At its core technical analysis is a method of evaluating the underlying value of a particular asset or commodity. The goal through technical analysis is to identify trading opportunities through the study of trends and patterns seen on charts. This can include historical data relating to price, volume, candlestick patterns, implied volatility and much more.

Simplifying the study of charts, it is key to understand the various types and what the data on those charts means. The main charts used by technical analysts, (whose role is to study charts on a day-to-day basis) are OHLC bars and Candlestick charts. Both provide the same data but in a different form.

OHLC – is a type of bar chart that shows open, high, low, and closing prices for each data entry point. For example, daily, or specific time intervals 15 minutes, 4 hours….