Candlestick questions

Hi everyone, I am sort of beginner and just started trading with real money.

When I trade, I heavily rely on Candlestick patterns and I have a question about the Gaps.

I have live account with Oanda and their candlestick chart doesn't show any gaps which is normal. Since MetaTrader offers lots of functions, I use both platforms and I noticed that on the same time frame the shapes of candles on both platforms are not exactly the same and what's more I see lots of gaps on Metatrader chart!

I know alot of you use MetaTrader and any advice will be appriciated.

Thank you.

I think you now have learned the truth.... shhhhhhhh don't tell anyone... there really are no gaps !!! But very likely, wherever all those other guys see gaps, that space will likely get filled back in...

I don't see gaps either !!! I use oanda too.... shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

And I can trade too... while everyone else is waiting for their broker to open.... shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

gaps are important. If price move easily past it, then it's not important. But if you see high wave candles, hammers, etc. around that area..you need to take that gap into account

I use FXtrek charts and do sometimes get gaps on the daily/weekly charts when the market is closed over the weekends. I use these gaps to good advantage as gaps will be filled. I have noticed that once a gap is filled there is a good probability price will bounce.

Gaps on short term (under 60 minutes) charts are for the most part meaningless.

Gaps on longer term (again above 60 minutes) charts are not very common and so are important.

Thats when you can try to gauge with candlesticks, although the Euro gapped up on New Years Day, was filled 2 days later and continued down till 1/7/07, but did not show any specific candle patterns that I am aware of.

On 60 min chart there was a doji or two and then later a hammer. What I mainly saw was Euro trading near a previous high 12/20/06 and also when a new year starts there is usually a reversal, even if only short term. It happened 6 out of the first 8 years of the Euro's existance. Now make that 7 out of the first 9 years.

But in the end currencies being a 24 hour market, looking for gaps is not the best use of one's trading time. I don't even look at time based charts other than daily/weekly. I use tick charts for intraday.

If you're using candlesticks, realize that they must be used in conjunction with something else, like an oscillator, fibs, etc., whatever's your poison. Also, a lot of patterns that apply in markets that actually close do not apply in forex. You have to visually adapt a lot of patterns to a non-gapping market, and, BTW, I use Oanda, too, and the gaps on other people's platforms don't always get filled. Hell, there are no gaps on Oanda...

It seems like every time I try to trade a gap fill I get skunked, even though when I look at it historically it works out most of the time. I think it's just another trading myth, and thanks to TD for getting me away from that...

I really don't want to sound pedantic, but I was always taught that when talking about candles, they are not called 'gaps' but rather 'windows' - gaps are in bar charts... and instead of saying "filling a gap" it's "closing a window"...

I might be wrong though...

whenever I see gaps .. I get out of the market immediately and wait for the next action.....

Although you are right when describing it in a candlestick sense, an absence of trading in a particular zone is a gap regardless of how the data is plotted. Although I have commented here on candlesticks, I don't find any greater value in them than plain old bars. But no matter how I feel about them, they are widly popular.