Candlesticks

Wick (shadow)

Defined in 2 lessons · Updated October 17, 2026

Definition

A wick, or shadow, is the thin line above or below a candle's body that marks the highest and lowest prices of the period. A long upper wick shows price was pushed up, then sold back down before the close.

Example

Suppose a stock opens at $30.00, rallies to $32.00, trades as low as $29.90 and closes at $30.40. The upper wick runs from $30.40 to $32.00, a $1.60 line four times the height of the $0.40 body, showing that sellers erased most of the $2.00 rally before the close. The lower wick is only $0.10 long, from the $30.00 open down to $29.90.

Hypothetical numbers, for illustration only.

A 5-minute chart labeled with this section's terms: yesterday's last candle closes at $100 and today opens at $104, a gap; a dashed box around today's first three candles marks the opening range; volume bars sit underneath; and a magnifier zooms into one candle with a long upper wick to label the wick and the body. A note at the top: each candle is 5 minutes.

Also defined in

Candlestick Patterns Explained: The Patterns Worth Knowing→ How to read this candlestick patterns guide

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