Lessons › Candlesticks › Bodies and wicks: the tug of war
World 1 · Candlesticks · lesson 2 · level 1
Bodies and wicks: the tug of war
A big body means one side won; a long wick means a push that got pushed back.
In one line
A long body, a long wick, a tiny body. Each one tells you who won the tug of war.
Explained simply
Imagine a tug of war between buyers pulling price up and sellers pulling it down. A big body means one team pulled the rope a long way and kept it there. A long wick means a team pulled hard but got dragged back.
The lesson
A long body means price travelled far from the open to the close, so one side stayed in control. A long wick means price reached that level during the period but could not stay there. A small body with wicks on both sides shows a close fight with no clear winner. Where the close sits inside the range tells you who finished stronger.
A worked example
Illustrative example: a candle opens at 50, rises to a high of 60, drops to a low of 48 and closes at 52. The range is 12 (60 minus 48), the body is only 2 (52 minus 50), and the upper wick is 8 (60 minus 52). Buyers pushed price up by 10 at one point (50 to 60), but sellers pushed most of it back. The close sits only 0.33 of the way up the range ((52 minus 48) divided by 12), so the long upper wick shows a rejected push.
The same idea at four levels
- Beginner. A big body means one side won the period, and a long wick means a push that got pushed back.
- Foundation. A close near the top of the range shows buyers finished strong, and a close near the bottom shows sellers did.
- Intermediate. A small body with long wicks on both sides means neither side won, like a tug of war that ends in the middle.
- Advanced. A long wick at a level that stopped price before tells traders more than the same wick in the middle of nowhere.
- Expert. One candle records one period's fight, so experts read it with the trend, nearby levels and the next candles instead of treating it as a forecast.
Mistakes to avoid
- Judging a candle only by its color and ignoring where it closed within its range.
- Reading one candle as a forecast instead of a record of one period's fight.
- Treating every long wick as important, even in the middle of a quiet range.
Check yourself
What does a big body usually mean?
One side stayed in control for the period. Price travelled far from the open to the close.
What does a long upper wick show?
Price went up but was pushed back down. The wick marks a level price reached but could not keep.
A small body with long wicks on both sides shows what?
A close fight with no clear winner. Both sides pushed hard and neither held the ground.
Which picture fits bodies and wicks best?
A tug of war between buyers and sellers. Each candle is the result of a push and a pull.
A candle's range is 20 and it closes just 2 below its high. Who finished stronger?
Buyers, because the close is near the top. A close near the high shows buyers ended in control.
Goal of this lesson: Judge whether buyers or sellers controlled a period from body size and wick length.