NOBERTRADES ACADEMY
LESSON 3 — READING PRICE CHARTS
Welcome back to NoberTrades Academy.
You now understand what Forex is and the basic mechanics behind a trade.
The next step is learning how to READ the market.
A Forex chart is simply a visual representation of how the price of an asset has moved over time.
Learning to read that movement is one of the most important skills a trader can develop.
1. WHAT IS A PRICE CHART?
A price chart shows the movement of an instrument over a selected period of time.
For example, you can open a chart for:
EUR/USD
GBP/USD
XAU/USD
USD/JPY
The chart allows you to see how price has moved in the past and helps you analyze what the market is doing.
However, remember:
A chart does not tell you exactly what will happen next.
It gives you information that can be analyzed to make a trading decision.
2. CANDLESTICKS
The most common way traders display price is through Japanese candlesticks.
Each candle represents price movement during a specific period.
A candle contains four important pieces of information:
OPEN
HIGH
LOW
CLOSE
OPEN — where price started during that period.
HIGH — the highest price reached.
LOW — the lowest price reached.
CLOSE — where price finished.
For example, if you are looking at a 1-hour chart, one candle represents one hour of price activity.
3. BULLISH AND BEARISH CANDLES
Candles can generally be classified as bullish or bearish.
A BULLISH candle closes higher than it opened.
This shows that buyers were stronger during that period.
A BEARISH candle closes lower than it opened.
This shows that sellers were stronger during that period.
The candle itself does not guarantee what happens next.
It simply shows you what happened during that particular period.
4. THE CANDLE BODY
The thick portion of a candlestick is called the BODY.
The body shows the distance between the opening and closing price.
A larger body generally indicates a stronger price movement during that period.
A smaller body indicates that the opening and closing prices were relatively close.
5. CANDLESTICK WICKS
The thin lines extending above or below the candle body are called WICKS, also known as shadows.
The upper wick shows how high price travelled before moving back down.
The lower wick shows how low price travelled before moving back up.
Wicks can provide information about rejection and changes in buying or selling pressure.
6. BUYERS AND SELLERS
Every price movement is the result of buyers and sellers interacting in the market.
When buying pressure becomes stronger, price may move upward.
When selling pressure becomes stronger, price may move downward.
When neither side has clear control, price may move sideways.
This is why traders study price behavior instead of simply looking at whether a candle is bullish or bearish.
7. TIMEFRAMES
Charts can be viewed using different timeframes.
Common examples include:
M1 — 1 minute
M5 — 5 minutes
M15 — 15 minutes
M30 — 30 minutes
H1 — 1 hour
H4 — 4 hours
D1 — 1 day
W1 — 1 week
Each timeframe provides a different view of the market.
A 5-minute chart shows much more short-term price movement than a daily chart.
A daily chart provides a broader view of market behavior.
There is no single "best" timeframe.
The appropriate timeframe depends on the trader's strategy, objectives, and style.
8. WHY TIMEFRAMES MATTER
Imagine looking at a map.
A close-up view shows small details.
Zooming out shows the bigger picture.
Charts work in a similar way.
Lower timeframes allow traders to see short-term movements.
Higher timeframes allow traders to see broader market conditions.
Professional analysis often considers more than one timeframe rather than relying entirely on a single chart.
9. PRICE MOVEMENT
Price does not normally move in a perfectly straight line.
Markets constantly move up, down, and sideways.
You may see:
Rising prices
Falling prices
Pullbacks
Consolidation
Breakouts
Rejections
These movements create the structure that traders analyze.
10. SUPPORT AND RESISTANCE
Two basic concepts every beginner should understand are SUPPORT and RESISTANCE.
SUPPORT is an area where buying interest has previously helped prevent or slow further downward movement.
RESISTANCE is an area where selling interest has previously helped prevent or slow further upward movement.
These are not necessarily exact lines.
They are better understood as areas where price may react.
Important:
Support does not guarantee that price will rise.
Resistance does not guarantee that price will fall.
They are simply areas that deserve attention.
11. READING THE STORY OF PRICE
Instead of looking at individual candles and asking:
"Should I BUY or SELL?"
Start asking:
What is price doing?
Who appears to have control?
Is price moving strongly or slowly?
Is the market trending or moving sideways?
Where has price reacted before?
What happened when price reached important areas?
This change in thinking is important.
A professional trader studies the STORY of price rather than reacting emotionally to every candle.
12. YOUR FIRST CHART-READING EXERCISE
Open a demo trading account and select a major Forex pair such as EUR/USD.
Choose the H1 timeframe.
Do not place a trade.
Simply observe the chart.
Identify:
• The most recent bullish candles
• The most recent bearish candles
• Areas where price moved strongly
• Areas where price moved sideways
• Previous areas where price reacted
• Whether the market appears to be rising, falling, or ranging
Your goal is observation — not prediction.
FINAL LESSON
Candlesticks are the language of price.
The better you understand that language, the easier it becomes to understand what the market is communicating.
But remember:
Reading candles alone is NOT a complete trading strategy.
In the next lesson, we will go deeper into how price creates STRUCTURE.
You will learn how traders identify trends, higher highs, higher lows, lower highs, lower lows, and ranging markets.
NOBERTRADES ACADEMY
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