TradeSmrt

📘 Stock Basics

From what a stock actually is to reading order books, candlestick charts, financial statements, and risk management — the fundamentals every beginner needs before investing a single dollar.

Continue reading:
  1. Lesson 1 Beginner What Is a Stock? 5 min read
  2. Lesson 2 Beginner How the Stock Market Actually Works 4 min read
  3. Lesson 3 Beginner Order Types — Market, Limit, and Stop Orders 4 min read
  4. Lesson 4 Beginner How to Read a Candlestick Chart 5 min read
  5. Lesson 5 Beginner Basic Financial Metrics (PER, PBR, ROE, EPS) 5 min read
  6. Lesson 6 Beginner Risk Management Basics 5 min read
  7. Lesson 7 Beginner A Glossary of Terms You'll See in the Trading Strategies Course 4 min read
  8. Lesson 8 Beginner Why Invest in Stocks? Compound Interest vs. Savings Accounts, By the Numbers 5 min read
  9. Lesson 9 Beginner Building a Long-Term Dividend Portfolio: The Criteria That Actually Matter 4 min read
  10. Lesson 10 Beginner Why Stock Prices Move — Supply, Demand, and Expectations 3 min read
  11. Lesson 11 Beginner What Is an ETF? How It Differs from Individual Stocks and Index Funds 2 min read
  12. Lesson 12 Beginner US vs Canada Tax-Advantaged Accounts — 401(k)/IRA vs RRSP/TFSA 3 min read
  13. Lesson 13 Beginner Wealth Building Principles: 5 Rules That Actually Work 2 min read
  14. Lesson 14 Beginner What Is Market Cap? Calculation, and Large-, Mid-, and Small-Cap Explained 3 min read
  15. Lesson 15 Beginner Stock Splits vs. Buybacks: Why Companies Do Them When Value Doesn't Change 3 min read
  16. Lesson 16 Intermediate How Interest Rates Affect Stock Valuations: The Discount Rate Mechanism 7 min read
  17. Lesson 17 Intermediate What Are Options? Understanding Calls and Puts as Insurance 8 min read
  18. Lesson 18 Intermediate What Is the Yield Curve? Why an Inversion Signals Recession Risk 8 min read
  19. Lesson 19 Intermediate Correlation and Diversification: Why Owning More Stocks Isn't the Same as Being Diversified 8 min read
  20. Lesson 20 Intermediate Nominal vs. Real Returns: How Inflation Quietly Eats Your Gains 9 min read
  21. Lesson 21 Intermediate Sector Rotation Explained: Why Different Industries Lead at Different Points in the Business Cycle 9 min read
  22. Lesson 22 Intermediate What Is Short Selling? How Selling Borrowed Shares Actually Works 9 min read
  23. Lesson 23 Intermediate P/E, P/B, P/S, and EV/EBITDA: Picking the Right Valuation Multiple 9 min read
  24. Lesson 24 Intermediate Rights Offering vs. Bonus Issue: Why Dilution Cuts One Way and Not the Other 7 min read
  25. Lesson 25 Intermediate What Is Margin Trading? How Leverage Amplifies Gains and Losses Together 9 min read
  26. Lesson 26 Advanced What Is Beta? Measuring Risk Relative to the Market 8 min read
  27. Lesson 27 Advanced What Is Discounted Cash Flow (DCF)? Calculating Intrinsic Value From Future Cash 9 min read
  28. Lesson 28 Advanced Efficient Market Hypothesis vs. Behavioral Finance: Is the Price Already Right? 8 min read
  29. Lesson 29 Advanced The Index Rebalancing Effect: Why Stocks Move on Inclusion News 9 min read
  30. Lesson 30 Advanced What Is a Market Maker? Order Books, Spreads, and Dark Pools Explained 9 min read
  31. Lesson 31 Advanced How Exchange Rates Affect Earnings — FX Exposure and Constant Currency Explained 7 min read
