Level-forming candle
Also called: bar forming the level, BFL, forming candle, level candle
Every level has a birthday: one candle on the chart where it was formed. That candle is the level-forming candle, sometimes shortened to BFL, the bar forming the level. Finding it turns a vague “support around here” into a price you can name, date and check.
How to find the level-forming candle
- Name the event. A repeated low or high, a big move that stopped, a big move that started, or the first stop after a big move.
- Find the candle. The candle with the extreme of that event. If several candles share almost the same extreme, take the first one.
- Take the right price. The low if the event stopped a fall, the high if it stopped a rise.
- Draw to the right. The level starts at this candle and runs into the future.
Example. A fall of eight days ends on a daily candle with open 51.20, high 52.40, low 48.15 and close 51.90. The event stopped a fall, so the level is the low: 48.15. Not 51.90, and not the middle of the candle.
On a real market
Tesla’s perpetual contract fell from 386.87 on 20 July 2026 to 293.80 on 29 July, 24% in nine days. The candle of 29 July had a high of 309.78, a low of 293.80 and a close of 297.06. It is the level-forming candle, and the level is its low, 293.80. By 24 August price was 25% higher and had not come back to it.
Why it matters
- It makes the level checkable. “The low of 29 July, 293.80” can be verified by anyone on the chart.
- It stops you drawing from right to left. Without a forming candle, it is tempting to start at today’s price and look for a line that “fits” a few candles.
- It shows when the big player showed up. Any price that stopped a move points to a powerful limit player. The forming candle is the moment that player acted.
Common mistakes
- Taking the close or the candle body instead of the high or low.
- Picking the latest touch instead of the first candle.
- Moving the level to the wick of a false breakout.
In this course
The forming candle is the subject of the candle that forms a level and step 3 of how to draw a level. On ChartThread’s levels page each level line starts at its forming candle.
Questions about level-forming candle
What does BFL mean in trading?
BFL stands for bar forming the level: the candle on which a level was formed. It is the same thing as the level-forming candle. The level is the exact high or low of that bar.
Which price of the forming candle is the level?
The low if the event stopped a fall, the high if it stopped a rise. Never the open, the close or the body: the close is just where price was when the period ended, and nobody defends it.
What if several candles have almost the same low?
The forming candle is the first of them, on the left. A level is drawn from left to right from its event; the later candles test and confirm it, but they did not form it.
Is the tail of a false breakout a new forming candle?
No. When price pokes past a level at an extreme and closes back, the new extreme is the end of a failed push. The level stays where the event was, and the false breakout makes it stronger.