The candle

Four Prices, One Figure

A candle summarizes a period of time — 15 minutes, an hour, a day, depending on the timeframe. It stores four prices:

• Open — the first price of the period
• High — the highest price
• Low — the lowest price
• Close — the last price

These four prices form the figure: The thick part between Open and Close is called the body (German: Körper). The thin lines above and below it are called wicks or shadows — they extend to the High and the Low.

The Body: Who Won?

The body is the heart of the candle. It answers the one question that matters: Who was in control during this period?

• If the candle closes above its open, buyers have won. The candle is bullish (rising) — mostly green or white in charts.
• If it closes below its open, sellers have won. The candle is bearish (falling) — mostly red or black.

The size of the body shows how clear the victory was. A long body means: One side clearly dominated. A small body means: The forces were roughly balanced. If Open and Close are (almost) equal, a Doji forms — the round ended in a draw.

The Wicks: Which Prices Were Rejected

A long upper wick means: Higher prices were reached but not sustained — the market rejected them. A long lower wick means the opposite: Low prices were offered and bought up — sellers could not push through.

What this Lesson Deliberately DOES NOT Teach

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