How to Read a Stock Chart for Beginners

Overview

Learn to read candlestick charts, identify support and resistance, understand volume bars, and use basic indicators — everything you need to make sense of price action. Pair your chart-reading skills with tools like the RSI and MACD to confirm what the candles are telling you. For a hands-on charting experience, set up TradingView following our pro configuration guide. Once you're comfortable, explore more indicators to add depth to your analysis.

Steps

1. 1Open a free chart on TradingView and select a stock or crypto you're interested in.
2. 2Switch to candlestick view — each candle shows open, high, low, close for that period.
3. 3Identify the trend: higher highs and higher lows = uptrend; lower highs and lower lows = downtrend.
4. 4Draw horizontal lines at obvious support (price bounces up) and resistance (price gets rejected) levels.
5. 5Add volume bars at the bottom — rising volume on green candles confirms buying pressure.
6. 6Add one indicator (like the 50-period Moving Average) to see the trend direction at a glance.

Pro Tips

• Start with the daily timeframe before looking at smaller timeframes — see the big picture first.
• Green/white candles = close above open (bullish); red/black candles = close below open (bearish).
• Volume is the fuel — price moves without volume often fail.