A former New York Stock Exchange Arca market maker argues most candlestick pattern lists are noise, and that traders only need four — useful for anyone learning to read charts without drowning in jargon.

• Every candle carries four facts: where price opened, closed, and the highest and lowest it traded in that stretch of time.
• The thin lines above and below a candle — wicks — mark failed moves, and they show where big money stepped in to buy or sell.
• Only four patterns are worth trading: the hammer, the shooting star, engulfing candles, and the doji.
• An engulfing candle only counts if it trades past the prior candle's extreme *and* closes past the other end — the looser definitions most people use lose money.
• Where a pattern shows up matters more than its shape; the same hammer is strong at a level the market has already defended twice and meaningless in the middle of a choppy range.

Outlook: The next installment tackles timeframes — why the same day can look like a crash on one chart and a clean uptrend on another.