Knowla / Roadmaps / Market Foundations
Foundations · 6 phases · 24 topics
Market Foundations Start here if you have never bought anything on a market. This path covers what a market and a broker are, how prices and orders work, how to read a chart, what the main asset classes are, what trading costs, and how to size risk before you put real money in.
Read this first. Trading and investing can lose money, including all of what you put in. Nothing here is advice or a recommendation. Tax rules, product availability and investor protections differ by country, so check the rules where you live.
1 How markets work What a market is, who runs it, and who stands between you and it.
Beginner What a market is A market is a place where buyers and sellers agree on a price. In financial markets the thing being traded is a share, a bond, a currency, a contract or a fund unit. Beginner Exchanges and trading venues An exchange is a regulated venue that matches buy and sell orders. Many markets also have alternative venues and market makers that trade alongside exchanges. Beginner Brokers and who holds your assets Most people reach a market through a broker, a firm that sends your orders to a venue and holds your account. Your assets are normally kept in custody, separate from the broker's own money. Beginner Market hours and sessions Most stock exchanges trade on weekdays during fixed hours and close on holidays. Some brokers offer pre-market and after-hours sessions, with different risks. 2 Prices and orders How a quoted price turns into a trade, and what it costs to cross the gap.
Beginner Bid, ask and spread The bid is the highest price a buyer is offering. The ask is the lowest price a seller will accept. The gap between them is the spread, and it is a real cost every time you trade. Beginner Liquidity and volume Liquidity is how easily you can buy or sell without moving the price. Volume is how much traded in a period and is one clue to liquidity. Beginner Market and limit orders A market order trades now at the best available price. A limit order trades only at your price or better, and may not trade at all. Beginner Fills, partial fills and slippage The price you expected and the price you got can differ. That difference is slippage, and it grows with order size and market speed. 3 Reading a price chart What a chart shows, what it leaves out, and how to read candles without over-reading them.
Beginner Price chart basics A price chart plots price against time. Learn the axes, the scale and the volume bars before you look at anything fancier. Beginner Candlesticks Each candle summarises one period with four prices: open, high, low and close. The body shows open to close and the thin lines show the full range. Beginner Timeframes and trends The same asset can look like it is rising on one timeframe and falling on another. Pick the timeframe that matches how long you plan to hold. Intermediate Optional Volume and indicators Indicators are calculations on price and volume, such as moving averages or RSI. They summarise the past and do not predict the future. 4 Asset classes and costs What you can trade, what it costs, and how leverage changes the picture.
Beginner Asset classes overview Asset classes are broad groups of investments that behave differently: shares, bonds, cash, commodities, currencies, property and crypto assets. Beginner What trading really costs Costs come from several places: commissions, the spread, fund fees, currency conversion, financing and platform or data fees. Small costs repeat and add up. Beginner Taxes: what to look up Gains, dividends and interest are often taxed, and losses can sometimes offset gains. The rules depend heavily on your country and the type of account. Intermediate Leverage and margin Leverage means controlling a larger position than your own money would allow, usually by borrowing. It magnifies gains and losses by the same factor. 5 Broker, practice and records Pick a broker with care, practice without real money, and keep a record you can learn from.
Beginner Choosing a broker safely Check that a broker is licensed in your country, how it holds your assets, what it charges and what it lets you trade, before you send any money. Beginner Account security and scams Trading attracts scams. Protect your login and treat any promise of guaranteed returns as a warning sign. Beginner Paper trading Paper trading means practising with simulated money. It teaches you the platform and the order types before mistakes cost anything. Beginner Keeping a trading journal A journal is a written record of each trade and why you made it. It shows what you really do, which is often not what you think you do. 6 Risk basics Decide how much you can lose before you decide what to buy.
Beginner Risk, reward and diversification Risk is the chance of losing money, or of results differing from what you expected. You cannot remove it, but you can choose how much to take and how to spread it. Intermediate Position sizing basics Position size is how much you put into one trade or holding. A common way to set it is to decide the most you are willing to lose on the trade, then work backwards. Intermediate Stop orders A stop order becomes a live order once the price reaches a trigger level. It is a tool for limiting a loss or entering on a breakout, and it is not a guarantee. Advanced Optional Drawdowns and psychology A drawdown is the fall from a peak to a later low. How you behave during one decides more outcomes than the strategy itself. Your ticks are saved in this browser only. There is no account behind them, so clearing site data clears them.
Education, not financial advice. Nothing here says what to buy or sell, and rules and product availability differ by country. All roadmaps .