One 4H candle, four 1H candles

Episode 4 · Series S1: Candle basics · Comment keyword: 4H

Takeaway: Every candle is a block of time. A 4-hour candle is built from the four 1-hour candles inside it, so the same move can look red on one timeframe and green on another. Always read the timeframe first.

Hindi: Ek 4H candle mein chaar 1H candles. Bina timeframe, candle adhoori hai.

Watch the reel

Play the reel (video.mp4)

The idea in plain words

A 1H candle covers one hour. A 4H candle covers four hours. So one 4H candle contains four 1H candles, and its four prices come straight from them:

• Open = the open of the first 1H candle.
• High = the highest high of the four.
• Low = the lowest low of the four.
• Close = the close of the last 1H candle.

This is how “red on 1H, green on 4H” can both be true at the same moment.

Step by step

Step 1: Take four real 1H candles

Bitcoin (BTCUSDT spot), 1 Oct 2023, UTC:

1H candle	Open	High	Low	Close	Colour
20:00	27,103.02	27,147.00	27,033.10	27,109.75	green
21:00	27,109.75	27,187.99	27,091.78	27,180.37	green
22:00	27,180.38	28,065.51	27,155.00	27,996.43	green
23:00	27,996.43	28,025.12	27,861.47	27,992.57	red

The last one is red: it closed 3.86 below its open.

Step 2: Combine them into one 4H candle

• Open = 27,103.02 (first open)
• High = 28,065.51 (highest of the four, from 22:00)
• Low = 27,033.10 (lowest of the four, from 20:00)
• Close = 27,992.57 (last close)

Close minus open = +889.55, so the 4H candle is green, even though the last 1H candle is red. Binance’s own 4H candle for 20:00 UTC shows exactly these four prices.

Step 3: See it on the 4H chart

On a 4H chart those four hours are a single candle. Nothing changed in the market. Only the size of the time block changed.

Where do 4H candles start? On Binance they start at 00:00, 04:00, 08:00, 12:00, 16:00 and 20:00 UTC. Some chart platforms let you set a different timezone or session, which can shift where the 4H blocks begin, so the same 1H data can produce different 4H candles. Check your chart’s settings.

Common mistakes

1. Combining any four 1H candles in a row. They have to be the four that sit inside one 4H block.
2. Reading a candle without its timeframe. “A red candle” means nothing until you know if it is 1m, 1H or 4H.
3. Thinking timeframes disagree. They are the same price data grouped into different time blocks.
4. Taking the 4H close as the average. The close is simply the last 1H close, not an average.

Try it yourself

• Open BTCUSDT on 1H and pick a 4H block (for example 08:00 to 11:00 UTC).
• Write down the four 1H candles’ open, high, low and close.
• Build the 4H candle by hand: first open, highest high, lowest low, last close.
• Switch to 4H and compare. Do they match?
• Check which timezone your charting platform uses.

Next lesson

Episode 5: Long wick = reversal? Not always · /trading/learn/005-long-wick-not-always-reversal · comment WICK

Previous: Episode 3: Red candle means crash? No · /trading/learn/003-red-candle-not-a-crash

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Data: Binance BTCUSDT spot 1-hour and 4-hour candles, times in UTC, re-checked against the Binance public klines API.

Education only, not financial advice.

ivish.studio