In the world of technical analysis, candlestick analysis is one of the most widely used techniques. The reason? It’s simple, visual, and easy to understand. You don’t need to be an experienced trader with a master’s degree in financial analysis to understand candlestick patterns. Understanding candlesticks is straightforward. Each candlestick represents a single day in the market. The wide part of the candle is green if that day was positive for that stock, and red if it was negative.
read also: would you rather do forex trading or cryptocurrency trading?
From there, we can dive deeper into each candlestick pattern, which provides more information about where a stock may be headed shortly. There are many different types of candlestick patterns that traders can look for when analyzing potential new investments or current positions. Therefore let’s take a look at some general principles before we get into more detail about different candlestick patterns and their meaning:
Trading in the direction of the trend
When trading, it’s important to be aware of the current trend so you can make informed decisions about when to enter and exit positions. If you’re trading in the direction of the trend, your trading strategy is focused on buying when the price is going up and selling when it’s going down.
read also: This is why the Forex Market is Open 24/7
The most reliable way to determine the trend of a stock is to examine its moving average. You can also use other trend-based indicators like the Parabolic SAR. Moving averages are calculated by adding the closing price of a stock over a certain amount of time and then dividing that total by the amount of time. For example, the 50-day moving average is the average of the closing prices over the past 50 days. A rising moving average means that the stock has been gradually increasing over a certain amount of time. A falling moving average indicates that the stock has been gradually decreasing over a certain amount of time.
Understanding current market conditions
The market’s mood is a significant factor in determining the price action of stocks, commodities, and currencies. When the market is bullish, traders are feeling optimistic and are eager to buy stocks. When the market is bearish, traders are pessimistic about the future and are eager to sell their stocks. You can identify a bullish or bearish market by analyzing the current sentiment.
read also: here are the Forex Trading Robots that will make you rich
Using sentiment indicators such as the VIX, Put/Call Ratios, and the CBOE Skew. The VIX is a volatility index that measures the expected volatility of the S&P 500 over the next 30 days. The VIX is calculated using the implied volatility of S&P 500 options. The higher the VIX, the more traders expect the market to be volatile.
The Put/Call Ratio is a sentiment indicator that shows the ratio of bearish and bullish options contracts on the S&P 500. This indicator is useful because it shows whether traders are eager to buy or sell stocks and how they’re positioning themselves. CBOE Skew is an indicator that measures the relative demand for puts and calls in the market.
Knowing your investing style and risk tolerance
Investment style is an important factor to consider when trading. Some traders are more focused on growing their wealth slowly over time, while others are more focused on consistently making small but consistent profits. Your risk tolerance is another important factor to consider when trading.
read also: learn the basics of Forex Trading and how to trade successfully
Simply put, your risk tolerance is how much risk you’re willing to take on when investing. Knowing your investment style and risk tolerance will help you make more informed trading decisions and avoid costly mistakes. Traders have different preferences when it comes to candlestick patterns. Some traders are more focused on the bullish/bearish direction of the market, while others are focused on specific candlestick patterns.
Black Marubozu, Dark Cloud, and Long-Shadowed candlesticks
** Black Marubozu candlestick** – This candlestick pattern is a bearish reversal pattern that forms when a stock closes at the lowest price of the trading period and has no upper wick. This is the most reliable candlestick pattern in terms of predicting a bearish market.
Dark Cloud Candlestick – This candlestick pattern is a bearish reversal pattern that forms when a stock closes at the lowest price of the trading period but has an upper wick. This is a less reliable candlestick pattern compared to the Black Marubozu, but it’s still a good indicator that the stock may be heading in the direction of the trend.
** Long-Shadowed Doji candlestick** – This candlestick pattern is a bearish continuation pattern that forms when a stock closes within the price range of the previous day, but with a long lower shadow. This pattern indicates that the stock will likely continue to move in the direction of the trend.
Morning Star and Evening Star candlesticks
** Morning Star candlestick**- A bullish reversal pattern that forms when a stock closes above the open and then closes higher than the previous candlestick’s high and forms a long upper wick. This is a very reliable candlestick pattern that indicates that the trend is shifting to bullish.
** Evening Star candlestick**- A bearish reversal pattern that forms when a stock closes below the open and then closes lower than the previous Candlestick’s low and forms a long lower wick. This is a very reliable candlestick pattern that indicates that the trend is shifting to bearish.
Bullish Engulfing and Bearish Engulfing candlesticks
** Bullish Engulfing candlestick** – A bullish continuation pattern that forms when the current day’s candlestick completely engulfs the previous day’s candlestick by closing above the previous day’s candlestick’s upper shadow and then closes above the previous day’s high. This indicates that the trend will continue to move in the direction of the trend.
Bearish Engulfing Candlestick– A bearish continuation pattern that forms when the current day’s candlestick completely engulfs the previous day’s candlestick by closing below the previous day’s candlestick’s lower shadow and then closes below the previous day’s low. This indicates that the trend will continue to move in the direction of the trend.
Conclusion
Candlesticks are a powerful yet simple tool that can help you better understand and monitor the daily price movement of stocks. There are many different types of candlestick patterns and each has its unique meaning. Understanding candlesticks and the different patterns that they form will help you make more informed trading decisions.
