Candlestick
A chart type that shows the open, close, high and low of an asset in each period, revealing the strength between buyers and sellers.
The candlestick (or "Japanese candle") is the most common way to represent the price of an asset on a chart. Each candle sums up four pieces of information from a period (1 minute, 1 hour, 1 day…): the open price, the close, the high and the low.
The body of the candle is the distance between open and close. When the close is above the open, the candle is bullish (usually green); when it is below, it is bearish (usually red). The thin lines above and below the body — the wicks (or shadows) — mark how far price went before pulling back.
Reading candlesticks helps you see the battle between buyers and sellers: long bodies indicate strength and conviction; small bodies with large wicks suggest indecision. From there come the patterns — like Doji, Hammer and Engulfing — that signal possible reversals or trend continuations.
In day trading and binary options, the candlestick is the foundation of short-term reading, usually combined with support and resistance and moving averages to confirm entries.