What Are the 20, 50, and 200 EMAs?
An exponential moving average gives more weight to recent observations within a selected lookback window.
Read the draftTrading Concepts
Reading Candles Across Multiple Timeframes
A candle summarizes a defined interval's open, high, low, and close. Switching from one minute to an hour changes the amount of trading compressed into each mark; it does not change what the four prices mean.
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Read one candle first
The body spans the open and close, while the extremes mark the high and low. A green or red color convention usually indicates whether the close is above or below the open; always check the chart's legend. A one-minute candle and a 60-minute candle can tell different stories about the same session.
The forming candle is provisional
While an interval is still open, its high, low, and eventual close can change. A pattern visible at 10:04 may disappear by the 10:05 close. Compare completed bars when you need a settled observation, and label live forming-bar readings as provisional.
A useful comparison
Suppose a hypothetical stock rises sharply in one five-minute candle and then gives the move back. The 60-minute candle may finish nearly unchanged. The short interval shows the burst; the longer interval shows that it did not persist. Neither view alone proves a durable trend.
Sources and further reading
- Alpaca Market Data FAQFeed coverage, entitlements, and recent historical data