In learning about technical analysis, there are many terms for what can be potentially the top of the mountain climb on a chart, the highest peak before the fall. There is a hanging man, dark cloud cover, shooting star, or a gravestone doji. All can be ominous candlesticks or candlestick patterns illustrating the top of the climb, showing the next move will most likely be down.
In studying all of these patterns and types of bars, I was allured and excited to learn to exercise a whole other part of my brain. Analyzing these patterns and understanding their meanings was simply intriguing to me. That intrigue remains, but this week I have a deeper connection to the life of these patterns.
They are just colored sticks on the computer screen, some green and some red, some with long shadows and some horizontally flat. Yet, this week, I fully understood their power. The power within these candlesticks is created by the power of mass psychological panic, or hope. This week, I have seen panic.
I never thought, as I was studying over the past months, that I would cry upon seeing another long red candlestick. I cried because it was such a strong symbol of the sadness, fear and pain that the world is feeling. This may sound dramatic, and indeed it is compared to the symbols and images of despair currently happening in Japan. Yet, for me, it truly hit home how powerful these patterns are in communicating the simple and stark reality of panic.
It was much easier to enjoy the simplicity in the meaning of these candlesticks when they were long and green and climbing up into a seemingly endless blue sky over the past few months - that was a symbol of hope.
I learned today that there are people, traders, investors, who buy at the bottom. It sounds as if they are waiting in those valleys, looking up at the rocks falling down from the cliff, with the knowledge, with the hope, that they can use those rocks to rebuild. It sounds as if those people will not only hold enough positivity and strength to rebuild Japan and the psychological health of those who have suffered, but also will hold enough hope to create those next smaller, but significant, green bars climbing upward. Is this not the same hope and spirit that has moved us all forward during dark hours? No matter how many more red candles may come our way, I will continue to stand firm with those waiting patiently, gathering their strength, to rebuild.
