Candlestick signals

Levels tell you where to look and the trend tells you which way to lean — candlestick signals tell you when the market is actually turning. A single candle can show you who won the fight: buyers or sellers.

The body-to-wick story

Remember from the Basics: the body is open-to-close, the wicks are the extremes. The shape is the message. A long wick means price went somewhere and got violently rejected. A big body means one side dominated. Read shape, not just colour.

The pin bar — rejection

A pin bar has a tiny body and one long wick. It means price pushed hard in one direction during the candle and got slammed all the way back. A long lower wick at support says “buyers rejected lower prices” — a potential bottom.

The engulfing — momentum flip

An engulfing candle completely swallows the previous one. A big green candle that engulfs the prior red candle says buyers just overwhelmed sellers in a single period — a sharp shift in momentum. It is one of the cleaner “something changed” signals.

Context is the whole game

Here is the part beginners miss: a signal is only as good as where it appears. A bullish pin bar right at a support level, in an uptrend, is worth acting on. The exact same candle floating in the middle of nowhere is noise. Signals confirm levels — they do not replace them.