Stock Tool #2: Candlesticks

i'm surprised at the number of beginner investors who look at line graphs when checking out a stock. everyone who reads this blog probably uses candleesticks anyway, but when i was first getting started with stocks, no one told me about candlesticks until i found out myself.

so, i'm sure the aspiring FYMs who are trying to learn about trading will appreciate the amount of information that candlesticks reveal. this tutorial at investopedia is pretty good to get the basics down. be sure to read all 4 articles in the series.

after you get candlesticks down and watch them in action on realtime tickers, you can start training yourself to look for conspicuous patterns in your charts. in practice, the candlestick that i find the most useful is the DOJI. i use it a lot to look for reversals on real-time daily tickers, so i can buy/sell at relative maxima/minima. the other candlestick patterns cannot really be used alone reliably.. theyre usually used as confirmation of another preceeding pattern. so yeah, after you master stock tool #2, stop using line graphs!! theyre useless!