Candlestick Basics


Candlestick charts are an effective way of visualizing price movements. There are two basic candlesticks:

  • Bullish Candle: When the close is higher than the open (usually green or white)
  • Bearish Candle: When the close is lower than the open (usually red or black)
bullish and bearish candlestick chart patterns

Candlestick Parts

There are three main parts to a candlestick:
Upper Shadow: The vertical line between the high of the day and the close (bullish candle) or open (bearish candle)
Real Body: The difference between the open and close; colored portion of the candlestick
Lower Shadow: The vertical line between the low of the day and the open (bullish candle) or close (bearish candle)

Candlestick Patterns

The power of Candlestick Charts is with multiple candlesticks forming reversal and continuation patterns.  has many detailed explanations of these candlestick patterns; the links are given below: