From what a buy order actually does to a trading plan written in your own words: how orders fill, how risk is sized, how a chart and the market around it are read, and how to tell a measured record from a claim. Every module and every lesson is listed below, with what it sets out to teach and how long it takes.
Counted from the curriculum itself, so these numbers change when a lesson is added.
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Type a word from a lesson’s title or from what it sets out to teach. A result points to the module’s place on this page; the lesson itself opens with membership.
Arrow keys move through the results, Enter goes to the module, Escape clears.
How it is taught
Read it, test it, practise it.
4–10 minutes each
Short lessons, in order
Each lesson opens with one objective and ends with a takeaway and the mistakes people commonly make. Where a drawing teaches better than a paragraph, the lesson has one you can move.
After every lesson
A quiz that explains itself
Every lesson ends with a short quiz, and every answer says why. Retake any quiz; the best score is kept, and your progress follows your account.
Real bars · no real money
A paper-trading simulator
A replay of real historical daily bars with the name and dates hidden. Write the plan, place the order on a full ticket, get filled with slippage, and read a debrief in R against the plan you wrote.
Reading orders
Routes through it.
The path below is one order, and it is the one to read if you are reading all of it. Members also get shorter routes across the same lessons, each in the order a particular kind of reader meets the ideas. A route is an order of reading and nothing else: none of them describes what you will earn or what you are ready to trade.
Open a route to see its lessons in order, with the module each one belongs to.
For the reader who has never placed a trade.Your first thirty days30 lessonsabout 3.1 h
One short lesson a day for thirty days: what a trade is, how orders and quotes work, how to read a chart and its volume, where stops go and how size is set, the mistakes and the scams that cost beginners most, and then the simulator, a debrief and a written plan before any real money.
For the reader trading inside the session.The open, and the first hour23 lessonsabout 2.8 h
The mechanics that decide an intraday fill, the shape of the day from the auctions outward, the readings that only mean something on a five-minute chart, and the risk arithmetic that has to happen before any of it.
For the reader holding a position overnight.Holding for days or weeks28 lessonsabout 3.2 h
Reading a chart well enough to frame one trade, the zones and structure the platform draws, what the market around the stock is doing, how the position is managed once it is open, and the written plan it all reports to.
For the reader buying to hold, not to trade.Owning it for years27 lessonsabout 3.7 h
What a fund holds and what it costs, the numbers in a company's own filings, what diversification does and does not remove, how a mix drifts and is rebalanced, what inflation leaves of a return, and the plan a long-term account is run from.
For the reader whose whole account is a TSP or a 401(k).A retirement account and nothing else21 lessonsabout 2.9 h
The five things a retirement menu actually offers, what a target-date fund is doing on your behalf, how contributions arrive and compound, what a long fall looks like from inside, how often any of it is worth looking at — and what changes once money starts leaving: the order of returns, required distributions, the Social Security claiming arithmetic and what an annuity charges.
For the reader who wants the options module in one run.Options, from the chain outward13 lessonsabout 1.7 h
What a contract is and what it costs, the four Greeks and what each one measures, the two positions built on shares already owned, defined-risk spreads, what happens at expiry, and how a position is sized when the loss can be the whole premium.
For the reader checking a method, a record or a claim.Telling whether any of it works22 lessonsabout 2.9 h
Expectancy rather than win rate, how many trades a figure needs before it means anything, the statistics that decide how often a good signal is wrong, why a backtest flatters, and how to read a record somebody else is showing you.
Each stage assumes the one before it. The numbering is the real order of the path.
Stage 1 · Beginner
Foundations
modules 1–433 lessonsabout 3.5 hours
What a trade is, what an order does, what you risk, and how to read a chart. Everything after this assumes it.
01
Module 1: The two trades
Beginner7 lessons44 min
What buying means, what shorting means, why selling something you own is not the same as shorting it, who lends the shares a short sale needs and what holding them costs, and what day trading, swing trading and investing each ask of you.
7Day trading, swing trading and investing: what each asks of you9 min
What each lesson sets out to teach
1. What BUY means. Say, in one sentence, what you own after a buy order fills and what has to happen for the position to make money.
2. What SHORT means. Explain how you can sell something you do not own, and why the loss on a short has no ceiling.
3. Selling is not shorting. Tell the difference between closing a long and opening a short, on sight.
4. Why shorts are different. List the four costs and risks a short carries that a long does not.
5. Who lends you the shares, and what it costs. Say where a borrowed share comes from, what the fee and the rebate are, and compute what an easy-to-borrow rate and a hard-to-borrow rate cost on the same position over thirty days.
6. Reading a LONG or SHORT call here. Read a call on the opportunities board and name what each part of it is and is not.
7. Day trading, swing trading and investing: what each asks of you. Describe the holding period of day trading, swing trading and investing, and what each asks of a person in time, data, account, yearly costs and tax.
02
Module 2: How orders work
Beginner8 lessons50 min
Reading a quote — bid, ask, last and size — then market, limit, stop, stop-limit, trailing stop and bracket: what each one guarantees, what it does not, and what it costs — and the rest of the ticket, time in force, the quantity conditions, the session flag and the auction-only orders, and the odd lot and the fraction of a share that some of those orders cannot reach.
1Market orders and limit orders6 min
2Reading a quote: bid, ask, last and size6 min
3Stop orders6 min
4Stop-limit and trailing stops6 min
5Targets and bracket orders5 min
6Fills, slippage and time in force5 min
7The rest of the order ticket8 min
8Odd lots, fractions, and the orders that cannot fill8 min
What each lesson sets out to teach
1. Market orders and limit orders. Choose between a market and a limit order and say what each one gives up.
2. Reading a quote: bid, ask, last and size. Read the bid, ask, last and sizes on a quote, and measure the spread as a share of the price.
3. Stop orders. Place a stop that turns into the right order at the right moment, and know what a stop cannot promise.
4. Stop-limit and trailing stops. Say when a stop-limit protects you and when it strands you, and how a trailing stop follows price.
5. Targets and bracket orders. Set an exit on both sides of a position in one order, and read the R-multiple it implies.
6. Fills, slippage and time in force. Predict the fill you will actually get, and know how long an order lives.
7. The rest of the order ticket. Read the fields beside price and size on an order ticket, and say what each one costs in the chance of a fill.
8. Odd lots, fractions, and the orders that cannot fill. Say what separates a round lot, an odd lot and a fraction of a share, and trace what a fraction does to an order ticket, a dividend, a split and a transfer.
03
Module 3: Protect the capital
Beginner6 lessons36 min
Position sizing, risk per trade, the three ways a size gets decided, stops that mean something, drawdowns, and the habits that end accounts.
1Risk per trade and the 1% idea5 min
2Position sizing from the stop6 min
3Three ways a size gets decided9 min
4Where stops go6 min
5Drawdowns and losing streaks5 min
6The habits that end accounts5 min
What each lesson sets out to teach
1. Risk per trade and the 1% idea. Turn an account size and a risk percentage into a dollar amount you can lose on one trade without changing anything.
2. Position sizing from the stop. Compute a share count from account size, risk percent, entry and stop, and explain why the stop sets the size.
3. Three ways a size gets decided. Tell three sizing methods apart — a fixed fraction of the account, a stop scaled to the name's volatility, and the Kelly criterion — and say what each one has to know before it can answer.
4. Where stops go. Place a stop where the trade's reason fails, framed in the name's own volatility.
5. Drawdowns and losing streaks. Explain why a drawdown needs a bigger gain to recover than it cost, and what that implies for size.
6. The habits that end accounts. Name the four behaviours the record blames for most blown accounts, and the mechanical guard for each.
04
Module 4: Reading the chart
Beginner12 lessons80 min
Candles, support and resistance, supply and demand zones, volume, moving averages, RSI and MACD, trend and momentum, breakouts and pullbacks, the lines and channels drawn through swings, how the same prices read at two bar intervals can trend two ways at once, the point-and-figure chart that drops time altogether, and the Heikin-Ashi candles and Renko bricks that redraw prices from averages and fixed steps — the things the platform measures, read by eye.
