Understanding Candlestick Charts

Japanese candlestick charts are the foundation of conventional technical analysis.  Thus, learning to read the story in the charts is a skill all traders must master.

At the simplest level, a candlestick outlines the open, close, high, and low prices during a given time period.  With deeper analysis, they can reveal much more.

How To Read and Trade Candlestick Charts

All Candlestick Types

Bearish Candlesticks

Bullish Candlesticks

Indecision Candlesticks

Bearish Belt Hold (or Yorikiri) Candlestick Diagram - A type of Japanese candlestick with a long candle body, no upper shadow (or wick), and short lower shadow. It illustrates that price decreased significantly after the open and closed near the low of the time period.

Bearish Belt-Hold

Bullish Belt Hold (or Yorikiri) Candlestick Diagram - A type of Japanese candlestick with a long candle body, short upper shadow (or wick), and no lower shadow. It illustrates that price increased significantly after the open and closed near the high of the time period.

Bullish Belt-Hold

Doji Candlestick Diagram - A type of Japanese candlestick with no candle body or a very negligible one, along with upper and lower shadows (or wicks) of any configuration. It illustrates that price opened and closed at the same price over the time period of the candle.

Doji

Dragonfly Doji Candlestick Diagram - A type of Japanese candlestick with no candle body (or an extremely short one), no upper shadow (or wick), and a long lower shadow. It illustrates that price decreased significantly then rose back up to close at the same price as the open of the time period.

Dragonfly Doji

Gravestone Doji Candlestick Diagram - A type of Japanese candlestick with no candle body (or an extremely short one), a long upper shadow (or wick), and no lower shadow. It illustrates that price increased significantly then fell back down to close at the same price as the open of the time period.

Gravestone Doji

Hammer Candlestick Diagram - A type of Japanese candlestick with a short candle body, a short upper shadow (or wick), and a long lower shadow. It illustrates that price opened and closed near the high and far above the low of the time period.

Hammer

Hanging Man Candlestick Diagram - A type of Japanese candlestick with a short candle body, a short upper shadow (or wick), and a long lower shadow. It illustrates that price opened and closed near the high and far above the low of the time period.

Hanging Man

Inverted Hammer Candlestick Diagram - A type of Japanese candlestick with a short candle body, a long upper shadow (or wick), and a short lower shadow. It illustrates that price opened and closed near the low and far below the high of the time period.

Inverted Hammer

Long Candlestick - A type of Japanese candlestick with a long candle body, a short upper shadow (or "wick"), and a short lower shadow. It illustrates that price opened near the high and closed near the low of the time period, or vice-versa.

Long

Long-Legged Doji Candlestick Diagram - A type of Japanese candlestick with no candle body (or an extremely short one), along with long upper and lower shadows (or "wicks"). It illustrates that price traded between a wide high and low range within the time period but opened and closed at the same price.

Long-Legged Doji

Marubozu Candlestick - A type of Japanese candlestick with a long candle body and no upper or lower shadows (or "wicks"). It illustrates that price opened at low and closed at the high of the time period, or vice-versa.

Marubozu

Shooting Star Candlestick Diagram - A type of Japanese candlestick with a short candle body, a long upper shadow (or wick), and a short lower shadow. It illustrates that price opened and closed near the low and far below the high of the time period.

Shooting Star

Spinning Top Candlestick Diagram - A type of Japanese candlestick with a short candle body, and longer upper and lower shadows (or "wicks"). It illustrates that price traded between a wide high and low range within the time period but opened and closed near the same price.

Spinning Top