Definition

Wick

Territory where aggression attempted to relocate price during a candle but was reversed before the close.

Full Explanation

A wick is a record of a failed attempt. Price actually reached the wick's extreme — the high of an upper wick is where upward relocation was stopped, the low of a lower wick is where downward relocation was stopped. But by the time the candle closed, that territory had been given back. Aggression pushed, encountered opposing liquidity or counter-aggression sufficient to reverse it, and price retreated. A wick is evidence that movement was attempted — not that it succeeded. A long wick followed by a close back in the middle of the range is a very different story than a large body in the same direction.

In the Book 1 chapter

Chapter 10 · Reading the Current Market

Bodies and Wicks

If friction is how you read the relationship between candles, bodies and wicks are how you read what’s happening inside a single candle. They’re two different scales of the same conversation — one zoomed out, one zoomed in — and you need both to get a complete picture of what the market is doing.

From the Blog 1 post

What a Candle Is Actually Telling You

Most traders learned to read candles as signal generators. A hammer means potential reversal. An engulfing candle means momentum shift. A doji means indecision. Learn the shapes, recognize the patterns, place the trade.

Videos 1 video

Why does price actually move?

When aggressive market orders arrive at a price, exactly one of two things happens: the resting liquidity at that price absorbs them and price stays put, or the liquidity is insufficient and price relocates to the next available price.