Guided path · Beginner

Stocks & Indices Basics

What a stock actually is, how exchanges and indices work, and the metrics behind every quote.

  • ✓ 10 lessons in order
  • ✓ About 40 minutes
  • ✓ Progress tracked in MarketPro
  • ✓ Free to follow

Last reviewed by the MarketPro research desk · Editorial policy

The lessons, in order

A path is the academy's answer to "where do I start". The order is deliberate: each lesson assumes the ones above it, which is why reading them this way works better than picking at a category list. In the app the path tracks how far through you are and what comes next.

  1. What Is a Stock A share is a claim on part of a real business, not a token on a screen. Here is what that claim includes, what it ranks behind… Beginner4 min
  2. How Stock Exchanges Work Exchanges sort orders by price and time and match whatever crosses. That single mechanism explains fills, slippage, halts and… Beginner4 min
  3. Understanding Market Capitalization Market capitalisation compares company size in a way share price cannot. It is also silent on debt, which is where most beginner… Beginner4 min
  4. Dividends Explained Dividends transfer value rather than create it, which explains the ex-date price drop, the failure of dividend capture, and why… Beginner4 min
  5. The P/E Ratio Explained A price-to-earnings multiple is a statement about future growth. Work out what growth it implies and the question stops being… Intermediate4 min
  6. Bull Markets vs Bear Markets The 20% threshold is a convention. The asymmetry underneath it is not, and it explains why drawdown control outranks entry timing. Beginner4 min
  7. What Are Stock Indices? An Overview An index is a weighted calculation, not an average, and the top handful of constituents often decide where it closes. Beginner4 min
  8. Major Global Indices At A Glance Each major index is a different bet, and index points are not comparable until you multiply by the point value. Beginner4 min
  9. Diversification Basics Diversification removes company-specific risk and leaves shared risk untouched. The arithmetic shows exactly where the benefit… Beginner4 min
  10. Earnings Reports and Why They Matter Results are history by the time they are published. What moves the stock is the gap between what was expected and what… Intermediate4 min

What it draws on

This path pulls from 2 categories: stock market basics, commodities and indices. Each of those pages lists its full set of lessons if you would rather go deep on one subject than move across several.

Written and reviewed by the MarketPro research desk

MarketPro is a trading-signal and trading-education app operated by Harajuku Holdings LTD (Cyprus). Our signal desk publishes and tracks every trade idea in-app, and every page here is checked against the app's live behaviour before publishing. Last reviewed . How we produce signals and content · About MarketPro

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Follow the path in MarketPro

10 lessons, in order, with your place kept. Free on any MarketPro account, in the app or your browser, alongside vetted free signals every week.

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Not investment advice. Past performance is not indicative of future results.