Candlestick charts are thought to have been developed in the 18th century by Munehisa Homma, a Japanese rice trader of financial instruments Candlesticks are usually composed of the body (black or white), and an upper and a lower shadow (wick)The area between the open and the close is called the real body, price excursions above and below the real body are called shadows.Candlestick charts are a visual aid for decision making in stock, foreign exchange, commodity, and option trading.When the bar is white and high relative to other time periods, it means buyers are very bullish. The opposite is true for a black bar. Close = (open + high + low + close) / 4 High = maximum of high, open, or close (whichever is highest) Low = minimum of low, open, or close (whichever is lowest) Open = (open of previous bar + close of previous bar) / 2. Many patterns are preferred and deemed the most reliable by different traders. Some of the most popular are bullish/bearish engulfing lines; bullish/bearish long-legged doji and bullish/bearish abandoned baby top and bottom. In the meantime, many neutral potential reversal signals Eg. doji and spinning tops will appear that should put you on the alert for the next directional move.