How do I read a candlestick chart?
Each candle shows one time period: the thick body runs from the open to the close, and the thin wicks show the high and low. A long body shows conviction; a long wick shows rejection. Candles mean most when they form at a support or resistance level.
A green (or hollow) candle closed higher than it opened; a red candle closed lower. The body is the distance between open and close. The wicks mark how far price traveled before being pushed back.
Long body, small wicks: one side controlled the whole period. That is conviction.
Long wick: price tried to go somewhere and was rejected. A long lower wick means sellers pushed down and buyers pushed back; a long upper wick means the opposite.
Context is everything. A single candle in the middle of a range tells you little. A long lower wick exactly at a well-tested support zone, followed by a close back above it, tells a much clearer story.
Practice by picking a daily chart and marking three long bodies and three long wicks, then asking whether each happened at a level or in the middle of nowhere.
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