GUIDE 01Markets & price movements
A financial market brings together buyers and sellers of assets such as company shares and commodities. A quoted price shows what participants are willing to buy or sell for, and can change quickly.
Prices respond to buying and selling, economic releases, interest-rate expectations and other events. A chart records past prices; it does not show what will happen next.
Different products create different rights, costs and risks. Buying an asset is different from using a contract linked to its price. Read the product terms so you understand what you own, how prices are quoted and what you could lose.
Key idea: Understand the instrument and the way its price is quoted before thinking about a setup.
GUIDE 02Leverage & margin
Leverage lets a relatively small amount of margin support a larger market exposure. Price movements affect the full exposure, so a small market move can have a much larger effect on account funds.
Margin is the amount required to open or maintain a position. It is not the same as the maximum possible loss. Falling account equity can trigger a margin close-out under the provider's terms.
Leverage limits, close-out rules and loss protections depend on the product, provider, jurisdiction and client status.
Key idea: More buying power also means greater exposure to loss.
GUIDE 03Understanding orders
A market order asks to trade at the available market price. A limit order specifies a price or better, but may not fill. Execution depends on the market and the provider's rules.
A stop-loss order is intended to close a position when a specified level is reached. A take-profit order is intended to close it at a target level.
Ordinary stop orders do not guarantee execution at the chosen price. Gaps, fast markets and limited liquidity can produce slippage. Spreads, commissions and overnight charges can also affect the result.
Key idea: Order levels describe an intention; execution and costs determine the actual outcome.
GUIDE 04Risk & position size
Position size is how much exposure a trade creates. The size of the position and the distance between entry and a planned exit both affect the potential loss.
Several open trades can share the same underlying risk. For example, different positions may all be sensitive to a move in the US dollar. Looking at each trade separately can hide that combined exposure.
A profitable screenshot, a winning streak or a past result does not show the full risk of a strategy and does not guarantee future returns.
Key idea: Consider the downside, costs and combined exposure, rather than focusing only on a potential target.
GUIDE 05Demo practice
A demo account uses simulated funds. It can help you learn a platform's controls, order types and position information without putting real money into those practice trades.
Use practice to understand how to place and cancel orders, inspect margin, find costs and see what happens when a position closes. Keep a record of the assumptions behind each example.
Demo results can differ from live results. Execution conditions, costs and the emotions involved in risking real money may be different.
Key idea: Practice teaches platform mechanics; it does not establish that a strategy will make money.
GUIDE 06Keeping a trading journal
A trading journal records the idea behind a trade, the planned entry and exit, position size, costs and the final result. It gives context that a profit or loss figure alone cannot provide.
Record whether the plan was followed, which assumptions changed and what was learned. Include losing examples as well as winning ones.
Reviewing a record can help identify repeated decisions and mistakes. A small sample can be misleading, and past records cannot remove uncertainty about future markets.
Key idea: Evaluate the decision and the process, as well as the outcome.