1How to read a candlestick8 min
2Support, resistance and zones6 min
3Trend lines and channels7 min
4Volume4 min
5Moving averages and trend6 min
6RSI, MACD and momentum6 min
7Breakouts and relative strength5 min
8Pullbacks, and entering on one or on the break7 min
9Reading more than one timeframe7 min
10Chart patterns: the ten shapes7 min
11Point-and-figure: a chart with no time axis8 min
12Heikin-Ashi and Renko: smoothed candles and bricks9 min
What each lesson sets out to teach
1. How to read a candlestick. Read any candle from its four prices: what the body's size, its colour and each wick's length record about the session, and why the same shape means different things in different places.
2. Support, resistance and zones. Find a level where price has reacted before, and explain why the platform draws zones rather than lines.
3. Trend lines and channels. Draw a rising or falling trend line and a channel from swings, say why two touches draw a line and a third tests it, and explain why two readers' lines differ and what a break of one records.
4. Volume. Use volume to judge whether a move had participation behind it.
5. Moving averages and trend. Identify a trend from price against its moving averages, and say what a stacked set of averages shows.
6. RSI, MACD and momentum. Read RSI and MACD as momentum gauges and know when each has historically misled.
7. Breakouts and relative strength. Distinguish a breakout from a failed one, and read relative strength against the index.
8. Pullbacks, and entering on one or on the break. Define a pullback inside a trend, say where one tends to be measured, and compare a pullback entry with a breakout entry on stop distance, planned R and what each gives up.
9. Reading more than one timeframe. Explain how one stock can trend two ways at once, describe the higher timeframe as context and the lower as timing, and work out what a stop drawn from the lower chart does to distance, share count and R.
10. Chart patterns: the ten shapes. Recognise the ten named chart patterns as levels being tested, say which resolve up and which down, and name the line each one is confirmed at.
11. Point-and-figure: a chart with no time axis. Plot X and O columns from a box size and a reversal amount, say why a column is not a day, and say what the reversal filter leaves off the chart.
12. Heikin-Ashi and Renko: smoothed candles and bricks. Compute Heikin-Ashi candles from a session's four prices with the four formulas, show on the same sessions that the averaged prices are not prices that traded, and draw Renko bricks of a fixed size with a two-brick reversal from a series of closes.
Stage 2 · Intermediate
Reading the market
modules 5–14110 lessonsabout 12.8 hours
The analysis: zones, structure, indicators, volume at price, the numbers behind a company, the market around it, this platform's own readings, and how to tell whether any of it works.
05
Module 5: Supply and demand zones
Intermediate7 lessons44 min
Where the imbalance was: how a zone forms, the four formations to watch for, fresh versus tested, how price reacts there, what the trend around a zone changes about it, and how the platform draws and scores them.
1What a zone is6 min
2The four formations7 min
3Fresh, tested, and the strength of a zone7 min
4Reactions at a zone, and flips6 min
5Zones with the trend and zones against it7 min
6Zones on this platform5 min
7A plan framed around a zone6 min
What each lesson sets out to teach
1. What a zone is. Explain a demand or supply zone as the footprint of an imbalance, and draw one from a base and its departure.
2. The four formations. Name the four base formations, say which two are continuation and which two are reversal, and tell them apart on a chart.
3. Fresh, tested, and the strength of a zone. Read a zone's strength from its departure, its base, its freshness and its place in the swing.
4. Reactions at a zone, and flips. Recognise the reactions that show a zone working, the signs it is failing, and what happens when it breaks.
5. Zones with the trend and zones against it. Read the same zone two ways from the sequence around it, and work out what the nearest opposing zone does to the reward-to-risk arithmetic.
6. Zones on this platform. Read the zone bands and the zone factor on a casefile, and say what confluence around a zone the record has rewarded.
7. A plan framed around a zone. Frame entry, stop and target from a zone's edges and read the R-multiple that results.
06
Module 6: Market structure
Intermediate8 lessons51 min
Swing highs and lows, the sequences that define a trend, the break that continues it, the change of character that cracks it, the sweep that fools it, the range that goes nowhere and the three ways it ends, the two scales it is read on, and the two old theories, Dow and Elliott, that the idea of a sequence comes from, with what testing of each found.
1Swings and the sequence of a trend6 min
2Break of structure5 min
3Change of character6 min
4Liquidity sweeps6 min
5Ranges, and the three ways they end7 min
6Internal and external structure6 min
7Dow Theory and Elliott wave: two old theories and what testing found9 min
8Reading structure: the drill6 min
What each lesson sets out to teach
1. Swings and the sequence of a trend. Mark swing highs and lows on a chart and read the sequence — higher highs and higher lows, or lower highs and lower lows — that defines the trend.
2. Break of structure. Identify a break of structure as a close beyond the prior swing extreme in the trend's direction, and tell it from a wick through the level.
3. Change of character. Identify a change of character as the first close beyond the most recent swing low in an uptrend (or high in a downtrend), and say what it does and does not mean.
4. Liquidity sweeps. Recognise a liquidity sweep — a wick through a swing extreme that closes back inside — and say why the move after it has often gone the other way.
5. Ranges, and the three ways they end. Measure a range from its extremes, its midpoint and its width in ATR, and describe the three ways one ends.
6. Internal and external structure. Tell the swings of the higher timeframe from the swings inside its legs, and read a structural shift at the right scale.
7. Dow Theory and Elliott wave: two old theories and what testing found. State what Dow Theory and Elliott wave each claim, check a Dow confirmation and an Elliott count against their own rules, and set out what testing of each has found on both sides.
8. Reading structure: the drill. Name a break of structure, a change of character, a sweep and a range on charts you have not seen.
07
Module 7: Indicators, one at a time
Intermediate12 lessons84 min
Moving-average crosses, volume, RSI, the stochastic oscillator, MACD, volatility bands and ATR, ADX, VWAP, anchored VWAP and the judgement in choosing where to start it, Fibonacci retracements with the share of a swing that sits within reach of a level and what testing of the ratios found, Ichimoku line by line, and floor-trader pivot points with Wilder's Parabolic SAR — what each computes, what it has meant, and how each one misleads. Read the chart without the score.
1Golden crosses and death crosses8 min
2Volume: when it increases, and what that has meant7 min
3RSI: speed, stretch and divergence7 min
4The stochastic oscillator: where the close sits7 min
5MACD: three stages of a turn6 min
6Volatility: ATR, Bollinger bands and the squeeze6 min
7ADX: how strong, not which way5 min
8Anchored VWAP: the average since something happened8 min
9VWAP: the day's average price5 min
10Fibonacci retracements, and what is known about them8 min
11Ichimoku, line by line8 min
12Pivot points and Parabolic SAR9 min
What each lesson sets out to teach
1. Golden crosses and death crosses. Define a golden cross and a death cross, say why they lag, and tell a real cross from a whipsaw on a drawing.
2. Volume: when it increases, and what that has meant. Measure an increase in volume as relative volume, and recognise the three signatures — breakout volume, climax, dry-up — on a chart.
3. RSI: speed, stretch and divergence. Read an RSI value inside its trend, tell a stretched reading from a pullback, and recognise a divergence.
4. The stochastic oscillator: where the close sits. Compute %K and %D from a high, a low and a close, say what a reading does and does not describe, and recognise a reading pinned by a trend.
5. MACD: three stages of a turn. Name the three parts of MACD and the order in which they turn, and say which stage is early and which is sure.
6. Volatility: ATR, Bollinger bands and the squeeze. Read ATR as a dollar figure, read Bollinger bands as a volatility envelope, and recognise a squeeze.
7. ADX: how strong, not which way. Read ADX as trend strength, use +DI and −DI for direction, and say which tools to trust at each level.
8. Anchored VWAP: the average since something happened. Compute an anchored VWAP from a series of bars, say what it describes and what it cannot, and show how moving the anchor moves the line.
9. VWAP: the day's average price. Say what VWAP is, why it only means something intraday, and what a reclaim or rejection at it has read as.
10. Fibonacci retracements, and what is known about them. Compute the five retracement levels of a swing, say where the ratios come from, and say how much of a swing sits within reach of one.
11. Ichimoku, line by line. Compute the five Ichimoku lines from a series of highs, lows and closes, say what each forward and backward shift does to where a line is drawn, and say what testing has found.
12. Pivot points and Parabolic SAR. Compute floor-trader pivot points from a prior session's high, low and close, compute Wilder's Parabolic SAR bar by bar through one reversal with its acceleration factor, extreme point and two-bar rule, and say what testing of each has found.
08
Module 8: Volume profile and gaps
Intermediate5 lessons33 min
Volume at price rather than volume at time: the point of control, the value area, high- and low-volume nodes, the time count beside the volume count and where the two disagree — and the four kinds of gap, what has filled and what has not.
1The volume profile7 min
2Reading where price sits6 min
3Counting time at a price7 min
4Gaps: the four kinds7 min
5What a gap does to a plan6 min
What each lesson sets out to teach
1. The volume profile. Read a volume profile: the point of control, the value area, and what a high- or low-volume node marks.
2. Reading where price sits. Say which of the three states price is in against the value area, and what each has tended to be followed by.
3. Counting time at a price. Count the time spent at each price rather than the volume, read the shape that count makes, and say where a time count and a volume count disagree.
4. Gaps: the four kinds. Tell a common gap from a breakaway, a runaway and an exhaustion gap, and say what distinguishes them.
5. What a gap does to a plan. Explain why a gap is the one move a stop cannot protect against, and where gap risk shows up on this platform.
09
Module 9: Fundamentals
Intermediate19 lessons140 min
The earnings report, growth, margins and cash, valuation multiples, what future cash is worth today, the money a business has tied up in running itself, the balance sheet, what is left for the shares when a company files and who is paid before them, dividends and reinvesting them, guidance and revisions, who reports owning the shares and how late each report arrives, the consensus a report is measured against and what the literature reports happens after a surprise, the 10-K they all come from and what business quality looks like in it, adjusted earnings and the one-off items they leave out, the corporate actions that change a holding without a trade, the call that follows the release and the arithmetic of a raise set against the beat, the segments a company reports and the corporate cost held above them — the numbers investors read, and where the platform shows them.
1The earnings report7 min
2Growth: EPS and revenue6 min
3Margins and cash6 min
4Segments, and what sits in 'other'8 min
5Valuation: P/E and its cousins7 min
6Intrinsic value: what future cash is worth today8 min
7The money a business has tied up8 min
8The balance sheet: debt, dilution, buybacks6 min
9When a company files, and what the shares are then9 min
10Dividends: yield, the ex-date and reinvesting7 min
11Splits, buybacks and spin-offs8 min
12Guidance, estimate revisions and insiders6 min
1313F, 13D and 13G: reading who owns the shares9 min
14Estimates, surprises and what happens after8 min
15Reading a 10-K, and what business quality looks like8 min
16Adjusted earnings and one-off items8 min
17Fundamentals on this platform5 min
18The call after the report8 min
19Reading a news catalyst8 min
What each lesson sets out to teach
1. The earnings report. Name the three numbers in an earnings report that move a stock, and explain why the reaction depends on expectations rather than the numbers alone.
2. Growth: EPS and revenue. Compute year-over-year growth, tell revenue growth from EPS growth, and say what quality of growth means.
3. Margins and cash. Walk from revenue to net profit through the three margins, and say why free cash flow is checked against earnings.
4. Segments, and what sits in 'other'. Say why a company reports by segment and why two companies in the same business report differently, read revenue, operating profit and margin for each part, reconcile the parts to the company through the costs held above them, and say what a re-segmentation and a growing 'other' each do to a comparison.
5. Valuation: P/E and its cousins. Compute P/E, forward P/E and PEG, and explain why a multiple only means something against growth and the sector.
6. Intrinsic value: what future cash is worth today. Discount a future amount to today, build a five-year cash-flow valuation with a terminal value, and show how far the answer moves when the discount rate or the growth rate changes.
7. The money a business has tied up. Say what working capital is made of, compute days of inventory, days of receivables and days of payables from a company's own figures, read what their combination says about who is financing whom, work out the cash a stated deterioration absorbs, and say why a growing company can be profitable and short of cash.
8. The balance sheet: debt, dilution, buybacks. Read leverage and interest coverage, and say what rising share counts and buybacks do to a shareholder's claim.
9. When a company files, and what the shares are then. Put the claims on a company that has filed in the order they are paid — secured, then unsecured, then preferred, then common — work out what is left for the common shares when the assets fetch more than the claims ahead of them and when they fetch less, tell a reorganisation from a liquidation, and say what happens to the listing and to the shares that go on trading.
10. Dividends: yield, the ex-date and reinvesting. Say what a dividend does to a share's price on the ex-date, compute yield and payout ratio, recognise a yield that is high because the price fell, and compare reinvesting dividends with taking them as cash.
11. Splits, buybacks and spin-offs. Say what a forward split, a reverse split, a buyback and a spin-off do to a holding, a share count and a chart, and compute the earnings per share a buyback produces and the cost basis a spin-off leaves.
12. Guidance, estimate revisions and insiders. Explain why estimate revisions have been among the most persistent fundamental signals, and how to read insider transactions.
13. 13F, 13D and 13G: reading who owns the shares. Say who files a 13F, what it shows and how late it arrives, tell a Schedule 13D from a Schedule 13G by what the holder intends and how fast each is due, and measure how far a price can move between a quarter's end and the day its holdings become public.
14. Estimates, surprises and what happens after. Say where a consensus estimate comes from and what the dispersion around it means, measure a surprise in cents, in percent and in units of dispersion, and state what the research literature reports about drift after a large surprise.
15. Reading a 10-K, and what business quality looks like. Name the SEC filings a public company makes and the 10-K items worth reading first, and compute return on invested capital to compare a business's returns with what its capital costs.
16. Adjusted earnings and one-off items. Tell GAAP earnings from a company's adjusted earnings, name the items commonly left out and the SEC rules on presenting them, and show how far the P/E moves depending on which figure is used.
17. Fundamentals on this platform. Find the fundamental numbers the casefile shows, say where they come from, and say how they sit beside a technical score.
18. The call after the report. Describe the two halves of an earnings call and say why the questions carry more information than the prepared remarks, say what the statement read at the start and the public-disclosure rule are each doing, and compute what a raise smaller than the quarter's beat implies for the rest of the year.
19. Reading a news catalyst. Name the kinds of news that move a stock, separate a headline from what it changes about cash flows, and read whether price and volume accepted the reaction.
10
Module 10: The market around the stock
Intermediate16 lessons131 min
Five readings of the market around a single name — the four asset classes, what a currency arrangement can hide and what else country risk means, sector rotation, what a sector actually is and what moves one, what the four quadrants of a relative rotation graph show, three published sentiment gauges and what each one counts, breadth, volatility, and what the options market is pricing — the scheduled releases that move all of them at once, how a price index is built and how a print is read, with the base effect that moves a year-on-year figure when nothing new has happened, how interest rates reach share prices through the discount rate, how a yield curve is read and what an inversion is, what a central bank steers rather than sets and why only the surprise against a priced path moves prices, and the seven regime states this platform names from them.
1The market comes first6 min
2The four markets8 min
3Country risk, and what a pegged currency hides9 min
4Sector rotation8 min
5What a sector is, and what moves one9 min
6Relative rotation graphs: what the four quadrants show9 min
7Sentiment gauges: a survey, a ratio and a report9 min
8Breadth: how many are taking part7 min
9Inflation prints, and what a tenth of a point does9 min
10Reading volatility6 min
11What a central bank actually does9 min
12Options and the expected move8 min
13The yield curve, and what an inversion is9 min
14The economic calendar8 min
15Interest rates and stock prices9 min
16The seven regimes8 min
What each lesson sets out to teach
1. The market comes first. Split a single name's move into the part the index supplied and the part that belonged to the name.
