A candle summarizes one interval
A candlestick compresses price activity during a defined interval into four values: open, high, low, and close. A one-minute candle and a one-day candle use the same structure but summarize very different amounts of time and activity. The interval, market, venue, timezone, and data source must be known before the candle can be interpreted accurately.
The candle is a record of observed prices, not a complete record of every order or participant. It does not reveal who traded, why they acted, how much unreported liquidity existed, or what will happen next. Two data vendors can also build slightly different candles when their venue coverage, session boundaries, or treatment of bad ticks differs.
The body connects the open and close
The rectangular body spans the opening and closing prices. When the close is above the open, chart software commonly uses one color; when it is below, it uses another. Color conventions are configurable, so direction should be checked from the price values and chart legend rather than assumed from red, green, hollow, or filled styling.
A long body shows that open and close were far apart relative to that scale. It does not by itself show that the move was unusual, liquid, or likely to continue. Compare the body with recent ranges, volatility, volume, and the selected timeframe. A visually large candle on an auto-scaled chart can represent a modest percentage change.
Wicks show the interval extremes
The upper wick extends from the body toward the high, and the lower wick extends toward the low. A wick records that price traded at or near an extreme before closing elsewhere. It can reflect rejection, temporary imbalance, thin liquidity, a news reaction, or ordinary movement within the interval. The shape alone cannot identify the cause.
A long wick is sometimes described with psychological stories about buyers or sellers taking control. Those stories are hypotheses, not facts encoded by the candle. Check lower-timeframe trades, volume, spread, order-book conditions, and the event timeline before assigning a mechanism. A single erroneous print can also create an artificial wick in a data feed.
Small bodies and gaps need context
When open and close are close together, the candle may be called a doji or small-body candle. It shows little net movement between those two timestamps, not necessarily indecision. Substantial movement may have occurred inside the interval, and the same shape can appear in a quiet market or after a sharp two-sided battle.
A gap is a price area between adjacent intervals with no recorded trade in the selected dataset. Gaps are common around sessions in some markets and less visually obvious in continuously traded markets. They can arise from news, illiquidity, session rules, or data boundaries. There is no rule requiring price to fill a gap later.
Sequences add context but not certainty
Several candles can show a trend, range, expansion, or contraction more clearly than one candle. Compare highs and lows, closing locations, overlap, and range. Then ask whether volume and market conditions support the description. Pattern names are shorthand for geometry; they do not transform a historical arrangement into a guaranteed signal.
The same sequence can look bullish on a short interval and minor inside a longer downtrend. Changing the start time can also change candle boundaries and pattern appearance. Before testing a rule, define the timeframe, pattern criteria, entry assumptions, costs, and invalidation in advance. Otherwise hindsight can decide which candles counted only after the outcome is visible.
Volume and spread are separate from candle shape
Two identical candles can form under very different conditions. One may represent heavy two-sided activity in a liquid market, while another may come from a handful of trades across a wide spread. Add volume, trade count, spread, and venue context when available. Candle geometry alone does not show how easy the observed prices were to trade.
Price source matters as well. A candle built from last trades differs from a mark-price or index series, and an illiquid venue can print an extreme absent elsewhere. Compare surprising candles with another source before treating them as market-wide evidence. Derivative, spot, adjusted, and composite charts should not be interchanged without a clear label.
Read candles as evidence, not instructions
Use candlesticks to answer descriptive questions: where did the interval open and close, how wide was the range, and where were the extremes? Combine that description with primary information and market structure. Avoid treating a color or named shape as sufficient reason to act. Historical candles cannot show future news or guarantee repeat behavior.
Tyrian Trade charts are informational and may be aggregated, delayed, adjusted, or temporarily unavailable. They are not execution quotes or personalized advice. Verify current venue data before any transaction and remember that chart interpretation remains uncertain even when the underlying candle values are accurate.