What a candle represents

The chart below shows Bitcoin price movement. Each green or red shape is called a candle. Our example candle is marked with an X.

This is a 1D chart, so every candle represents one day of trading activity. During that day, many trades take place and the price changes many times. Instead of showing every change, the candle summarizes the day using four prices.

• The open is the first price recorded at the beginning of the period.
• The high is the highest price reached during the period.
• The low is the lowest price reached during the period.
• The close is the final price recorded at the end of the period.

Open, high, low, and close are often shortened to OHLC. OHLC does not show every price change inside the period. For example, the candle cannot tell you whether the high happened before or after the low.

These four prices determine the candle's shape. The body connects the open and close. The wicks extend to the high and low. The next chapter shows where each value appears on a green candle. You can then begin reading candles directly from the chart.