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Description

The area between the open and the close is called the real body, price excursions above and below the real body are shadows (also called wicks). Wicks illustrate the highest and lowest traded prices of an asset during the time interval represented. The body illustrates the opening and closing trades.

The price range is the distance between the top of the upper shadow and the bottom of the lower shadow moved through during the time frame of the candlestick. The range is calculated by subtracting the low price from the high price.

The fill or the color of the candle's body represent the price change during the period. Normally, if the asset closed higher than it opened, the body is displayed as hollow (or the green color is used), with the opening price at the bottom of the body and the closing price at the top. Conversely, if the asset closed lower than it opened, the body is displayed as filled (or the red color is used), with the opening price at the top and the closing price at the bottom. Modern charting software permits unrestricted customization of candle looks and colors, so the actual look of rising or falling price candles may vary.

A version of a candlestick chart is a hollow candlestick chart, where both fill and color are used to represent different price relationships:

A candlestick need not have either a body or a wick. Generally, the longer the body of the candle, the more intense the trading.

Candlesticks can also show the current price as they're forming, whether the price moved up or down over the time phrase and the price range of the asset covered in that time.

Rather than using the open, high, low, and close values for a given time interval, candlesticks can also be constructed using the open, high, low, and close of a specified volume range (for example, 1,000; 100,000; 1 million shares per candlestick). In modern charting software, volume can be incorporated into candlestick charts by increasing or decreasing candlesticks width according to the relative volume for a given time period.