Q: I am new to candlestick charting. Where do I start?

A good place to start is to go through how to read candlestick charts, candlestick chart patterns, and candlestick chart reading. This will give you solid foundations to build on. Make sure you complete the free quiz each time - practice makes perfect!

Q: Why do I see horizontal lines on some charts instead of candlesticks?

Some stocks are thinly traded, and some have low volatility. Daily charts of stocks with low liquidity typically show the lines you see during the quiet period of the day. The horizontal lines are actually a 4-price doji, whereby the open, high, low and close are all the same. Some charting software displays a line for the trading period even if no trading takes place.

Candlestick charting is of little use for stocks with extremely low volume or volatility. Remember that resource stocks like RIO and BHP normally have higher volatility than for example banks. When it comes to thinly-traded stocks, my advice is - avoid them.