Stocks & Commodities V. 24:13 (10-14): Better Trade Management With Candlesticks by Tracy Knudsen, CMT

Stocks & Commodities V. 24:13 (10-14): Better Trade Management With Candlesticks by Tracy Knudsen, CMT

Using candlestick charts on an intraday basis can help uncover entry and exit points that have optimal risk/reward scenarios.

Candlestick charts (sometimes referred to as candle charts) are more than 100 years old as a technique and, as such, are older than the bar charts and point & figure techniques that are the basis of technical analysis. Yet candle charts, originally from Japan, were unknown to the Western world until Steve Nison introduced them in the 1980s.

Candlestick trading techniques have now become one of the most-discussed forms of technical analysis around the world. These days, almost every technical analysis software package and real-time charting system includes candlestick charts, attesting to their popularity and usefulness. The interest in candle charts continues to expand for many reasons, not the least of which are:

• Candlestick charts are easy to understand. Anyone, from the first-time chartist to the seasoned professional, can easily harness the power of candle charts. As I will show later, this is because the data that is required to draw the candlestick chart is the same as needed for the bar chart (high, low, open, and close).