2. The four markets. Read the four asset classes together and name the pattern they form.
3. Country risk, and what a pegged currency hides. Name the three exchange-rate arrangements a reader meets, work out what a devaluation does to a holding priced in a pegged currency, say what capital controls are and what else country risk contains, and read an index's country classification as the rules-based label it is.
4. Sector rotation. Name which sectors are leading, what type each is, and which cycle phase that combination has historically gone with.
5. What a sector is, and what moves one. Say what a sector is as a classification somebody maintains and revises, work out how much of an invented sector's move its two largest members produced, read the gap between a fund holding the sector by size and the same members counted once each, and name the drivers that act on a whole sector as mechanisms rather than as signals.
6. Relative rotation graphs: what the four quadrants show. Say what the two axes of a relative rotation graph measure and what its four quadrants are called, compute a price ratio against a benchmark and a plain illustrative version of both axes from an invented six weeks, and say why the clockwise path is a tendency rather than a timetable.
7. Sentiment gauges: a survey, a ratio and a report. Say what the AAII survey, the put-to-call ratio and the Commitments of Traders report each count, work out a bull–bear spread, puts divided by calls and the change in a net position from invented figures, and say why a reading at an extreme is a claim to test rather than a rule.
8. Breadth: how many are taking part. Read the four breadth measures and say what a divergence between the index and its participation means.
9. Inflation prints, and what a tenth of a point does. Tell a consumer price index from the index inside the national accounts, read a headline figure against a core one and a month against a year, work out the base effect that moves a year-on-year figure when nothing new has happened, and say why a tenth of a point is read as news.
10. Reading volatility. Say what a volatility index reading is, convert it to an expected monthly move, and explain what it changes about stop distance.
11. What a central bank actually does. Say what a policy rate is and how it is steered rather than decreed, name the four things a decision afternoon brings and which of them usually carries the move, and work out arithmetically what it means for a decision to be priced in already.
12. Options and the expected move. Read the five figures on a casefile's Options tab, and compute the expected move yourself from price, implied volatility and days to expiry.
13. The yield curve, and what an inversion is. Read a curve as one issuer's yields across maturities, work out the two spreads people quote, say what an inversion is arithmetically and what it says about expectations, and describe the record behind it without overstating it.
14. The economic calendar. Name the scheduled US releases that move the whole market, when each is published, why the surprise matters more than the number, and what a scheduled release does to an open position.
15. Interest rates and stock prices. Trace how the Fed's policy rate reaches Treasury yields and the discount rate applied to shares, show why cash far in the future moves most when that rate changes, and say why the link is loose.
16. The seven regimes. Name the seven states this platform can report, the inputs behind them, and the order the rules are tested in.
11
Module 11: Reading IntellaZone
Intermediate7 lessons37 min
What the grade measures, what the factors are, what the gate and the receipts mean, how to tell a measured record from a claim, and where its answers stop.
1The grade5 min
2The factors6 min
3The gate and a parked day4 min
4Receipts and the track record6 min
5From a call to a plan5 min
6Screens and event alerts5 min
7What this platform does not do6 min
What each lesson sets out to teach
1. The grade. Say what the conviction score is made of, what it is not, and why its letter grades are not shown.
2. The factors. Read the factor list under a call and say what each line is measuring.
3. The gate and a parked day. Explain what the regime gate checks and why a parked day is an answer rather than an absence of one.
4. Receipts and the track record. Tell a forward-tested record from a backtest, and read a receipt.
5. From a call to a plan. Walk from a call on the board to a sized plan in the Trade Planner and a saved entry in the journal, naming each step.
6. Screens and event alerts. Build a screen from the readings a casefile prints, save it, and turn on alerts for the events the nightly scan already records.
7. What this platform does not do. Name the boundaries this platform works inside — no orders, no knowledge of the reader, no forecast, no published method — and say what each one means for reading it.
12
Module 12: Practice
Intermediate11 lessons67 min
The simulator and its debrief, spaced review of what the lessons taught, drills on real charts, a weekly routine that puts them together with the journal, how a universe, a watchlist and a shortlist differ and what the length of a list costs in attention, which filings a company must make and how long after the headline the detail arrives, what an evaluation account's rules ask of a candidate and what its fee is against its target, and what changes when practice moves to real money.
1How the simulator works5 min
2Reading a debrief4 min
3Remembering what you learned6 min
4Drills on real charts5 min
5A weekly practice routine6 min
6From simulated to real money7 min
7Replaying a resolved call6 min
8Building a watchlist, and keeping it short7 min
9The filings a company must make, and when7 min
10Funded-account challenges, and the arithmetic of the fee8 min
11Practising on five-minute bars6 min
What each lesson sets out to teach
1. How the simulator works. Describe what the simulator hides, what it shows, and how it fills an order.
2. Reading a debrief. Read the debrief card and name the number that matters most.
3. Remembering what you learned. Describe retrieval practice and spacing, say what the research does and does not claim about them, and explain how the review page applies both.
4. Drills on real charts. Describe what the drills ask and how they are checked, and name what a drill cannot teach.
5. A weekly practice routine. Describe a weekly routine built from the simulator, review, drills and the journal, and explain why it runs on a schedule rather than on results.
6. From simulated to real money. Describe what changes when a plan practised in the simulator is traded with real money, and how a staged move across is commonly laid out.
7. Replaying a resolved call. Step through a call the record has already scored, take it yourself, and compare what you did with what the plan did.
8. Building a watchlist, and keeping it short. Tell a universe, a watchlist and a shortlist apart, and work out what a list's length does to the time each name on it gets.
9. The filings a company must make, and when. Name the routine documents a listed company files, say which question each one answers, and read a reporting year as a sequence of dates.
10. Funded-account challenges, and the arithmetic of the fee. Say what an evaluation account is, work its rules out as a number of days and a number of trades, and read the fee as a ratio against the target it buys a claim on.
11. Practising on five-minute bars. Say what stays the same and what changes when a simulator session runs on five-minute bars instead of daily ones.
13
Module 13: Managing the open trade
Intermediate7 lessons49 min
What can still change once a position is open, and what each change costs: R from the initial stop, trailing stops three ways, break-even stops, time stops, partial exits, exits around scheduled events, and what an unscheduled headline does to a stop written before it existed.
1What changes once you are in6 min
2Trailing stops three ways8 min
3Moving the stop to break-even7 min
4Time stops7 min
5Partial exits and the R of what is left6 min
6Exits around earnings and gaps7 min
7When the story changes and you are already in8 min
What each lesson sets out to teach
1. What changes once you are in. Say what the plan fixed before the entry, what is still a decision after it, and why R stays measured from the initial stop.
2. Trailing stops three ways. Compare a fixed-distance, an ATR-multiple and a swing-low trailing stop, and name what each one gives up.
3. Moving the stop to break-even. Describe what moving a stop to the entry buys and what it costs, and why the moment it moves matters more than the idea.
4. Time stops. Write a time stop into a plan as a number of bars and the progress expected by then, and describe what it frees and what it costs.
5. Partial exits and the R of what is left. Compute what a partial exit banks and what the remaining shares still risk, both in units of the trade's original R.
6. Exits around earnings and gaps. Explain why a scheduled event changes what a stop can do, and describe the choices a plan can make before one.
7. When the story changes and you are already in. Separate news that changes the reason for a position from news that changes only its price, name the three states a holder is in when something breaks, and compute what a gap does to a written stop.
14
Module 14: Proving it
Intermediate18 lessons132 min
Expectancy rather than win rate, how large a record has to be before it says anything, what drawdowns actually look like, the habits a journal catches, what your own statement says and why its return can honestly disagree with your record, how to read the curve those trades draw, the four ratios a record is shown under and what each of them hides, how a record is set against a benchmark and its difference taken apart, why backtests lie, how to judge a record someone else shows you, what the research does and does not support, and how to read a report written by someone who holds a position in what it is about.