  32. Lesson 32 Advanced ROIC vs WACC: How to Tell If a Company Is Actually Creating Value 8 min read
  33. Lesson 33 Advanced What Is a Credit Spread — How Corporate-vs-Treasury Yield Gaps Signal Risk Appetite 8 min read
  34. Lesson 34 Advanced What Is an Economic Moat — The 5 Sources of Durable Competitive Advantage 8 min read
  35. Lesson 35 Advanced What Is a Holding Company Discount — Why Good Subsidiaries Still Trade Cheap 9 min read
  36. Lesson 36 Advanced What Is Factor Investing — Why Value, Momentum, Quality, and Low-Volatility Work 8 min read
  37. Lesson 37 Advanced Dividend Discount Model (DDM): Valuing a Stock From Dividends Alone 7 min read
  38. Lesson 38 Advanced Preferred Stock vs. Common Stock: Why the Same Company Trades at Two Prices 9 min read
  39. Lesson 39 Advanced Spin-Off vs Carve-Out — What Happens to Your Shares When a Company Splits 7 min read
  40. Lesson 40 Advanced Convertible Bonds Explained — Why a 0% Coupon Bond Can Still Attract Buyers 9 min read
  41. Lesson 41 Advanced Circular Shareholding Explained — How a Small Stake Buys Outsized Control 9 min read
  42. Lesson 42 Advanced Stock-Based Compensation Dilution — Why RSUs and Options Are a Real Cost to Shareholders 5 min read
  43. Lesson 43 Advanced Treasury Stock Magic — How Non-Voting Shares Became a Control Tool in Spin-Offs 8 min read
  44. Lesson 44 Advanced What Is a Tender Offer — Why Korea Is Bringing Back Mandatory Tender Offers After 27 Years 10 min read
  45. Lesson 45 Advanced Dual-Class Shares Explained — How Founders Vote More Than They Own 10 min read
  46. Lesson 46 Advanced Anti-Takeover Defenses Explained — Poison Pills, Golden Parachutes, and Why Korea Has Neither 10 min read
  47. Lesson 47 Advanced Goodwill Impairment Explained — When an Overpriced Acquisition Finally Hits Earnings 6 min read
  48. Lesson 48 Advanced Non-Controlling Interest Explained — Why Consolidated Profit Isn't All Yours 8 min read
  49. Lesson 49 Advanced Shareholder Activism Explained — How a Small Stake Forces a Board's Hand 9 min read
  50. Lesson 50 Advanced DuPont Analysis Explained — Breaking ROE Into Three Drivers 9 min read
  51. Lesson 51 Advanced Operating Leverage Explained — Why Fixed Costs Amplify Profit Swings 9 min read
  52. Lesson 52 Advanced Related-Party Tunneling Explained — How Internal Deals Fund Succession 9 min read
  53. Lesson 53 Advanced Merger Swap Ratio Explained — How It's Calculated and Why It Sparks Minority Shareholder Disputes 8 min read
  54. Lesson 54 Advanced Earnings Quality Explained — Why Net Income and Cash Flow Diverge 9 min read
  55. Lesson 55 Advanced Enterprise Value vs. Equity Value — Why Market Cap Isn't What It Costs to Buy a Company 9 min read
  56. Lesson 56 Advanced What Is a Leveraged Buyout (LBO)? — Buying a Company With Its Own Future Cash Flow 8 min read
  57. Lesson 57 Advanced What Is FFO for REITs? — Why P/E Fails and P/FFO/AFFO Works 7 min read
  58. Lesson 58 Advanced What Is Sum-of-the-Parts (SOTP) Valuation? — Grading Each Business Unit on Its Own Curve 8 min read
  59. Lesson 59 Advanced What Is an ELS (Equity-Linked Security)? — Knock-in Barriers, Step-Down Redemption, and Why Losses Happen 9 min read
  60. Lesson 60 Advanced What Is the Altman Z-Score — Calculating Bankruptcy Risk From 5 Financial Ratios 9 min read
  61. Lesson 61 Advanced What Is the VIX? Reading the Market's Fear Gauge 9 min read
