Guides and explainers
Brokers for beginners
Brokers: opening and funding compared
Opening an account with the right broker comes down to the minimum deposit, the minimum investment and what it costs to move money in and out.
Brokers for beginners
The company behind the broker: how to check the firm behind the price
The firm behind a broker decides how safe and how workable an account is, so compare founding year, legal entity, home country, licence and support routes before you compare costs.
Brokers for beginners
Broker fees and costs: how to compare what you pay
Broker charges spread much wider than the headline trade fee suggests, so compare account fees, currency conversion, inactivity charges, options fees, margin rates and minimum deposits alongside the per-trade figure.
Brokers for beginners
Brokers: markets and platforms compared
Comparing brokers starts with three things: the markets they cover, the account type you need and the platform you will use every day.
Brokers for beginners
Regulation and Registers: How to Check a Broker Before You Deposit
Every broker licence names a regulator and a public register, and reading those entries tells you who polices the firm, which entity holds your account and what stands behind your money.
Brokers for beginners
Brokers: safety and regulation
How to compare broker regulators, licence numbers and compensation schemes before you deposit, and what to check on a public register.
Calmar ratio and maximum drawdown explained
The Calmar ratio compares an investment's annual return with its worst peak-to-trough fall, which makes it a useful tool for side-by-side comparison.
The carry trade explained
A carry trade borrows a low-rate currency to fund a higher-rate currency, and exchange rate moves can erase the gain.
Cash account or margin account for a beginner
A cash account only lets you spend money you have deposited, while a margin account lets you borrow from your broker, which changes what you can do and what can go wrong.
Crypto exchange or crypto broker
A crypto exchange matches orders from people on both sides of a trade, while a crypto broker quotes a price and often holds the position itself.
Keeping tax records for crypto assets
This guide explains how to keep dated records of crypto asset activity so that gains, losses and cost basis are easier to work out.
Custodial investing accounts for children
A custodial investing account lets an adult invest for a child, with the child owning the money while an adult controls it until a set age.
How to practise with a demo trading account
A demo trading account lets you practise with simulated money, and this guide explains how to use it well and where its results stop being useful.
Execution-only broker or full-service broker
An execution-only broker places the trades you choose, while a full-service broker also gives personal guidance on what to hold.
Drawdown and volatility as ways to see risk
Drawdown measures the fall from a previous high, while volatility measures how much prices swing, and that difference decides which lens fits your goals.
Expense ratios and how fund costs add up
The expense ratio is the yearly percentage a fund takes to pay for running it, and small differences add up over time.
Forex trading sessions and why they matter
Forex trading runs in overlapping regional sessions, and knowing when each is active helps you judge liquidity, spreads and price movement.
Fractional shares explained
Fractional shares let you put a set sum into a part of a share, and this guide explains how they work, what they allow, and where they fall short.
How stock exchanges work
A stock exchange matches orders to buy shares with orders to sell them, following fixed rules about price and time.
Brokers for beginners
How to choose a broker for beginners
Beginners can compare brokers by starting with account and trading fees, then checking regulation, protection and whether the account suits how they want to trade.
CFD brokers
How to Choose a CFD Broker
Compare CFD brokers on account fees, trading costs, deposit thresholds, client money protection and the risk warnings that tell you how the account behaves.
Copy trading platforms
How to choose a copy trading platform
Compare copy trading platforms by account and trade fees, the money needed to start, who holds the cash and what protection sits behind it, then by the account itself.
Forex brokers
How to choose Forex brokers
Comparing costs, money protection and how the account works, using CFI, eToro and Vantage as worked examples.
Futures trading platforms
Futures trading platforms: how to compare fees, protection and account rules
Futures platforms differ most in account charges, minimum deposits, regulator and the protection scheme behind your money, so a fair comparison has to read those lines before the market list.
Investment platforms and apps
How to Choose Investment Platforms and Apps
Investment platforms differ most in how they charge, how little they accept and what stands behind your money, so a shortlist works best when the same few points are checked on every option.
