Simple Functions
GLOSSARY/INFRASTRUCTURE

Candlestick Data

Candlestick data represents price movement over a time period using four values: open, high, low, and close (OHLC). In prediction markets, candlesticks show how contract prices evolve over hours or days.

CLI:sf candles

Candlestick Charts for Prediction Markets

Candlestick charts are borrowed from traditional finance. Each "candle" represents a time period and shows:

  • Open: The price at the start of the period
  • Close: The price at the end of the period
  • High: The highest price during the period
  • Low: The lowest price during the period

Reading Candlesticks

  • Green/bullish candle: Close > Open (price went up)
  • Red/bearish candle: Close < Open (price went down)
  • Long wicks: The market tested extreme prices but didn't hold them
  • Small body: Indecision — opening and closing prices are close

Candlesticks in Prediction Markets

Prediction market candlesticks are useful for:

  1. Identifying overreactions: Long lower wicks after news events suggest panic selling that was bought up
  2. Volume confirmation: Big candles with high volume confirm genuine moves; big candles with low volume suggest manipulation
  3. Pattern recognition: While traditional candlestick patterns (doji, hammer, etc.) are less reliable in prediction markets, basic trend analysis works

Accessing Candlestick Data

Kalshi provides candlestick data via their API. SimpleFunctions normalizes this into a consistent format:

sf candles KXRECSSNBER-26 --period 1h --count 24

This returns the last 24 hours of hourly candles. Useful for understanding recent price action before entering a trade.

Example

sf candles KXRECSSNBER-26 --period 4h --count 6

Time          Open   High   Low    Close  Volume
Mar 19 00:00  0.28   0.29   0.27   0.28   420
Mar 19 04:00  0.28   0.28   0.27   0.27   180
Mar 19 08:00  0.27   0.31   0.27   0.30   1,850  ← News event
Mar 19 12:00  0.30   0.31   0.29   0.30   620
Mar 19 16:00  0.30   0.30   0.28   0.29   340
Mar 19 20:00  0.29   0.29   0.28   0.29   210

The 08:00 candle shows high volume with a big range
(0.27 to 0.31) — likely triggered by economic data release.
The close at 0.30 (upper half of range) suggests buyers won.

Related Terms

Trading Volume

Trading volume is the total number of contracts traded in a given time period. High volume indicates active interest and typically correlates with tighter spreads and better liquidity.

Orderbook

An orderbook is a real-time list of all outstanding buy and sell orders for a prediction market contract, organized by price level. It shows the supply and demand at every price point.

Mean Reversion

Mean reversion is the tendency for prediction market prices to return toward their long-term average after temporary spikes or drops caused by overreaction to news events.

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