  62. Lesson 62 Advanced What Is an ADR? Why It Can Trade at a Different Price Than the Local Stock 9 min read
  63. Lesson 63 Advanced What Is Bond Duration? Why Small Rate Moves Can Swing Bond Prices So Much 8 min read
  64. Lesson 64 Advanced What Is the Sharpe Ratio? Measuring Risk-Adjusted Return, Plus Sortino and Treynor 9 min read
  65. Lesson 65 Advanced What Is Value at Risk (VaR)? How Banks Compress Risk Into One Number 8 min read
  66. Lesson 66 Advanced What Are Option Greeks? Reading Delta, Gamma, Theta, and Vega 9 min read
  67. Lesson 67 Advanced Capital Structure Theory: Does Debt Actually Change What a Company Is Worth? 8 min read
  68. Lesson 68 Advanced What Is CAPM? The Formula Behind Expected Return 7 min read
  69. Lesson 69 Advanced What Is the Black-Scholes Model? How Option Prices Get Calculated 6 min read
  70. Lesson 70 Advanced What Is the Efficient Frontier? Markowitz's Theory of Optimal Asset Allocation 9 min read
  71. Lesson 71 Advanced What Are Stock Index Futures? Basis, Convergence, and Program Trading Explained 10 min read
  72. Lesson 72 Advanced Cash Conversion Cycle (CCC): How Inventory, Receivables, and Payables Reveal a Company's Real Cash Position 8 min read
  73. Lesson 73 Advanced IPO Lock-Up Periods Explained: Why Stocks Wobble on Expiration and What 'Overhang' Means 8 min read
  74. Lesson 74 Advanced What Is a Credit Default Swap (CDS)? Insurance Against Bond Default, Explained 8 min read
  75. Lesson 75 Advanced What Is a Greenshoe Option? How Underwriters Stabilize a Stock Right After Its IPO 8 min read
  76. Lesson 76 Advanced What Is a Capital Reduction? How Distressed Companies Force Shareholders to Give Up Stock 10 min read
  77. Lesson 77 Advanced Korean Dividend Tax and Comprehensive Financial Income Taxation — Why Bigger Dividends Can Mean a Much Bigger Tax Bill 8 min read
  78. Lesson 78 Advanced Total Shareholder Yield Explained — Why Dividends Alone Miss Half the Picture 9 min read
  79. Lesson 79 Advanced Leveraged & Inverse ETF Decay Explained — Why You Can Lose Money Even When the Index Is Flat 9 min read
  80. Lesson 80 Advanced What Is a SPAC? How a Blank-Check Shell Company Takes a Private Firm Public 9 min read
  81. Lesson 81 Advanced The Buffett Indicator Explained — Measuring the Whole Market Against GDP 7 min read
  82. Lesson 82 Advanced ETF Tracking Error vs Premium/Discount to NAV — Two Different Ways an ETF Can Drift From Its Index 9 min read
  83. Lesson 83 Advanced Index Weighting Methods Explained — Why the Dow, S&P 500, and Equal-Weight Indexes Move Differently 8 min read
  84. Lesson 84 Advanced The Shiller PE (CAPE) Ratio Explained — Smoothing Out the Business Cycle With a 10-Year Average 8 min read
  85. Lesson 85 Advanced What Is a Block Deal? Why Large Stakes Trade Off-Market at a Discount 9 min read
  86. Lesson 86 Advanced What Is RCPS (Redeemable Convertible Preferred Stock)? Why It Creates 'Capital Impairment' on Paper 10 min read
  87. Lesson 87 Advanced Korea's Stock Capital Gains Tax — Why Domestic Stocks Are Tax-Free but Overseas Stocks Cost You 22% 7 min read
  88. Lesson 88 Advanced What Is the Piotroski F-Score — A 9-Point Checklist for Picking Quality Value Stocks 9 min read
  89. Lesson 89 Advanced FCFF vs FCFE — Why Valuing the Firm and Valuing Equity Use Different Cash Flows 9 min read