Candlestick chart pattern is a way of displaying information about an asset’s price movement. Candlestick charts are one of the most popular components of technical analysis, enabling traders to interpret price information quickly and from just a few price bars.
Candlestick chart pattern are a technical tool that packs data for multiple time frames into single price bars. This makes them more useful than traditional open, high, low, and close (OHLC) bars or simple lines that connect the dots of closing prices. Candlesticks build patterns that may predict price direction once completed. Proper color coding adds depth to this colorful technical tool, which dates back to 18th-century Japanese rice traders.1
Traditionally, candlesticks are best used on a daily basis, the idea being that each candle captures a full day’s worth of news, data, and price action. This suggests that candles are more useful to longer-term or swing traders.
Most importantly, each candle tells a story. When looking at a candle, it’s best viewed as a contest between buyers and sellers. A light candle (green or white are typical default displays) means the buyers have won the day, while a dark candle (red or black) means the sellers have dominated. But what happens between the open and the close, and the battle between buyers and sellers, is what makes candlesticks so attractive as a charting tool.
Most importantly, each candle tells a story. When looking at a candle, it’s best viewed as a contest between buyers and sellers. A light candle (green or white are typical default displays) means the buyers have won the day, while a dark candle (red or black) means the sellers have dominated. But what happens between the open and the close, and the battle between buyers and sellers, is what makes candlesticks so attractive as a charting tool.
How to Read a Candlestick chart Pattern
A daily Candlestick chart represents a market’s opening, high, low, and closing (OHLC) prices. The rectangular real body, or just body, is colored with a dark color (red or black) for a drop in price and a light color (green or white) for a price increase. The lines above and below the body are referred to as wicks or tails, and they represent the day’s maximum high and low. Taken together, the parts of the candlestick can frequently signal changes in a market’s direction or highlight significant potential moves that frequently must be confirmed by the next day’s candle.
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Difference Between Foreign Exchange (FX) Candles and Other Markets’ Candles
Before we delve into some specific candlestick patterns, here is a small word about the difference between foreign exchange (FX) Candlestick chart and stock/exchange-traded fund (ETF)/futures and all other candlesticks. Because the FX market operates on a 24-hour basis, the daily close from one day is usually the open of the next day. As a result, there are fewer gaps in the price patterns in FX charts. FX candles can only exhibit a gap over a weekend, where the Friday close is different from the Monday open.
Many Candlestick chart patterns rely on price gaps as an integral part of their signaling power, and those gaps should be noted in all cases. As for FX candles, one needs to use a little imagination to spot a potential candlestick signal that may not exactly meet the traditional candlestick pattern. For example, in the figure below taken from an FX chart, the bearish engulfing line’s body does not exactly engulf the previous day’s body, but the upper wick does. With a little imagination, you’ll be able to spot certain patterns, although they might not be textbook in their formation.
Source : Investopedia
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