Candles: What a Single Candle Really Says
In the previous page we said, “a candle is a compressed record of the fight that happened during that time block.”
This page stays obsessed with that idea. Instead of memorizing names like hammer or engulfing, we learn to dismantle one candle and read the information inside.
Pattern myths can wait. If you cannot read one candle properly, naming a three‑candle combo does not help.
What This Page Covers (and What It Ignores)
We cover:
- OHLC anatomy
- Meaning of bullish vs bearish candles beyond color
- How the body size translates to directional control
- What upper/lower wicks reveal about where price was rejected
- Total range (High–Low) as a proxy for volatility
- Reading one candle together with the immediate candles before/after it
We intentionally ignore:
- “This shape wins 73% of the time” tables
- Blind pattern name memorization without context
Those belong to later modules where setups, stats, and risk management live together.
1. The Four Prices Inside Every Candle (OHLC)
Each candle is built with four prices:
- Open — first traded price of that interval
- High — highest print
- Low — lowest print
- Close — last traded price when the interval ended
From these four numbers we get:
- Body — the segment between open and close
- Upper wick — the distance from body top to the high
- Lower wick — the distance from body bottom to the low
Line charts connect closes only. Candles show how far price wandered before coming back.
That’s why the same close can look calm on a line chart yet hide violent intraday swings inside the candle.
2. Bullish/Bearish: Color Matters Less Than Structure
Most platforms color candles based on whether Close > Open (bullish) or Close < Open (bearish).
Many beginners stop there—green means good, red means bad.
Instead, keep asking:
- Where did it start, and where did it finish?
- How wide was the entire High–Low range?
- How much of that range ended up inside the body vs the wicks?
Two candles can share the same color yet tell opposite stories. A tiny green doji after a strong rally may signal balance, not strength. A long red candle with almost no wick tells you sellers dominated the whole period.
Color hints at direction. Body/wick structure tells you how that direction was earned.
3. Bodies: Distance Between Start and Finish
The body is simply the distance between open and close, but it implies how far one side dragged price without surrendering control.
- Large body: one side marched price away from the open and kept it there until the close.
Think of it as “trend-in-a-single-bar”. - Small body: the period ended near where it began.
Could be balance, hesitation, or a pause inside a trend.
Large body ≠ always bullish/bearish. Pair it with wicks and total height before judging strength.
4. Wicks: Where Moves Were Rejected
Wicks answer two questions: how far did price try to go? and was that push rejected?
- Long upper wick: price poked higher but couldn’t hold. Supply or profit‑taking lives there.
- Long lower wick: price stabbed lower but buyers yanked it back. Demand or bargain hunters stepped in.
Context matters: a long lower wick inside a rising trend can signal continuation, while the same wick at the middle of a range may mean very little.
5. Total Range (High–Low) and Volatility
Combine body and wicks and you get the full distance price explored.
- Tall candle: the market was excited (or thin) during that period.
Risk management: stop distance and position size must respect that volatility. - Short candle: quiet period. Could be a box range, lunch hour, or players waiting for news.
Two candles may close green, yet one spans 0.5% while the other spans 5%. Treat them differently.
6. One Candle vs a Sequence
Never interpret a single candle in isolation. Always read the few bars before and after it.
Imagine this flow:
- Several small, balanced candles → market undecided.
- A sudden large bullish candle → someone takes control.
- A handful of small candles near the new high → consolidation/acceptance.
Ask: Did that impulse shift the balance? Is price defending the new area or rejecting it?
7. Same Move, Different Timeframes
Higher timeframes swallow lower ones. Five 5‑minute candles may collapse into one 25‑minute candle, which may be only a wick on the hourly.
Therefore any “pattern certainties” must be taken with skepticism. What doesn’t change across timeframes is the logic we just covered: OHLC, body vs wick, and total range.
We dive deeper into timeframe stacking in timeframes`.
8. Practice Ideas
Try these drills to train your eye:
- Rebuild candles from pure OHLC numbers. Close your chart, read the four prices, and sketch the candle mentally.
- Mark zones with recurring long wicks. Later, compare with support/resistance work—you’ll see why those areas mattered.
- After a large impulse candle, track the next few candles. Does price accept the new zone or reject it immediately?
This turns candles from “colored blocks” into structured stories about who pushed, who defended, and where risk truly sits.
Where We Go Next
You now know how to read a single candle’s structure and how sequences reveal shifts in control. Next:
- Learn how different time compressions change the same move in timeframes`.
- Then peek beneath the candles to see which orders created them in orderbook-tape`.
Remember the mission statement of this page:
Before memorizing multi-candle names, gain fluency in the anatomy and psychology of one candle.