Candles
OHLC
OHLC stands for open, high, low, and close—the four prices that summarize how a market traded during a chosen time period.
OHLC is the data backbone behind bars and candlesticks. Open is the first traded price of the period, high the maximum, low the minimum, and close the last. From those four numbers you reconstruct body and wicks, measure range, and see whether the close finished near the high or the low.
Each component answers a different question. The open anchors the period versus the prior close. High and low map extremes. The close is often watched as the final agreed price of the window, yet it is still one print, not a prophecy about the next window.
Timeframe choice changes which OHLC set you see. Weekly OHLC merges many daily auctions; hourly OHLC splits a day into many summaries. Practice switching timeframes so you do not overreact to one noisy small-bar print.
Risk framing: OHLC literacy improves clarity; it does not remove uncertainty. Use OHLC to describe accurately, then layer structure and risk concepts such as invalidation and position sizing. It is foundational chart reading, not a trading system.
In ChartsQuest practice journals, label ohlc with the surrounding trend and the nearest level so the pattern never floats without context.
Always separate recognition of ohlc from decision-making: naming a structure is not the same as acting on it.
If later price action contradicts the first reading of ohlc, update the note instead of defending the original label.
Educational chart reading rewards precise language about ohlc, including what would invalidate the idea on your chosen timeframe.
In ChartsQuest practice journals, label ohlc with the surrounding trend and the nearest level so the pattern never floats without context.
Always separate recognition of ohlc from decision-making: naming a structure is not the same as acting on it.
If later price action contradicts the first reading of ohlc, update the note instead of defending the original label.
Example
Compare two daily bars. Bar A: open 100, high 101, low 99.5, close 100.8—modest range, close near the high. Bar B: open 100.8, high 102, low 98, close 98.2—wide range, weak close near the low. OHLC makes the difference obvious without pattern nicknames.
What it is not
OHLC is not a trading strategy, a signal set, or a guarantee about the next period. It is the four-price summary of a completed auction window.
Frequently asked questions
Is the close more important than the open?
Many readers emphasize the close, but all four prices matter for describing the auction.
How do gaps relate to OHLC?
A gap appears when a new period's open is away from the prior close. The same OHLC fields still describe both periods.
Do candles and bar charts share OHLC?
Yes. They are different drawings of the same four prices.
Why learn OHLC before patterns?
Every candle pattern is a story about opens, highs, lows, and closes.
Termes associés
Candlestick
A candlestick is a single bar that shows open, high, low, and close for a time period so you can read price movement at a glance.
Volume
Volume measures how much changed hands during a period and can add context to price moves—participation rising, fading, or diverging from the candle story.
Trend
A trend is the market's persistent directional bias over a chosen timeframe, commonly summarized as higher highs and higher lows, or lower highs and lower lows.
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