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Trading 101

Ten short lessons covering the vocabulary, mechanics, and instincts every trader needs before touching a strategy. No fluff, no upsell.

10 lessons

  1. 1

    Lesson 1 of 10 · 6 min read

    What trading actually is

    Trading is buying and selling to profit from short-term price moves. It is not investing, and the difference is more than horizon — it shapes every tool you reach for.

  2. 2

    Lesson 2 of 10 · 7 min read

    How to read a price chart

    Every price chart is the same three things: a time axis, a price axis, and bars that summarise what happened between two moments. Learn to see those three pieces clearly and the rest becomes legible.

  3. 3

    Lesson 3 of 10 · 6 min read

    Candles, decoded

    A candle is a four-number summary dressed up as a shape. Once you can read body, wick, and colour without thinking, you can read any candle chart on any timeframe.

  4. 4

    Lesson 4 of 10 · 6 min read

    Volume and why it matters

    Volume is the only data on the chart that is not derived from price. Treat it as the conviction behind a move — high volume confirms, light volume warns.

  5. 5

    Lesson 5 of 10 · 8 min read

    Long, short, and leverage

    Long bets on price going up, short bets on it going down, and leverage multiplies both. Understanding what 5x actually does to your equity is the difference between a tool and a trap.

  6. 6

    Lesson 6 of 10 · 7 min read

    Fees, slippage, funding

    Three small charges that look harmless in isolation and quietly eat the entire edge out of a naive strategy. Account for all three or your backtest is fiction.

  7. 7

    Lesson 7 of 10 · 8 min read

    Risk before reward

    Position sizing and stop loss decide whether you survive long enough for any edge to show. Reward comes second; risk is what keeps you in the game.

  8. 8

    Lesson 8 of 10 · 7 min read

    What an indicator is

    An indicator is a transformation of price, not a prediction of it. Treat it as a lens that highlights one specific feature of the data — useful, never magical.

  9. 9

    Lesson 9 of 10 · 7 min read

    What a strategy is

    A strategy is a mechanical pipeline: rules produce signals, signals produce orders, orders produce outcomes. If any step is fuzzy, you don't have a strategy yet.

  10. 10

    Lesson 10 of 10 · 9 min read

    What a backtest is — and isn't

    A backtest is a controlled re-run of a strategy on historical data. Done honestly, it is the single best evidence a strategy might work. Done carelessly, it is the most persuasive lie in trading.