A reading order if you are starting from zero
If you have never placed a trade, this order works. Most guides lean on the ones before them.
- What is paper trading explains how you will practice: paper money at live prices, so the decisions are real and the losses are not.
- Trading simulator vs demo account helps you pick a practice tool before you build habits in the wrong one.
- How to read candlestick charts comes early because most later guides refer to charts. Start with the four prices inside each candle: open, high, low and close.
- Long vs short covers the two directions you can trade, and why a short loses money when price rises.
- Support and resistance gives you a reason to act at one price rather than another.
- Stop-loss and take-profit is about choosing your exit before you enter.
- Position sizing turns that exit into a dollar amount you can afford to lose.
- Leverage and margin sits after sizing on purpose. Leverage multiplies whatever size you pick, mistakes included.
- Trading psychology makes more sense once you have a few losing trades behind you.
- How to practice trading pulls the rest into a routine you can repeat week after week.
Don't read all ten in one go. Read one, then trade with only that idea for a few days. After the support and resistance guide, for example, write down three levels on the daily gold chart in Alphacent's simulator and watch how price behaves at each before you trade any of them.
Where the guides stop and the rest of the site takes over
Each guide covers one big idea. The rest of the site either goes narrower or adds structure.
- The candlestick pattern library picks up where the chart guide stops. Each pattern has its own page showing what it looks like, where it tends to matter and when it fails.
- The courses are the structured route: 60 of them in three tracks of 20, taken in the app, with lessons that last a few minutes and end with a quiz. The Foundation track starts from the same basics as these guides in smaller steps, then keeps going.
- The glossary is for the moment one word stops you. A term like spread gets a few sentences instead of a whole guide.
Questions people ask
How long does it take to learn the basics of trading?
Reading these ten guides takes a few hours. Applying them without thinking takes longer, usually weeks of regular practice, because ideas like position sizing only stick once you have used them on live charts. Be wary of anyone who promises a fixed timeline.
Can I learn trading on my own?
Yes. The basics can be self-taught from free material and practice with paper money. What self-study rarely gives you is honest feedback, so keep a simple trade journal: entry, exit, reason, result. Reviewing it once a week shows mistakes you won't notice in the moment.
Do I need money to start learning to trade?
No. You can learn the mechanics with paper money at live prices, where a loss costs nothing but pride. Real money adds fees, taxes and emotional pressure that a simulator cannot fully copy, so treat practice results as a rehearsal rather than proof of how you would do with real money.