Candle wick (shadow)
Definition
A candle wick (shadow) is the thin line above or below the candle body. The upper wick marks the period's high, the lower wick its low; the body shows only the open and close. A long wick means price travelled far and came back: the market rejected that level. In binary options a wick does not affect the trade result; only the price at expiration counts.
What a candle is made of
| Element | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Body | the difference between the period's open and close: green when the close is above the open, red when below |
| Upper wick | the period's high: how far price rose but failed to hold |
| Lower wick | the period's low: how far it fell |
| Candle without a wick | a close right at the high or low: a strong impulse in one direction |
Wicks are the history of the fight inside the candle. The body tells who won by the close; the wicks tell how far the other side got.
What to read from wicks
- A long wick at a level means rejection. Price reached support or resistance and was thrown back. If the next candle confirms the direction, that is a bounce setup.
- A small body with a long wick is a pin bar: the market tried one direction and changed its mind sharply. At a level with a reaction such a candle is valued most.
- Long wicks on both sides mean indecision. Entering inside such a candle is risky: no direction has been chosen.
- A series of candles with long wicks in one direction means the level is holding and has already been tested several times.
Wicks and the trade result in binary options
A trade closes automatically at expiration at the price at that moment. Whatever happened inside the candle does not matter: price could have gone far against the entry on a wick and come back, and the trade still closes as a win. The reverse is also true: a "correct" wick in the middle of a candle guarantees nothing. So for short trades two things matter: where price ends up at the candle close and how much time it is given to get there.
False breakouts and wicks
A wick beyond a level with a close back inside is not a breakout but a test of it. A breakout counts once a candle body has closed beyond the level and the next candle has not returned inside. Level signal bots in BinoView Supercharts tell these cases apart: a wick poke is read as a bounce, a close beyond the zone as a breakout.
In the terminal
In BinoView Supercharts the candle close timer is enabled in the terminal settings: it shows how many seconds are left in the period, and therefore until the wick stops moving. For entries on long-wick candles the author of the videos waits for the candle to close and enters at the open of the next one.
How it differs from the body
The body is the result of the period, the wicks are its range. Indicators built on the close price (moving averages, RSI, MACD) do not see wicks at all; range indicators (ATR, levels drawn from highs and lows) count them fully. Hence the discrepancies: a candle with a long wick barely moves an EMA but noticeably raises ATR.
Frequently asked questions
What is the line sticking out beyond the candle body called?
The wick, also called the shadow. The upper wick runs from the body to the period's high, the lower one to the low. The body shows where price opened and closed; the wicks show where it managed to travel in between.
What does a long upper wick mean?
Price rose high, but by the candle close sellers pushed it back down: the level above did not hold. At resistance it is a sign of rejection and a possible bounce down. A single wick is not a signal by itself; context matters: the level, the trend, the next candle.
Does a level count as broken if only a wick touched it?
No. A wick poking through with a close back inside is a false breakout, the normal work of a level. A real breakout is a candle body closing beyond the level and a next candle that does not come back.