How to Read Candlestick Charts: Beginner Guide

Every candlestick packs four prices into one shape. Once you know how to read the body and wicks, you can see at a glance who was in control of each period, which is the foundation for every candlestick pattern.

The four prices in every candle

Open: the first traded price of the period.
High and low: the highest and lowest prices reached, shown by the tips of the wicks.
Close: the last price of the period.

The body spans the open and close. If the close is above the open, the candle is bullish: green on most charts, or hollow in black-and-white charts like the diagrams here. If the close is below the open, it’s bearish: red, or filled.

Reading a candle’s shape

What you see	What it tells you
Long body, short wicks	One side was in control for most of the period.
Small body, long wicks	Big swings but no clear winner: indecision.
Long lower wick	Prices below were rejected; buyers pushed back (see hammer).
Long upper wick	Prices above were rejected; sellers pushed back (see shooting star).
No body at all	Open and close equal (see doji).

What you see

What it tells you

Long body, short wicks

One side was in control for most of the period.

Small body, long wicks

Big swings but no clear winner: indecision.

Long lower wick

Prices below were rejected; buyers pushed back (see hammer).

Long upper wick

Prices above were rejected; sellers pushed back (see shooting star).

No body at all

Open and close equal (see doji).

Timeframes

Each candle covers one period, and you choose the period. On a 1-hour chart each candle is one hour; on a daily chart, one day. A daily candle contains everything the 24 hourly candles inside it did, so the same move can look like a single long candle on a higher timeframe and a choppy sequence on a lower one.

In stock markets the daily candle covers the regular session, so there can be gaps between one day’s close and the next day’s open. Forex and crypto trade around the clock, so gaps are rare except over weekends.

Candlesticks on TradingView

Change the timeframe with the interval menu at the top, or just type a number on the chart (for example 4 h then Enter).
Hollow candles are a chart type option in the bar-style menu.
Change candle colours in Chart settings → Symbol, or generate a matching theme with our chart color generator.
See exact prices: hover over a candle and the open, high, low and close appear at the top left.

Next steps

Once you can read single candles, learn the common candlestick patterns, then the larger chart patterns.

FAQ

How do you read a candlestick chart?

Each candle shows the open, high, low and close for one period. The body runs from open to close and the wicks show the high and low. A candle that closed higher than it opened is bullish (green or hollow); one that closed lower is bearish (red or filled).

What do the wicks on a candlestick mean?

The wicks (shadows) show the highest and lowest prices of the period. Long wicks mean prices traveled far but were pushed back before the close.

What does a red candle mean?

The close was lower than the open for that period.

What timeframe should I use for candlesticks?

It depends on how long you hold trades. Each candle covers the period you choose, from seconds to months.

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