4When returns arrive: overnight and the session6 min
5Why a big week often gives some back6 min
6The 52-week high as an anchor6 min
7Lottery stocks: the one-day spike6 min
8What a journal catches6 min
9Reading your own account statement9 min
10Your real trades, measured in R6 min
11Reading your own equity curve8 min
12The ledger and the gate's own receipt7 min
13The ratios a record is judged by8 min
14Alpha, benchmarks and attribution10 min
15Why backtests lie8 min
16Judging a record someone else shows you8 min
17What the research actually supports8 min
18Reading a report written by someone with a position8 min
What each lesson sets out to teach
1. Expectancy, not win rate. Compute expectancy from a win rate and a payoff ratio, and say why a win rate alone cannot tell you whether a method makes money.
2. How many trades before it means anything. Put an interval around an expectancy and say which of the three verdicts a record supports.
3. Drawdown, streaks and ruin. Estimate the drawdowns a positive-expectancy method still produces, and say what position sizing can and cannot fix.
4. When returns arrive: overnight and the session. Describe how stock returns have split between the hours the market is shut and the hours it trades, and why that split is not a trade.
5. Why a big week often gives some back. Describe the short-term reversal in stock returns, how it differs from momentum over months, and why it is not an easy trade.
6. The 52-week high as an anchor. Measure how near a stock trades to its 52-week high, and describe what research found about stocks near that high and why it is thought to happen.
7. Lottery stocks: the one-day spike. Read a stock's largest one-day gain of the past month, and describe what research found about stocks with the biggest spikes and why it is thought to happen.
8. What a journal catches. Name five habits a written record detects and the number in the record that reveals each.
9. Reading your own account statement. Read the lines a monthly statement prints — value against cash, settled against available, market value against cost, realised against unrealised, the borrowing and the charges — and say why a statement's own return figure and a reader's own record can disagree honestly.
10. Your real trades, measured in R. Bring broker trades into the journal and read each one in R against the stop it was opened with.
11. Reading your own equity curve. Read the four things an equity curve states — the peak, the distance below it, the longest stretch under one, and the slope of the recent stretch — and say what the line cannot show.
12. The ledger and the gate's own receipt. Read a resolved row of the ledger, and read what the index did after nights the board was open and nights it was parked.
13. The ratios a record is judged by. Say what each of the four ratios a record is shown under divides by what, what each one hides, and why a ratio from a short record is an estimate rather than a figure.
14. Alpha, benchmarks and attribution. Say what a benchmark has to match to be a fair comparison, compute Jensen's alpha from a beta, a tracking error and an information ratio, and split a difference from a benchmark into allocation, selection and interaction effects that add up to it exactly.
15. Why backtests lie. Name the four ways a backtest flatters itself and describe the discipline that prevents each.
16. Judging a record someone else shows you. Name the four ways a shown performance record can look better than the trading behind it, and the question that checks each one.
17. What the research actually supports. Say what the machine-learning literature on returns has found, what it has not, and which parts transfer to a platform like this one.
18. Reading a report written by someone with a position. Read a report published by someone who profits if the price moves their way one claim at a time: the disclosure line, which claims a filing settles, and what the price move does not settle.
Stage 3 · Advanced
Depth
modules 15–23117 lessonsabout 16.3 hours
Taken after the path rather than during it. The statistics underneath every number, the instrument, the book, the person trading it, the plumbing, the tax, and the plan it all ends in.
15
Module 15: The statistics underneath
Advanced14 lessons116 min
Fat tails, why an average return is not the rate an account compounds at, regression to the mean, what to do when the number on the screen is wrong, base rates, how a prior moves when evidence arrives, correlations that mean nothing, who is missing from a list of survivors, the best of many tries, seasonality and the calendar effects that counting explains, what cycle theory claims and the waves a running sum of random digits draws, what the efficient-markets claim says and what costs do to an edge, what the published factor premiums have and have not paid, and what happens to every statistic when the world changes — the fourteen ideas that decide how much any number on a screen is worth.
1Fat tails: the days the average does not describe8 min
3Regression to the mean: why last year's winners disappoint8 min
4When the number on the screen is wrong9 min
5Base rates: how often a good signal is wrong8 min
6Updating on evidence8 min
7Correlation: prices that move together and prices that don't8 min
8Who is missing from the sample8 min
9The best of many tries8 min
10Seasonality, and why most of it is counting8 min
11Cycles: what cycle theory claims and what testing found9 min
12Efficient markets: the claim, its three forms, and what costs do9 min
13Factor premiums: what value, size, quality and low volatility have and have not paid9 min
14When the world changes: stationarity8 min
What each lesson sets out to teach
1. Fat tails: the days the average does not describe. Say what a fat-tailed distribution is, how much more often it produces extreme days than a normal curve of the same volatility, and why a standard deviation understates the days that decide an account.
2. Average return and compound return. Tell an arithmetic average return from the compound rate an account actually grows at, work out both for a short record, and estimate how much a wider spread of returns costs.
3. Regression to the mean: why last year's winners disappoint. Explain why the best performers of one period usually look ordinary in the next, and estimate how much of a result repeats from the split between skill and luck.
4. When the number on the screen is wrong. Name the ways a price or a fundamental series can be wrong or can merely differ from another source, work out what one bad print does to a high, a range and a volatility measure, and say what an adjustment preserves and what it destroys.
5. Base rates: how often a good signal is wrong. Work out how often a signal is right when it fires, from how rare the event is, how often the signal catches it, and how often it fires falsely.
6. Updating on evidence. Name the prior, the evidence and the posterior in one update, work a posterior out both by counting and in odds, and say what a likelihood ratio measures and when it is worth nothing.
7. Correlation: prices that move together and prices that don't. Tell a correlation of prices from a correlation of changes, say why two unrelated trending series routinely look related, and why correlations measured in calm markets understate them in a sell-off.
8. Who is missing from the sample. Say what survivorship bias is, work out how far a surviving cohort's average sits above the whole cohort's once the dropouts are counted, and name the forms the same missing-rows problem takes.
9. The best of many tries. Calculate how likely it is that at least one of many worthless ideas looks significant by luck, and what bar holds that chance down.
10. Seasonality, and why most of it is counting. Name the calendar effects a reader will meet as the claims they are, count how many calendar hypotheses exist to be tested at once, and say why a monthly average taken over fifty years carries an interval wide enough to hold zero.
11. Cycles: what cycle theory claims and what testing found. State what the Kitchin, Juglar and Kondratiev cycles and the presidential cycle claim, work out how a running sum of random digits draws evenly spaced peaks, count how many waves of each claimed length a record holds, and say what testing found on both sides.
12. Efficient markets: the claim, its three forms, and what costs do. State the weak, semi-strong and strong forms of the efficient-markets claim, net a gross edge of its trading costs and its fee, and set out what the claim's defenders and its critics each argue.
13. Factor premiums: what value, size, quality and low volatility have and have not paid. Name four factors and the papers behind them, compute what an invented premium looks like after the reductions McLean and Pontiff measured, and say why a factor can trail for a decade or more.
14. When the world changes: stationarity. Explain stationarity, show how a long record can report a positive edge that has already ended, and say what a rolling window adds and what it costs.
16
Module 16: Options, properly
Advanced14 lessons117 min
The contract itself: calls and puts, the chain, what an option costs and why, the Greeks, time decay and the volatility crush, what a reading of implied volatility is worth against its own year and across the expiries, what the gap between implied and realised volatility has averaged and how VIX futures roll, the four structures most people use, protecting a holding with a put or a collar, what the same contract looks like with days or hours left to run, what a corporate action does to the deliverable a contract is a right on, the strike a position can finish the day sitting on, and what actually happens at expiry.
1Calls and puts8 min
2Reading the chain7 min
3The Greeks9 min
4Time decay and the volatility crush8 min
5Implied volatility: rank, skew and term structure9 min
6The volatility risk premium and the VIX term structure10 min
7Covered calls and cash-secured puts8 min
8Protective puts and collars9 min
9Spreads: defining both ends8 min
10What happens to an option when the company changes9 min
11Assignment and expiration7 min
12Options with days or hours left9 min
13Expiration day, and the strike you are sitting on9 min
14Sizing an option position7 min
What each lesson sets out to teach
1. Calls and puts. Describe what a call and a put are, name the four basic positions, and say which of them has uncapped risk.
