Trading guides
Start at the top and work down. Each guide stands on its own, so you can also jump straight to what you need.
What the main markets are
Stocks are shares of ownership in a company. ETFs are funds that trade like stocks and usually hold a basket of assets.
Derivatives, such as futures and options, are contracts whose value depends on something else. They often involve leverage, so small price moves can cause large gains or losses.
Forex is the trading of one currency against another, and crypto is the trading of digital assets. Rules for both vary widely by country, so check what is legal and regulated where you live.
How orders work
A market order fills at the best available price right away, which may differ from the last price you saw. A limit order sets the worst price you'll accept, but it may never fill.
A stop order becomes active once the price reaches a level you set, and it's often used to limit a loss. In a fast market, a stop-market order can fill well beyond your stop price, so it doesn't guarantee your exit price.
How to read a chart
A candlestick shows four prices for a period: open, high, low and close. The body spans the open and close, and the thin lines mark the high and low.
Trend describes the general direction of price. Support and resistance are areas where price has previously tended to pause or turn. They're useful for planning, but they're not guarantees.
Volume shows how much traded in a period. It can help you judge how much participation sits behind a price move. A chart describes what has happened; it can't tell you what will happen next.
How to manage risk
Start by choosing how much of your account you'll accept losing if a trade fails. Then let that amount, and the distance to your stop, set your position size.
Losses also take more to recover than they cost: a 50% loss needs a 100% gain to get back to even. That's why limiting losses matters so much. You can test your own numbers with the calculators.
Why discipline is hard
Common traps include chasing a price that has already moved, trading bigger to win back a loss, and moving a stop because you don't want to accept being wrong.
Write your plan before you enter: why you're taking the trade, where you'll exit if wrong, and how much you'll trade. It's much easier to follow a decision made while calm.
How to keep a trading journal
For every trade, record the date, instrument, entry, exit, size, fees, your reason for taking it and how you felt. Add a chart screenshot if you can.
Review your journal regularly and look for patterns. Judge your results over many trades, and include all costs, because a handful of trades can easily mislead you.
These guides are general education, not advice. Examples use made-up numbers and don't suggest any trade. Read the full disclaimer.