What makes the open and close of each bar any different from the price fluctuation during the bar? That is why talk about open and close on any period whcih doesnt reflect the markets actual opening and closing?
For me, I see the close (at least on stocks) as the price that someone is willing to assume the risk of holding overnight / ETH trading. The open is useful for determining the direction of the day's move towards that close.
Somebody some time along the way probably thought open/close were important... became convention. Save your brain some anguish and forget about it. Hi/Lo is much more important at chart extremes.
Could you explain what you mean by Hi/Lo( over what period? What do you mean by chart extremes?) So would recommend not using OHLC at all for markets that are always open since it doesnt really add any extra information? If so then what indicator do you generally use to trade?
That makes sense, but for stocks. But whatabout candlesticks on stocks which are shorter than 1 day? What is the use of them?
If candles have any real value at all... it begins with the daily chart. Intraday candle bodies are not reliable for anything.... which is why I said, "fuggetaboutit" I've used candles for so long, it seems the natural way to display charts.... but there is no functional difference with bar charts.
They still have daily candles for various periods, including daily. All markets still have swing highs/lows... whether differentiated with candles or other makes no difference.
The direction? I learned charting on daily candles, so now the charts just look more natural even in shorter time frames. As Scataphagos said, candles look pretty.
Yeah, you can make'm any color you want. Sierra chart even lets you select.... Upper wick color Lower wick color Candle body color Candle body outline color Can be totally different whether it's an up or down candle. See? Prettier!