Learning to read a visual chart or graph to learn consolidated information about the world around us is a skill that most people are taught to develop in grade school. We're most typically exposed to bar charts or point graphs that display the fluctuations of a numerical value over time, between people or geographical areas. These systems are easy for most people to interpret, and in the case of the stock market, they can be used to represent points of price and occasionally price range with relative simplicity. But what about when you want to know more than just the day's opening or closing price? That's when candlestick charting becomes a handy tool to have.

Candlestick charting was developed by early Japanese rice trades who were determined to explore the link between the price, and the supply and demand for their product. Although prices were thought to fluctuate on regular cycles of increase and decrease, they found that the markets were also susceptible to strong influence based on the emotional state of the traders. Even today, trader motions can cause discrepancies between the value of a commodity and the price of a commodity.

If you want to start to use candlestick charting as part of your overall market evaluation strategy, it's important to understand the meaning of the symbols you'll see on the charts. The candlestick's characteristics can supply you with more information than may first meet the eye. The common candlestick is bar shaped, and can be hollow or solid. Hollow candlesticks are often simply referred to as white candlesticks, while solid candlesticks can be black, red, green or blue, depending on the method that you're using for creating the chart. Solid colored candlesticks are used to signal a bearish movement, while the white candlesticks demonstrate bullish movement.

The candlestick can be long or short, with the edges indicating opening and closing prices. Although being able to see the difference between opening and closing prices over time is very useful, that's not all candlestick charting can supply. Paying attention to the size and additional features can also provide information about the day's activity. You'll also notice that there are often thin lines, extending from these edges. These wicks, or shadows as they are sometimes referred to, indicate the full range of prices at which the stock was traded throughout the entire day. In addition to their specific characteristics, candlestick charts can be analyzed for trends, gaps, and patterns.