The Exchange: How it Works


Study the Trading Chart

The trading chart displays information that can help you decide when to enter and exit a position. There are many kinds of trading charts: bar charts, line charts, point and figure, market profile and candlesticks. For this example, we’ll focus on candlesticks, one commonly used chart type.

 
Market High
Market Low
Starting Price
Ending Price
Market High
Market Low
Starting Price
Ending Price
 

A candlestick chart is a combination of a line chart and a bar graph. You can change chart types depending on your preferred view, but most traders prefer candlesticks because of the depth of information each stick can convey. Each candlestick gives you four key pieces of information within your selected time interval.

Again, red and green are important visual indicators. This time, the stick will be red if the market started the time interval higher and ended lower. But what do the different lengths mean?

Each stick and wick on the chart tells you where the market has been and where it could be going. Typically, each candlestick represents only a small portion of the trading period, 10 minutes, for example.

Market High
Market Low
Starting Price
Ending Price
Short Stick
Indicates little price movement throughout the trading period.
Market High
Market Low
Starting Price
Ending Price
Long Stick
Indicates large price movement throughout the trading period.
Market High
Market Low
Starting Price
Ending Price
Short Wick
Shows that most of the trading happened close to the starting price.
Market High
Market Low
Starting Price
Ending Price
Long Wick
Shows that the price moved significantly.
Market High
Market Low
Starting Price
Ending Price
Doji
Tells you the period’s beginning and ending prices were nearly identical.
Market High
Market Low
Starting Price
Ending Price
Dragonfly Doji
Tells you the opening, closing and highest prices of the period were nearly identical.

Understanding these charts will allow you to do technical analysis of the corn market, which can help you spot trends and capitalize on potential opportunities.