2. Reading the chain. Read a row of an option chain and say which of its numbers you can trust.
3. The Greeks. Say what each Greek answers, and which one explains a loss on a day the underlying moved your way.
4. Time decay and the volatility crush. Describe how time value decays and explain why a correct directional call can still lose money over an earnings report.
5. Implied volatility: rank, skew and term structure. Define implied volatility rank and implied volatility percentile exactly, say why one reading can score 23.8 on the first and 91.3 on the second, and read a skew and a term structure.
6. The volatility risk premium and the VIX term structure. Say what the gap between implied and realised volatility has averaged on the S&P 500 and why its sign matters, read contango and backwardation in VIX futures and compute the roll on each, and explain how a daily inverse volatility product can lose most of its value in one day.
7. Covered calls and cash-secured puts. Draw the payoff of a covered call and a cash-secured put, and name the risk each one actually carries.
8. Protective puts and collars. Work out the floor, the cost and the break-even of a protective put and a collar on a holding, and describe what that protection has historically cost.
9. Spreads: defining both ends. Compute a vertical spread's maximum profit, maximum loss and break-even from its two strikes and its net cost.
10. What happens to an option when the company changes. Say what a corporate action does to an option's deliverable, restate a strike through an invented exchange ratio, and describe what an adjusted contract's quote costs to cross.
11. Assignment and expiration. Say what happens to an option at expiry if nobody acts, and when early assignment actually occurs.
12. Options with days or hours left. Say what changes in an option's last days — the shape of the decay, the size of the delta swing, and what the quoted width is worth against the premium.
13. Expiration day, and the strike you are sitting on. Say what a position that finishes the day on its short strike leaves in the account, and compute that overnight share exposure against the spread's own maximum loss.
14. Sizing an option position. Size an option position from the premium at risk, and say why the risk rules from Module 3 need restating here.
17
Module 17: Reading volume
Advanced9 lessons75 min
Effort against result, absorption and climax, the accumulation and distribution lines and why they disagree, the five signatures as a set, Wyckoff's four phases and what testing of them has found, whether a name can carry your position at all, reading the session's volume against the same time of day, what a block reported after the fact does to a bar and to the day's average, and the crossing at the close that a large part of a day's shares can go through.
1Effort and result8 min
2Accumulation, distribution and on-balance volume9 min
3Climax, absorption and the failed break8 min
4Wyckoff's four phases: what the method claims and what testing found9 min
5Can the name carry your position8 min
6Relative volume by time of day9 min
7Name the bar6 min
8Block trades and the prints that arrive late9 min
9The last ten minutes, and who has to trade9 min
What each lesson sets out to teach
1. Effort and result. Read one bar from its volume, its range and where it closed, and name what the three together describe.
2. Accumulation, distribution and on-balance volume. Say what the A/D line and on-balance volume each compute, and explain why they can disagree about the same chart.
3. Climax, absorption and the failed break. Recognise five volume signatures from the bars around them and say what has usually followed each.
4. Wyckoff's four phases: what the method claims and what testing found. Name the four phases and the events the schema places inside a trading range, measure a range and a spring against its boundaries, say why a spring can only be named after the bars that follow it, and state what published testing of the schema has and has not found.
5. Can the name carry your position. Turn a price, an average volume and a spread into the two numbers that decide whether an idea is tradeable.
6. Relative volume by time of day. Compare the shares traded so far with the same time on an ordinary day, and say why a full-day average or a clock projection misreads the morning.
7. Name the bar. Classify a bar from its three numbers without a chart, quickly and repeatably.
8. Block trades and the prints that arrive late. Say what a block trade is and how it reaches the tape, read a print that sits outside its bar's high and low, and explain why the size of a print is weak evidence of who wanted the trade.
9. The last ten minutes, and who has to trade. Say who has to trade at the official closing price, read what the imbalance published in the run-up does and does not say, and work out what a crossing that size means for an order of a stated size.
18
Module 18: The book, not the trade
Advanced14 lessons114 min
What six positions risk together rather than one at a time: correlation and overlap, total open heat, what an add really does, what execution costs in R, the size at which an account becomes the market it is trading, the review cycle that turns a record into a decision, what an index hedge takes out of a single position and what it leaves, and for a long-term account the mix of stocks, bonds and cash, how it drifts and how it is rebalanced, what adding holdings removes and the shared risk it cannot, the two things called averaging in and what a sum invested at once did against twelve instalments, what weighting a mix by risk rather than by dollars does and what it borrows to do it, what a value-at-risk figure says about a book's losses and what it leaves out, how compounding and inflation turn a nominal return into a real one, and why the order of returns matters once money is leaving an account.
1Five positions, one bet8 min
2Total open risk7 min
3What an add really does8 min
4The gap between the plan and the fill7 min
5The size at which you are the market9 min
6The review cycle7 min
7Hedging a position instead of closing it8 min
8Allocation, rebalancing and adding over time8 min
9A lump sum or averaging in8 min
10What diversification removes and what it cannot8 min
11Risk parity: weighting by risk, not by dollars9 min
12Value at risk: three ways to compute it and what it leaves out10 min
13Compounding, inflation and real returns8 min
14Sequence risk: why the order of returns matters once money is leaving9 min
What each lesson sets out to teach
1. Five positions, one bet. Explain why several positions can behave as one, and compute how much diversification a correlation actually buys.
2. Total open risk. Compute the total risk open across a book and set a cap for it before positions accumulate.
3. What an add really does. Compute the new average and the new risk after an add, and say what the stop has to do to keep the sizing honest.
4. The gap between the plan and the fill. Express slippage and commission in R and say what fraction of an edge they consume.
5. The size at which you are the market. Measure a position against the size displayed at the inside, against the day's volume and against the days it would take to leave, and say why the exit is the limit that binds.
6. The review cycle. Name what gets read at each interval and why a fixed schedule beats reviewing after losses.
7. Hedging a position instead of closing it. Say what an index hedge removes from a single-name position and what it leaves, size the hedge that offsets a stated position's market exposure, and name the costs that make it not free.
8. Allocation, rebalancing and adding over time. Say what an allocation is, how it drifts, the common ways to rebalance, and what the evidence says about investing a sum at once or in pieces.
9. A lump sum or averaging in. Separate investing money as it arrives from splitting a sum already in hand, and compute the shares, average cost and ending value each produces on a rising and on a falling-then-recovering path.
10. What diversification removes and what it cannot. Separate company-specific risk from market risk, compute an equally weighted portfolio's volatility as holdings are added, and say why it levels off above zero.
11. Risk parity: weighting by risk, not by dollars. Compute how much of a mix's risk each part contributes, compute inverse-volatility weights, and say what the leverage they usually need and a change in correlation do to the result.
12. Value at risk: three ways to compute it and what it leaves out. Compute a one-day and a ten-day value at risk at 95% and 99% by the historical, the parametric and the Monte Carlo methods, compute expected shortfall beside it, and name what the figure assumes and what it leaves out.
13. Compounding, inflation and real returns. Compute compound growth, a doubling time, lost purchasing power and a real return, and say why compounding needs a long horizon.
14. Sequence risk: why the order of returns matters once money is leaving. Show that the same returns in a different order leave a different balance once withdrawals run, state what Bengen's 1994 study found about a 4% initial withdrawal, and set out how later research has revised and criticised it.
19
Module 19: Behavioural risk
Advanced12 lessons97 min
The risks that come from the person rather than the position: why this is structurally hard, how ordinary a losing run is, how often looking at a holding shows a loss, the biases with a trading form and a number that catches each, the arithmetic of trying to get it back, what two fills take out of a trade somebody else posted, the conditions people write down in advance for pausing or stopping, the trades passed and what their absence from the record hides, the gap between a fund's return and its investors' and the argument about its size, and grading the decision apart from the outcome.
1Why this is structurally hard8 min
2What a losing run actually looks like7 min
3How often you look7 min
4The biases that have a trading form9 min
5Trying to get it back8 min
6The conditions people write down for stopping8 min
7Switching methods after a bad run8 min
8How a skill is learned when the feedback is noisy9 min
9Rooms, signal services and copying someone else9 min
10The trades you did not take8 min
11The investor return gap, and the argument about its size9 min
12The decision and the outcome7 min
What each lesson sets out to teach
1. Why this is structurally hard. Name the three features of trading that make it a poor environment for learning, and say what each one does to judgement.
