Updated 2026-07-25
A wick is the thin line above or below a candlestick body, marking the high and low reached during the period outside the open-to-close range. A long wick means price traded there and was immediately rejected, so the level attracted flow but could not hold.
For liquidation work, wicks matter for two reasons. First, they are frequently where forced flow was consumed: a sweep into a cluster, liquidations fill, and price snaps back once there is nothing left to push it. Second, a wick on one venue is not necessarily a wick everywhere. Because liquidations are evaluated on mark price rather than one exchange's last trade, an isolated deep wick may not have liquidated anyone at that level. Reconcile the candle against mark-price history before concluding what a wick did. Related: stop hunt.