A forex chart has two axes and four prices per candle.
The vertical axis is price. The horizontal axis is time. One candle or bar summarises the open, high, low and close—OHLC—inside the selected interval. Hover with a crosshair or open the Data Window when an exact value matters. MetaTrader 5 exposes price, time, bar and indicator values this way; MT4 can show OHLC in the top-left line. [1][2]
Higher prices sit above lower prices. Read exact values from the scale, not from the candle's pixel height.
Each candle occupies one interval. The label is normally the interval's opening time.
Move the crosshair to a candle to read its open, high, low and close instead of estimating.
The first chart price recorded in that interval.
The highest chart price reached before the interval ended.
The lowest chart price reached before the interval ended.
The last chart price when the interval completed.
The body compares open with close; the wicks show the full trip.
A bullish candle closes above its open. A bearish candle closes below it. The body is the open-to-close range, while the upper and lower wicks extend to the high and low. A tiny body means the open and close were near each other; it does not mean nothing happened.[3]
Bullish candle
The close is above the open. It says price finished the interval higher—not that the next candle must rise.
Bearish candle
The close is below the open. The body shows the open-to-close move; the wicks show the full high-to-low trip.
A strong open-to-close move for that interval. Compare it with nearby candles before calling it unusual.
Price reached higher and returned. It matters more at a pre-marked resistance area than in random space.
Price reached lower and returned. Wait for the method's confirmation rather than buying every tail.
Open and close are close together. It can mean balance, pause or noise; context decides.
Line, bar and candlestick charts answer slightly different questions.
Standard line, bar and candlestick charts can display the same market data. The difference is what they make easy to see. A line cleans away intrabar movement; a bar preserves OHLC with little visual weight; a candle makes the open-to-close relationship obvious. MT4 and MT5 provide all three. [1][2][3][8]
Fast view of closes
Useful for a clean overview. The line normally joins one chosen value per interval, often the close, so intrabar highs and lows disappear.
All four prices, less fill
The vertical stem shows high to low. The small left tick is the open and the right tick is the close.
OHLC with an obvious body
Usually easiest for comparing the close with the open and seeing wicks. Colours are a display choice, so check the platform settings.
For this guide: use normal candles. Heikin Ashi, Renko and other transformed chart types can be useful later, but their bars are not the same as raw time-based OHLC candles.
A timeframe tells you how much time one candle contains.
M15 means one candle covers fifteen minutes; H1 covers one hour; H4 covers four hours. Higher timeframes compress many small candles into fewer large ones. A pattern visible on M15 can vanish into a single H1 wick, even though the underlying price path is unchanged. [1][4][8]
Shows the route inside each hour. It also creates more noise and more tempting but incomplete patterns.
Each H1 candle takes the first M15 open, highest M15 high, lowest M15 low and final M15 close in that hour.
The whole path becomes one candle. It keeps the broad move and removes the order of the swings inside it.
Is price trending, ranging or changing character?
Where is price relative to dated support, resistance and recent structure?
Has the exact close, break, rejection or retest in the plan happened?
This three-chart stack is an example, not a law. Give each timeframe one job and keep it unchanged while you test. Four charts that all say “trend” add clutter, not confirmation.
The candle is not necessarily the price that opens your order.
A forex quote has two sides. The Bid is the price available to sell; the Ask is the price available to buy. Their gap is the spread. MT4 and MT5 documentation states that chart bars are generally drawn from Bid prices, which is why a buy entry can appear above the visible candle. [1][2]
Usually opens at Ask and later closes at Bid. The spread means the position begins below break-even before other costs.
Usually opens at Bid and later closes at Ask. An Ask line helps show how close a short stop really is.
On MT4 and MT5, enable the Ask line and read the symbol specification. MetaTrader says its charts are generally built from Bid prices. [1][2]
Zoom and scale can make an ordinary move look huge—or tiny.
The chart automatically stretches price to fill the panel unless its scale is fixed. That is useful for seeing detail, but it can distort your impression of volatility. Measure the price range, count the pips and compare a consistent window instead of judging strength from screen height. MetaTrader provides zoom and scale controls; TradingView also lets you adjust the visible interval and range. [1][2][8]
The move feels dramatic because the vertical range is narrow.
The same move looks small because more price history fits on screen.
- 01
Read the two prices on the vertical scale and calculate the range.
- 02
Keep a similar number of candles visible when comparing charts.
- 03
Check whether auto-scale, fixed scale or logarithmic scale is on.
The rightmost candle is usually still being written.
Until an interval ends, its current close is only the latest price. A green body can become red, a breakout can return inside the level, and both the high and low can extend. Closed-candle methods reduce that moving target by acting only after the stated interval completes. [4]
High, low, close, body and even colour can still change.
An intrabar breakout has not met a close-above rule.
The next candle starts and this candle's OHLC no longer changes.
Trend, range and location turn candles into a chart read.
Market structure is the sequence of meaningful swing highs and lows. Higher highs with higher lows describe an uptrend; lower highs with lower lows describe a downtrend. Repeated turns between two areas form a range. Support and resistance are better treated as testable areas than perfect hindsight lines.
Do not call one bullish candle a trend. Look for a sequence of meaningful swing highs and lows.
Mark areas where price repeatedly turned. The middle of a range often offers weak location and unclear invalidation.
Use repeated swing turns or a clear displacement away.
Contain the relevant bodies and wicks without covering half the chart.
A level drawn before the next move can be tested honestly.
Decide what close or price action would make the area no longer useful.
