Let’s make it simple
A film summary tells you the beginning and ending, but not every scene. A larger candle is similar. Smaller candles can show some of the missing detail, though they still are not a full tick-by-tick film.
Understand the idea
Four complete 15-minute candles can form one complete hour candle when their boundaries line up. The hour open is the first open. Its close is the last close. Its high is the highest high, and its low is the lowest low.
Two different sequences can produce the same hourly OHLC. This means you cannot infer whether the high or low happened first from the hourly candle alone. Even a shaven candle does not prove price moved in a straight line.
Use the larger view for context and a smaller view for detail. Do not keep switching timeframes until you find the answer you want. Sessions, missing data and platform settings can change how candles are grouped.
Read exact candle values
| Candle | Open | High | Low | Close |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | 10 | 13 | 9 | 12 |
| B | 12 | 13 | 10 | 11 |
| C | 11 | 14 | 10 | 13 |
| D | 13 | 15 | 12 | 14 |
A small worked example
Four 15-minute candles have opens 10, 12, 11 and 13; closes 12, 11, 13 and 14; highs 13, 13, 14 and 15; lows 9, 10, 10 and 12. The hour is O=10, H=15, L=9, C=14.
Your turn
Use the four rows in the example as a table. Circle the first open, last close, largest high and smallest low. Draw the combined hourly candle.
Compare your exercise with a model response
Combined OHLC is 10, 15, 9, 14. The hourly candle cannot reveal the full order of movements.
Pause & think
Check your understanding
Write an answer, then compare it with the explanation. This is self-study, not an automatically graded test.
Compare all three answers to unlock the review button.
Fictional examples. Education only; no pattern guarantees a result. Course information