{"slug":"wick","term":"Wick","category":"Market Structure","definition":"A wick (or shadow) is the thin line above or below a candle's body, marking prices that traded during the period but were rejected by the close. Long wicks show where aggressive orders met stronger opposition — a long lower wick means sellers pushed down and buyers slammed it back before the candle ended.","street":"A wick is the market showing you where it went and got slapped.","depth":["The body shows open-to-close; the wicks show the full traveled range. Context sets the meaning: a long lower wick into support on heavy volume is rejection — sellers pushed, buyers answered with size. The same wick in the middle of nowhere on thin volume is noise. Length relative to the body matters too: a wick 2–3x the body is a statement; a stub is nothing.","Two traps. First, wicks repaint until the candle closes — that big 4-hour 'rejection' can become a full-bodied breakdown two hours later, so wait for the close before acting on it. Second, a wick through a level is often a liquidity sweep, not a failed move: price went there to collect stops, which means the level did its job. Wick extremes also mark unfinished business — price revisits them more often than feels random."],"live":{"label":"Pull up the chart and study the wicks →","href":"/charts"},"related":["liquidity-sweep","stop-hunt","support-resistance"]}