I have been reading the candlestick patterns over and over again but have still not grasp it. it seems there are so many shapes and combinations…Is there an easier way of knowing what you need or what to look for from all these shapes? Which ones are more important than others?
When i start trading eventually, i want to be able to make money [B][U]everyday[/U][/B]. It appears that you would be looking through few weeks or months before making a decision on these charts. Am I confused?
You need to goto your search engine and type in candlestick patterns. Goto youtube.com and just look for anything you can find. When your ready to spend money on books I recommend “The candlestick course” by Steve Nison.
I’m no candlestick expert, but I know that you can’t make any decision based on one candle alone. You have to look for patterns of multiple candles, usually at least three together.
Green candle, red candle, long shadow, short shadow mean nothing by themselves. You need a pattern.
Read the info suggested and it should become a little clearer.
I’ve discovered this wonderful site about a month ago and decided to join in.
I’ve never used candlesticks before, but since I plan to use them for Forex trading, I need to learn about them. I’ve came across two books, but I can’t decide which one to buy and read.
The latter is quite extensive and I’m not sure if I need to go in such details. Greg’s book is a bit shorter and it also features a lot of great insight (he also wrote the Candlesticks chapter in “Technical Analysis of the Financial Markets”).
Anyway, I was wondering if anyone had a chance to read both (or just one of them) and could recommend which one to buy.
My “tools of the trade” are going to be candlesticks, trend lines and pivot points. I don’t plan to use any other indicators.
Steve Nison is the book to get, he is known for being the first person to lay it out in black n white, for the western world on candlesticks. Or that is his claim to fame anyways. ;o)
You can pick it up on Amazon, but it is still kinda pricey even used. It is pack with enough info to be worth its weight, if your serious about Candlestick trading.
It seems like it’s hard now sunny, but I assure you that if you keep reading and studying them, eventually you will start to realize them on live charts and go…“hey! I recognize that!”.
The thing that helped me learn them faster was to actually draw them all out by hand a few times each, that should speed up the learning process up I think
That was exactly the same with me. I did the quiz and got about three questions right. Then I left the names and patterns and concentrated on what candlesticks represent, i.e. the open, high, low and close prices. Then it all came to me very easily. I re-did the quiz and got 100%. If you work out the market is doing at a particular candlestick, then it all becomes clear.
I bought Nison’s “The Candlestick Course” on Amazon.com. It is a big sized paperback, I bought a new/used (looks brand new to me) for about $35, the publisher’s price is $65. You have questions at the end of each chapter and then he explains the proper answer in great detail, it is not a “hard” read. I highly recommend it it for an introduction to candlesticks. And one thing he stresses early on - use candlesticks with western indicators.
But I really wanted to ditch Stochastics, MACD and other indicators for Forex trading. I use them with my stock investing and I’m quite happy with them (I use 4 indicators on Weekly and Daily time frames), but I was inspired by this topic on “indicator-free” FX trading.
But I’m still pretty far away from trying the real thing. I don’t even paper trade yet. There is still a lot of reading left for me.
Thanks for all your contributions. I am particularly happy for the discussion generated so far. I have found the following —Japanese Candlestick Charting Explained—as suggested very helpful at the moment. My second question which has so far not been addressed is…reading these various patterns, it talks about watching for days, or weeks, or months…for someone like me who wants to trade everyday, am i missing something?
I trade intraday using 12 time frames. They range from 20 mins to 1 hour.
1/5 min are included for good entries. My trading is semi scalping.
You see, candlesticks work in any time frame, just that they are more reliable in larger timeframes.
I then see the patterns very quickly and use them.
But the point I want to stress is this. I trade from extremes - you must give yourself a chance. With an extreme, the trade has a high probabiliy of going only one way - and that is what you want.
So therefore, I usse Bolinger bands and trade only if the patterns touch or cross the outer bands. A stop loss is then not really needed (caution) because the BB replaces it.
Once you recognize the patterns, the next thing is to set your entry correctly.
I use special techniques to do this to get maximum benefit.
i wish i understand all you were saying to me in your reply. maybe when i have been learning for a few months i would grasp the message. i can see there is a lot for me to learn here.
I felt and sometimes feel the same way sunny.There is such a huge learning curve in all this.You think you got it, than realize you don’t.I have had that happen quite a few times now, because there is something always around the corner to learn next.I have only been messing around for about 3-4 months.But stay around here and listen to there advice and read,read,read,good things come to those who have patience and a goal stick with it!!!
