Chat With Traders · Wednesday, September 16, 2026
Steve Nison recounts how he discovered Japanese candlestick charting in the late 1980s through a Japanese broker. Initially unknown in the West, Nison researched and published about this methodology, leading to significant demand, with Merrill Lynch receiving over 10,000 requests for his educational piece.
“And I, you know, but we would exchange ideas and she had a chart book on her desk and the whole candlestick thing. And obviously, I'd never saw those before. So I said, what's this? And she said, this is a traditional form of charting, candlestick, candlestick, uh, analysis. We've been using in Japan before 1900. I said, you're kidding me.”
“And back then the only charting service that had candlesticks was Bloomberg. And the reason for that was because of their Japanese clients.”
“Within just a few months, Merrill Lynch received more than 10,000 requests for copies.”