Examples are hypothetical. This lesson is not a live trade recommendation or a promise of returns.
A chart is a compressed record
A persuasive pattern can leave important questions unanswered. Start by separating what the chart actually shows from what you infer. This exercise uses a practice environment and does not require a funded account.
Four values and their geometry
A candle summarizes open, high, low and close. The body joins open and close; the wicks reach the extremes. Colors are configurable and are not instructions to buy or sell.
Work through a hypothetical example
Let open be 100, high 105, low 98 and close 103. The range is 7, the body 3 and each wick 2. This is not a live quote or a trade result: execution, size, direction and costs have not been defined.
One candle does not establish the order of events
The paths 100→98→105→103 and 100→105→98→103 create the same completed candle. OHLC alone therefore cannot establish which intrabar order level was touched first. More detailed data is needed for that question.
Observation, interpretation, decision
A fifteen-minute candle aggregates an interval. Smaller intervals reveal different detail, not an automatic trading edge. Write three separate sentences: what you observed, what it might mean, and which missing conditions prevent a decision.
Assignment and completion criteria
Record ten completed practice candles. For each, write the four prices, one factual observation, one conditional interpretation and an unanswered question. The worked example answers are range 7, body 3 and wicks 2 and 2; the ordering of high and low is unknown. Grade clarity, not whether you guessed the next candle.
Next topic: market structure. This page contains lesson two; it does not claim every course video is complete.