Low-fee brokers
How to choose low-fee brokers: fees, protection and account types
Firstrade and Robinhood both charge nothing to trade stocks, so the choice comes down to account fees, transfer costs, protection levels and what you plan to trade.
Margin trading brokers
How to Choose a Margin Trading Broker
Margin brokers charge for two separate things, the trade and the borrowing behind it, so the right pick depends on your margin rate, the fees attached to your account type, the regulator and protection scheme behind your money, and how …
Options trading platforms
How to Choose an Options Trading Platform
Compare per-contract fees, minimums, account structures and protection schemes across options platforms, then pick the account that matches how you trade.
P2P lending platforms
How to choose a P2P lending platform
P2P platforms differ most in account fees, withdrawal costs and protection for your money, so compare those three things line by line before you commit funds.
Prop trading firms
How to Choose a Prop Trading Firm
Four prop trading firms compared on what you pay, how much you are allowed to lose, how much of your profit you keep, and who sits on the other side of the contract.
Robo-advisors
How to choose a robo-advisor: fees, protection and account types
Weighing fees, minimum investments, investor protection and account type side by side turns a robo-advisor shortlist into a decision you can defend.
Stock and ETF brokers
How to choose a stock and ETF broker
Compare stock and ETF brokers on the trade fee, the account type behind it, deposit and withdrawal charges, the regulator and protection scheme, and the retail loss warning before you fund an account.
How to read forex quotes
A forex quote shows what a currency pair costs to buy and sell, and the gap between the buy and sell prices is part of the cost.
How to withdraw money from a broker
Withdrawing from a broker follows a clear sequence, and knowing what slows it down helps you plan when the money reaches your bank.
Index funds or actively managed funds
Index funds aim to match a market index at a lower running cost, while actively managed funds aim to outperform it through stock selection.
Joint or individual brokerage account
A joint account is shared by several holders, while an individual account belongs to a single person, and that difference shapes access, tax and what happens when someone leaves.
Loss aversion and the disposition effect
Losses tend to hurt more than equal gains feel good, and that pull can lead investors to sell winners too soon and hold losers for too long.
Market order or limit order
A market order buys or sells straight away at the price available at that moment, while a limit order waits until the price you chose is reached.
Mental stops or hard stops
A mental stop lives in your head, while a hard stop sits with the broker, and that difference shapes discipline and gap risk.
Mobile trading app or desktop platform
A mobile trading app suits short checks on the move, while a desktop platform suits detailed charting and careful order preparation.
Multi-asset trading platforms explained
A multi-asset trading account gives access to shares, funds, currencies, crypto and derivatives through a single provider, but each market brings its own rules and risks.
Position sizing and how much to risk per trade
A plain method for choosing how much of your account to risk on each trade, using stop distance and average true range.
Robo-advisors
Robo-advisors: the company behind the account
The legal entity that stands behind a robo-advisor account decides who handles your money when something goes wrong, so it is worth checking before you invest.
Managed portfolio service or online broker
Compare a managed portfolio service with an online broker, where the deciding difference is who makes the investment choices and how much of your time each takes.
How to use a stock screener
A stock screener narrows listed shares by size, sector, valuation and growth, and a few clear conditions produce a shortlist worth researching.
Swing trading explained
Swing trading means holding positions for days or weeks to catch price moves, and it carries overnight and weekend gap risk that day trading and long-term investing handle differently.
Ticker symbols and exchanges explained
A ticker symbol identifies a security, but the same company can carry different tickers on different exchanges, so you need to check which listing you are buying.
How trailing stop-loss orders work
A trailing stop-loss sells a holding when its price falls a set distance from the highest price reached, and it moves up as the price rises.
Setting up watchlists and price alerts
A plain walkthrough for building a themed watchlist and setting price, percentage move and news alerts without letting the list grow out of hand.