When a wick is not a reversal

Students often arrive with screenshots of long lower wicks labeled “buyer reclaim.” Sometimes that story is true. Often it is only a pause inside an intact downtrend.

Start with the swing that still governs

Ask which swing high or low still defines the auction on your working timeframe. If sellers continue to print lower highs after the wick, the candle is commentary, not a change of character. Mark the governing swing in a thicker pencil than the wick itself.

Require a break before the signal talk

In our room, a trend reversal signal is not discussed until price takes out a structural reference that mattered to the prior move — or until a clear change of character appears. That rule alone deletes half of the impulsive annotations we see in first-week homework.

A short drill

Take five historical downtrends. For each, circle every long lower wick. Accept only those that coincide with a break of a prior swing high or a decisive reclaim of a broken level on the same timeframe. Count how many survive. Bring the count to class; the number is usually smaller than pride expects.

Dramatic candles attract attention. Market structure decides whether they deserve a place on your map.