Forex Trading - Japanese Candlesticks

You may be asking yourself, "If I can already use bar charts to view prices, then why do I need another type of chart?"

The answer to this question may not seem obvious, but after going through the following candlestick chart explanations and examples, you will surely see value in the different perspective candlesticks bring to the table. In my opinion, they are much more visually appealing, and convey the price information in a quicker, easier manner. Candlestick chart is a combination of a line-chart and a bar-chart, in that each bar represents the range of price movement over a given time interval. It is most often used in technical analysis of equity and currency price patterns.

The History of Japanese Candlesticks

Candlestick charts are on record as being the oldest type of charts used for price prediction. They are said to have been developed in the 18th century by legendary Japanese rice trader Homma Munehisa. In fact, during this era in Japan, Munehisa Homma become a legendary rice trader and gained a huge fortune using candlestick analysis. The charts gave Homma and others an overview of open, high, low, and close market prices over a certain period. This style of charting is very popular due to the level of ease in reading and understanding the graphs. The Japanese rice traders also found that the resulting charts would provide a fairly reliable tool to predict future demand.

The candlesticks themselves and the formations they shape were give colorful names by the Japanese traders. Due in part to the military environment of the Japanese feudal system during this era, candlestick formations developed names such as "counter attack lines" and the "advancing three soldiers". Just as skill, strategy, and psychology are important in battle, so too are they important elements when in the midst of trading battle.

The method was picked up by Charles Dow around 1900 and remains in common use by today's traders of financial instruments.

What do Candlesticks Look Like?

Candlesticks are usually composed of the body (black or white), and an upper and a lower shadow (wick). The wick illustrates the highest and lowest traded prices of a security during the time interval represented. The body illustrates the opening and closing trades. If the security closed higher than it opened, the body is white or unfilled, with the opening price at the bottom of the body and the closing price at the top. If the security closed lower than it opened, the body is black, with the opening price at the top and the closing price at the bottom. A candlestick need not have either a body or a wick.

To better highlight price movements, modern candlestick charts (especially those displayed digitally) often replace the black or white of the candlestick body with colors such as red (for a lower closing) and blue or green (for a higher closing).