Psychology Behind The Candlestick

One of the most significant goals of technical analysis is to identify changes in direction of price action. Candlesticks give visual insight into what the market is market psychology, one of the most useful aspects of candlestick analysis is its ability to suggest changes in the sentiment of the market, and reversals in trend.

Most of the traders use candlesticks on their charts but don’t fully understand the signals given by candlesticks. The learning curve on how to correctly interpret a candlestick pattern obviously begins with studying what the shapes and shadows mean, and then seeing if a trend is indicated.

Understanding the psychology behind the candlestick is far more important than the pattern itself because in reality, when you’re trading live at the right hand edge of the chart, the patterns are not so easy to see. They never quite look as picture perfect as they do in the textbooks.

Long vs Short Candlestick

Long bodies indicate strong buying or selling. The longer the body is, the more intense the buying or selling pressure. Short bodies imply very little buying or selling activity.

The Shadow

If a candlestick has a long lower shadow and short upper shadow, this means there is a buyers rejection.

1. Sellers force price lower, but for one reason or another, 
2. Buyers came in and drove prices back up to end the session.

If a candlestick has a long lower shadow and short upper shadow, this means there is a sellers rejection.

1. Buyers force price higher, but for one reason or another,
2. Sellers came in and drove prices back down to end the session.