2. What a losing run actually looks like. Compute how likely a losing run of a given length is, and use it to tell noise from a broken method.
3. How often you look. Compute how often a look at a holding shows a loss at different intervals, and say what the research found frequent looking does to the risk people take.
4. The biases that have a trading form. Name six biases, the specific trading behaviour each produces, and the number in a record that reveals it.
5. Trying to get it back. Compute what a drawdown must recover and what doubling size to recover actually changes.
6. The conditions people write down for stopping. Tell a pause from a stop, name the categories of condition people put in writing for each, and compute what a stated drawdown leaves an account needing to return to its prior high.
7. Switching methods after a bad run. Compute how often a method with a real edge shows a losing stretch of twenty trades, say what each switch does to the evidence about the next method, and describe the trade-off March named between exploring and exploiting.
8. How a skill is learned when the feedback is noisy. Say under what conditions skilled intuition develops, compute why an account's results cannot show a real improvement for hundreds of trades, and name what the research on practice, spacing and if-then plans offers in its place.
9. Rooms, signal services and copying someone else. Say what a room, an alert service and a copy-trading account each are, compute what two fills take out of a followed trade, and name the questions any such service can be asked.
10. The trades you did not take. Name the four reasons a signal is not acted on, say which of them a written record can change, and compute what the trades taken alone leave out of a month of signals.
11. The investor return gap, and the argument about its size. Say how an investor return gap is measured, compute a fund's time-weighted return and one investor's dollar-weighted return from an invented sequence of returns and deposits, and set Morningstar's published estimate of the gap beside the 2026 paper that argues it is far smaller.
12. The decision and the outcome. Place a trade in the decision-outcome grid and say what each cell should change.
20
Module 20: How the market actually works
Advanced16 lessons138 min
What happens between the click and the fill, what the tape and the displayed book each show and what neither of them shows, who is on the other side of a retail order and the venues that fill it, the price bands and circuit breakers that are published rules rather than opinions, the auctions that open and close the day, the extended sessions, the first half hour and the opening range, new listings from the offer price to the lock-up expiry, settlement, margin and the borrow, the float, short interest and how a squeeze unfolds, what published studies measured for low-priced stocks and what came before their falls, why a fund that tracks an index becomes a forced buyer when the rule's list changes and the closing auction its size lands in, what happens to an account if the broker holding it fails and how one moves between brokers, the short-sale price test, the best-interest standard, the relationship summary and where a complaint or a claim goes, and the frauds, protections and public records a new trader meets first.
1What happens between the click and the fill9 min
2Time and sales, and the order book9 min
3Price bands and circuit breakers9 min
4If your broker fails, and how an account moves9 min
5Rules you meet as a customer9 min
6The auctions and the shape of the day8 min
7Who is on the other side of your order9 min
8Before and after the bell7 min
9Index inclusion, and the days a fund must trade9 min
10The first half hour: preparation and the opening range8 min
11New listings: IPOs, lock-ups and the first months9 min
12Settlement, margin and the borrow9 min
13Float, short interest and squeezes9 min
14Low-priced stocks: the base rates8 min
15Reading a low-priced stock for dilution and distress9 min
16Scams, promoters and checking a broker8 min
What each lesson sets out to teach
1. What happens between the click and the fill. Trace an order from the broker to the venue and name where the cost lands at each step.
2. Time and sales, and the order book. Read what a tape print and a displayed book each carry, compute the weighted average a marketable order pays across price levels, and name what neither display shows.
3. Price bands and circuit breakers. Compute a stock's limit up and limit down band, and name the three market-wide levels and the exception that applies to two of them.
4. If your broker fails, and how an account moves. Say how customer assets are held and why that arrangement makes a failure survivable, name what SIPC restores and what it does not, and trace what happens to positions, open orders, a fraction, a dividend and the cost-basis history when an account moves between brokers.
5. Rules you meet as a customer. Apply Rule 201's trigger and its duration to an invented stock and say which short sales it still permits, name what Regulation Best Interest requires of a broker-dealer and what Form CRS must disclose, and say where a complaint goes, where a claim for money goes, and what SIPC does not do.
6. The auctions and the shape of the day. Say what the opening and closing auctions are, and why volume and range are distributed the way they are.
7. Who is on the other side of your order. Name the parties that can be on the other side of a retail order, describe how a wholesaler is paid for the flow and what a fill is measured against, and say plainly what an exchange, an ATS and a dark pool are.
8. Before and after the bell. Describe how the extended sessions differ and why a price there often does not survive to the open.
9. Index inclusion, and the days a fund must trade. Say why a fund that tracks an index has to buy a name the index adds, compute the shares it must buy from the fund's size and the name's weight, set that against the name's average daily volume, and say why a pattern this well known does not stay the same.
10. The first half hour: preparation and the opening range. List what a written pre-market check contains, define an opening range and its midpoint, and describe how a trend day and a range day treat that range.
11. New listings: IPOs, lock-ups and the first months. Describe how an IPO is priced and first trades, compute what a lock-up expiry adds to the tradable float, name the quiet period, direct listings and SPAC mergers, and say what published research has found about IPO returns in the years after listing.
12. Settlement, margin and the borrow. Name the settlement cycle, the two margin numbers, what replaced the pattern-day-trader rule in 2026, and what makes a short hard to borrow.
13. Float, short interest and squeezes. Define shares outstanding, the float, short interest and days to cover, compute each from a worked example, and describe how a short squeeze unfolds and why it usually ends with a fall.
14. Low-priced stocks: the base rates. Describe what published studies measured for low-priced and over-the-counter stocks, read a median against a mean, name the lottery features linked to weaker returns, and show how a wide spread can turn an edge on paper into a loss.
15. Reading a low-priced stock for dilution and distress. Name what published research found ahead of weaker returns, much of it across listed stocks of every size, work out what a growing share count and a reverse split do to one holder's stake, and say why the evidence on falls is stronger than the evidence on rises.
16. Scams, promoters and checking a broker. Name the red flags regulators list for investment fraud, describe how a pump-and-dump works, say what SIPC does and does not cover, and name the public records that let anyone check a broker.
21
Module 21: The other instruments
Advanced20 lessons172 min
Funds, bonds, futures, currencies and crypto: what a convertible bond is a claim on and what converting one does to a company's share count, what an index fund owns and what the record says against picking stocks, how an ETF and a mutual fund on one index differ in trading, yearly cost and taxes, what a fund's own document says about its fees and what its expense ratio leaves out, why a bond falls when yields rise and by roughly how much, how a bond ladder is laid out and what an inflation-protected Treasury repays, what four kinds of annuity provide and what each charges, what one contract actually is, why a fund that holds futures rather than the thing itself can fall over a year the commodity rose, what a pip is worth, why a leveraged fund does not track its index over months, what a REIT distributes, what a preferred share gives up, why a closed-end fund's price can sit away from its assets, where uninvested cash sits between trades and what a bill bought at a discount pays, what a depositary receipt is a claim on and why one can fall in dollars while the company's own price has not moved, what published studies measured in coin prices around an exchange listing and how a pump in a small coin runs, what private equity, private credit and property held directly are and why an appraised value swings less than a traded price, and which of your existing skills transfer unchanged.
1Convertible bonds and warrants9 min
2Funds and what they hold8 min
3ETFs and mutual funds: costs, taxes and how they trade8 min
4Reading a fund's own document10 min
5Leveraged and inverse ETFs8 min
6Owning the index or picking stocks7 min
7Bonds, yields and duration9 min
8Bond ladders and TIPS9 min
9Annuities: four contracts and what each charges10 min
10Futures: an obligation with a date on it9 min
11Why a commodity fund does not track the commodity10 min
12Where cash sits: sweep, money funds and Treasury bills9 min
13Currencies: every price is a ratio8 min
14Foreign companies on a US screen9 min
15Crypto: the market that never closes8 min
16After a coin lists7 min
17Quick rises and how a pump runs8 min
18REITs, preferred shares and closed-end funds9 min
19Private equity, private credit and direct real estate10 min
20What transfers, and what has to be relearned7 min
What each lesson sets out to teach
1. Convertible bonds and warrants. Explain what a convertible bond is a claim on, work out a conversion price, parity and the premium over parity from an issue's terms, and say what conversion does to a company's share count and to what it owes.