Draw only what changes a decision. MetaTrader's graphical objects include horizontal lines and rectangles that can mark support, resistance and other areas. Date the mark-up or save a screenshot before price reveals the result. [6]
One overlay and one lower panel are enough to learn the layout.
Some indicators sit on the price chart; a moving average is the familiar example. Oscillators such as RSI usually sit in their own panel with a separate scale. The indicator is calculated from price data, so it cannot replace the price structure that created it. MetaTrader lets indicators appear over price or in a separate window. [5]
Read swings, zones, closes and room to the next obstacle before the overlay.
A rising average with price above it can support a trend read. It is not an automatic buy.
Use a separate panel only if the strategy defines what its reading changes.
If removing an indicator would not change a decision, it is probably decoration. If two tools answer the same question, keep the clearer one. [5][7]
Two complete reads: one long, one sensible no-trade.
A useful chart read connects context, location, trigger and risk. It can end in a trade or a no-trade. The examples below use fixed, fictional prices so every step can be checked without pretending they are current signals.
- CONTEXTH4 is making higher highs and higher lows.
That gives a long bias; it does not give an entry.
- LOCATIONH1 returns to the dated 1.0830–1.0840 area.
The zone lines up with a rising 20 EMA, so two different observations point to the same location.
- TRIGGERAn H1 candle trades through the area and closes back above 1.0840.
The method waits for the close. A wick alone is not the trigger.
- RISKEntry 1.0840; invalidation 1.0824; target 1.0876.
That is 16 pips of chart risk and 36 pips of potential reward, or 2.25R before spread, commission and slippage.
- DECISIONEligible for demo practice.
Size comes from the 16-pip stop and the practice risk cap—not from a favourite lot size.
- CONTEXTH1 is sideways, not clearly bearish.
The M15 chart sits inside that H1 range.
- LOCATIONCurrent price is near the middle.
A short here has resistance above, support below and little clean room.
- TRIGGERThe apparent bearish candle still has six minutes left.
There is no completed M15 close below 1.2564, so the stated breakout rule has not fired.
- COSTThe displayed spread has widened from 0.9 to 2.4 pips.
That further weakens a small intraday reward window.
- DECISIONNo trade—and no need to find another timeframe.
The chart read is complete even though no order follows it.
Use this exact chart-reading routine until the order becomes natural.
- Name the instrument, feed and session.
Confirm the pair, broker or data source, platform time zone and whether the market is active.
- Check Bid, Ask, spread and scheduled events.
Write the current spread. If your plan blocks nearby high-impact news, stop here when the block applies.
- Read H4 structure with indicators hidden.
Mark only the latest meaningful swings. Say “uptrend”, “downtrend”, “range” or “unclear”.
- Mark the H1 working area.
Draw narrow, dated support or resistance zones and the next obstacle. Note whether price is at an edge or in the middle.
- Read the M15 trigger.
State the exact event: close above, close below, retest, rejection or no trigger. Ignore the forming candle if the rule needs a close.
- Add no more than two planned indicators.
Record what each changes. If it changes nothing, remove it.
- Write one sentence and decide.
“Context + location + completed trigger + invalidation = trade / wait / no trade.” Screenshot the chart before moving on.
The same reading process works on MT4, MT5 and TradingView.
MT4Open candles, OHLC and the Ask line
- Open a symbol from Market Watch, then choose the timeframe from the toolbar.
- Choose Charts → Candlesticks or press Alt+2.
- Press F8 for Properties. Use clear bull, bear, background and grid colours.
- In the chart's Common settings, turn on Show OHLC and Show Ask line.
- Use Insert → Indicators for the planned tool; drag graphical objects from the line-studies toolbar.
MT5Set timeframe, crosshair and Data Window
- Open a chart from Market Watch or File → New Chart.
- Choose Candlesticks from the toolbar or chart menu, then set M15, H1 or H4.
- Use the Crosshair for exact time and price; use the Data Window for OHLC, spread and indicator values.
- Open Properties to show the Ask price line, volumes or period separators if your process needs them.
- Save the uncluttered arrangement as a template so every practice chart starts the same way.
TRADINGVIEWChoose candles, interval and a clean layout
- Open Supercharts and confirm the symbol plus its data source at the top left.
- Open the chart-type menu and choose Candles.
- Use the interval menu for 15m, 1h and 4h; favourite them if those are the only practice views.
- Open Chart Settings → Symbol to set body, border and wick colours consistently.
- Add the planned indicator, then save the layout. Remember the rightmost candle may still be forming.
Most bad chart reads start with a simple screen habit.
Not checking the pair or timeframe
A perfect read on the wrong symbol is still wrong.
Say both out loud before marking.Reading a forming candle as finished
The body and wick can still change.
Check the countdown and rule wording.Forgetting the Ask line
A buy or short stop can execute away from the visible Bid candle.
Show both sides when placement matters.Zooming until a pattern looks perfect
Scale changes visual drama and visible context.
Use a consistent candle count and measure pips.Drawing levels after the move
Hindsight makes every zone look precise.
Date it or screenshot it before the result.Treating every wick as rejection
A wick is only a record of the interval's travel.
Require location and follow-through.Switching timeframe until one agrees
That turns analysis into answer-shopping.
Give each fixed timeframe one job.Stacking related indicators
Three momentum tools can repeat the same price input.
Name the unique question each one answers.Calling one candle a trend
Direction needs a meaningful sequence of swings.
Mark highs and lows before labelling structure.Forcing every read into a trade
Unclear context and poor location are useful findings.
Let “wait” and “no trade” be finished answers.