What does Candlestick Chart mean?

A candlestick chart shows a stock's open, high, low, and close for each period as a single 'candle,' making price patterns easier to read at a glance than a plain line chart.

Each candlestick shows four prices for a period: open, high, low, and close. The 'body' is the gap between open and close (green/white if it closed higher, red/black if lower); the thin 'wicks' show the high and low. Stacking candles side by side reveals patterns traders use to read momentum and reversals.

Candlestick Chart example

A day that opens at $50, trades as high as $54 and as low as $49, then closes at $53 draws a green candle: a body from $50 to $53 with thin wicks reaching up to $54 and down to $49.

Common beginner mistake

Trading single-candle patterns in isolation. One candle shows one day's tug-of-war; it means much more alongside volume and the bigger trend.