2. Funds and what they hold. Explain how an exchange-traded fund keeps its price near the value of its holdings, and name the three ways one can disappoint.
3. ETFs and mutual funds: costs, taxes and how they trade. Explain how an ETF and a mutual fund on the same index differ in how they trade, what they cost each year, and what they tend to distribute for tax.
4. Reading a fund's own document. Work through the sections of a fund's own document in the order they matter to a holder, compound two invented expense ratios over a decade, read a gross figure against a net one, and say what a turnover figure costs that the expense ratio leaves out.
5. Leveraged and inverse ETFs. Explain what a daily-reset fund promises, work out what three paths do to a 2x and a −1x fund, and say how an inverse fund differs from a short sale.
6. Owning the index or picking stocks. Explain what an index fund owns, how a yearly fee compounds over decades, and what the published record says about active funds against their index.
7. Bonds, yields and duration. Explain why a bond's price moves opposite to yields, estimate the size of the move from duration, and name the risks a bond or bond fund carries.
8. Bond ladders and TIPS. Lay out a ladder's maturity schedule and the income across its rungs, and compute a Treasury Inflation-Protected Security's adjusted principal, its interest payment and what it repays at maturity when prices have risen and when they have fallen.
9. Annuities: four contracts and what each charges. Describe immediate and deferred annuities and the four main kinds of deferred contract, work out an indexed contract's credited return through an index participation rate, a cap, a spread, a floor and a buffer, and compute a variable annuity's yearly charges and a surrender charge.
10. Futures: an obligation with a date on it. Compute a contract's tick value and notional exposure, and explain what a roll is and why it costs something.
11. Why a commodity fund does not track the commodity. Explain why a fund that holds futures does not track the price it is named after, work out what twelve invented rolls do on a curve in contango and on one in backwardation, say why such a fund can fall over a year in which the commodity rose, and name what a physically-backed fund carries instead.
12. Where cash sits: sweep, money funds and Treasury bills. Say where uninvested cash sits in a brokerage account, what a government money market fund holds and what its dollar share price is and is not, and work out a Treasury bill's gain, its yield over the term and its annualised figure.
13. Currencies: every price is a ratio. Compute what a pip is worth for a given pair and lot size, and say why the same stop costs different amounts at different times.
14. Foreign companies on a US screen. Explain what a depositary receipt is a claim on, work out a receipt's value from an ordinary share's price, an exchange rate and a ratio, and say what a currency move on its own does to a holding.
15. Crypto: the market that never closes. Name what is structurally different about crypto markets and what custody actually means.
16. After a coin lists. Describe what published studies measured in coin prices before, on and after an exchange listing, and why most of the measured gain came before a reader who learned of the listing could act.
17. Quick rises and how a pump runs. Describe how pump-and-dumps in small coins have run, what research found about reported volume on unregulated exchanges and about new tokens, and what the published detectors were built to find.
18. REITs, preferred shares and closed-end funds. Say what a REIT must distribute and why its year is read as funds from operations rather than earnings per share, what a preferred share promises and gives up, and how a closed-end fund's price can sit above or below the value of its holdings.
19. Private equity, private credit and direct real estate. Say what private equity, private credit and directly held property are, name the fund structures through which they reach an ordinary account, show how an appraised value lowers measured volatility, work out what a repurchase limit returns on a request, and compare a fee charged on committed capital with the capital actually at work.
20. What transfers, and what has to be relearned. Separate the instrument-specific mechanics from the skills that carry across all of them.
22
Module 22: Tax mechanics
Advanced12 lessons100 min
How US federal tax treats a trade: the one-year line, which shares a sale is said to come from, wash sales, the $3,000 loss limit and what carries forward, what the broker's own form reports and what it leaves for the taxpayer, the retirement and health accounts that change when tax is paid, the employer rules a trader meets and the basis error a vesting creates, what happens to the cost basis when shares are given away, inherited or donated, the minimum a traditional IRA has to pay out each year from 73 and the 10-year rule for most heirs of one, the arithmetic of claiming Social Security early or late, estimated tax paid through the year on four dates, and the separate rules for futures, index options and trader status. How the rules work — not tax advice.
1The one-year line8 min
2Which shares you sold8 min
3Wash sales8 min
4Losses, the $3,000 limit and the carryforward8 min
5The forms your broker sends, and what they get wrong9 min
6Accounts that change the tax8 min
7Trading while employed by someone9 min
8Shares that change hands without a sale9 min
9Required distributions, inherited accounts and the beneficiary form9 min
10Social Security: the claiming arithmetic8 min
11Estimated tax: paying through the year8 min
12Futures, index options and trader status8 min
What each lesson sets out to teach
1. The one-year line. Say how a gain's holding period is counted, which side of the one-year line it falls on, and what that changes about the tax.
2. Which shares you sold. Explain what a tax lot is, which lots a sale uses when none are named, and what naming them changes and does not change.
3. Wash sales. Say when a loss is disallowed by the wash-sale rule, what happens to it, and the cases the broker's forms do not catch.
4. Losses, the $3,000 limit and the carryforward. Net a year's gains and losses, apply the annual limit, and say what carries forward and in what character.
5. The forms your broker sends, and what they get wrong. Say what a 1099-B reports and what it leaves blank, why a broker's wash-sale figure can differ from the taxpayer's, and what reconciling the form against your own records turns up.
6. Accounts that change the tax. Describe how traditional, Roth and health savings accounts change when a gain is taxed, and name what cannot be done inside them.
7. Trading while employed by someone. Describe the categories of trading rule an employer may impose and why they exist, and say what shares that arrive as pay do to cost basis and to a loss realised nearby.
8. Shares that change hands without a sale. Say what happens to cost basis and holding period when shares are given away, inherited or donated, and why every one of those transfers needs the same two records.
9. Required distributions, inherited accounts and the beneficiary form. Work out a required minimum distribution from a prior year-end balance and the Uniform Lifetime Table, say when distributions start and what a shortfall costs, state the 10-year rule and who is outside it, and say why the beneficiary form on an account decides who receives it.
10. Social Security: the claiming arithmetic. Work out a retirement benefit claimed at 62, 64 and 70 from the amount at full retirement age, using the Social Security Administration's published reduction and delayed-credit rates, and compute the age at which the totals of an early and a late claim meet, without taking a position on when anybody claims.
11. Estimated tax: paying through the year. Say when estimated tax on trading gains is due, what amount paid on time avoids the underpayment penalty, and how income that arrives unevenly is treated.
12. Futures, index options and trader status. Say how section 1256 contracts are taxed and which instruments are and are not, and what trader tax status and the mark-to-market election involve.
23
Module 23: Your written plan
Advanced6 lessons50 min
The twelve questions a trading plan answers, the two parts nearly every plan omits, a builder that turns your answers into a document you keep, the rules for changing it, and the questions a written plan for a long-term account answers.
1What a plan is for7 min
2The twelve questions10 min
3When you do not trade7 min
4Writing it down9 min
5Changing the plan8 min
6A written plan for a long-term account9 min
What each lesson sets out to teach
1. What a plan is for. Distinguish a plan from a prediction, and say what a plan is protecting you from.
2. The twelve questions. State what each of the twelve parts must answer and what makes an answer useless.
3. When you do not trade. Write the conditions under which the correct action is none, and say why this part saves the most money.
4. Writing it down. Produce a complete written plan and keep it somewhere it will survive.
5. Changing the plan. State the conditions under which a plan may be changed and the procedure that keeps a change honest.
6. A written plan for a long-term account. List the questions a written plan for a long-term account answers, and say what does and does not trigger a change to one.
Membership
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