Body and wicks – trading math lesson

Charts in this lesson are generated. They are not real market data and predict nothing.

The body spans the open and the close. The wicks (or shadows) run from the body to the high and the low. A long wick is a price that was reached and then rejected before the close.

Measure in shares of the range

Absolute sizes depend on the price and the market. Shares of the range do not, so the same rule works on a $20 stock and on a $2,000 index.

body = |close − open| · upper wick = high − max(open, close) · lower wick = min(open, close) − low

here: body 0.07 ÷ range 0.52 = 13%; lower wick 0.42 = 81%; upper wick 0.03 = 6%

Body, upper wick and lower wick always add up to the whole range: 13% + 6% + 81% = 100%. That is what makes the rules in module A2 precise.

Open 100.00High 101.00Low 94.00Close 100.80

Range 7.00 · body 0.80 (11%) · upper wick 0.20 (3%) · lower wick 6.00 (86%) · up candle (close above open)

Hammer shape: lower wick at least 2× the body, short upper wick (a hammer after a decline, a hanging man after a rise)

Open 20.00, high 20.50, low 18.00, close 20.25. What share of the range is the lower wick?

Simulator round · Which part is the biggest?

Generated chart. It is not real market data and predicts nothing.