Let’s make it simple
Two children walk between the same playground gates. One finishes near the starting gate. The other finishes much farther away. A candle body measures the gap between its start and finish, not the total distance travelled.
Understand the idea
If close is above open, the candle is UP. If close is below open, it is DOWN. A DOWN candle can still have traded above its open earlier. Colour does not describe every moment inside the period.
Body size is the distance between open and close. Ignore the minus sign when measuring that distance. Range is high minus low. A body of 4 inside a range of 5 occupies most of that range.
A large body is only large compared with an appropriate reference. Compare candles from the same market, same timeframe and nearby dates before drawing a conclusion.
Read exact candle values
| Candle | Open | High | Low | Close |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | 10 | 15 | 9 | 14 |
| B | 14 | 15 | 9 | 11 |
A small worked example
Candle A: O=10, H=15, L=9, C=14. Body=4 and range=6. Candle B: O=14, H=15, L=9, C=11. Body=3 and range=6. A closes UP; B closes DOWN.
Your turn
Draw A and B. Write their directions, body sizes and ranges. Do not write BUY or SELL; this is a reading exercise.
Compare your exercise with a model response
A is UP/body 4/range 6. B is DOWN/body 3/range 6.
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