Read the body and wicks

Look at the green candle in the diagram. Imagine that it represents one full day of trading.

The first recorded price of the day is the open. As more trades take place, the price changes. The highest price traded during the day is the high, and the lowest is the low. The final recorded price is the close.

• Open
• High
• Low
• Close
• Body
• Upper wick
• Lower wick

This candle is green because the price finished higher than it started. The upper wick is drawn from the body to the highest price of the day, and the lower wick is drawn from the body to the lowest price.

A candle does not show how many trades happened during the day. There may have been 10 trades or 10,000. One trade may have set the high or low, or many trades may have taken place at those prices. The candle also does not show whether the high or low came first.

To read a candle, start with the open and close. Then follow each wick to the high or low.