Each candle records four prices from one slice of time. Its color tells you whether the slice ended higher or lower than it started.
Hover or tap a numbered label to learn what each part means.
A candle is a tiny container holding four prices: where the period opened, the highest price hit, the lowest price hit, and where the period closed. The body (the rectangle) connects the open and the close. The thin lines above and below (the wicks) reach to the high and the low. Color is just shorthand: green if the close was higher than the open (price went up during this period), red if the close was lower than the open (price went down during this period).
This candle opened at 100, dipped briefly to 99, climbed to 104, and closed at 103. Green body, because the close (103) is higher than the open (100). The lower wick shows the brief dip, the upper wick shows the brief peak above the close.
When you see a green candle, you know two things instantly: the period ended above where it started (close > open), AND the body fills the open-to-close range. Everything else is in the wicks.
Why people mix it up: Both the open and the close sit on the body's edges, so beginners flip them constantly.
How to tell them apart: On a GREEN candle, the open is at the BOTTOM of the body and the close is at the TOP. On a RED candle, the open is at the TOP and the close is at the BOTTOM. The rule: the close is always on the side the candle MOVED toward.
Why people mix it up: On a green candle with no upper wick, the high IS the top of the body — but on a candle WITH an upper wick, the high is above the body.
How to tell them apart: The HIGH is the top of the WICK (the highest point the candle reaches). The TOP OF THE BODY is the higher of the open and close. On a candle with a long upper wick, those are two different things.