Phase 2 of 10 · Foundations
Before You Fund
Read this before a pound goes in.
The eight modules to read before any real money goes in. What an account actually costs to run, how to choose a broker, what you're really buying, and the arithmetic of leverage, scams and losing streaks.
18 modules
~4½ h in total
~15 min each
Phase 2 · Before You Fund
1CAP.45NEWHow Much Money Do You Need to Trade? — Starting Capital, HonestlyFund the education, not the fantasy.Open →
2EXPECT.85NEWYour First Year — What “Profitable” Actually Looks LikeYear one buys the data — a slightly smaller account and a full journal is what winning it looks like.Open →
3PROP.105NEWProp Firms & Funded Accounts — The Evaluation, PricedThe evaluation buys size for an edge I've already measured — it can't buy the edge, and the rules are a leash.Open →
4BRKR.46NEWChoosing a Broker — Regulation, Fees & Safety ChecksYour counterparty, not your coach.Open →
5WHO.84NEWWho's on the Other Side — Banks, Funds, Market Makers and Your BrokerNobody on the other side is trying to beat me — and my broker earns more from me careful than reckless.Open →
6INST.47NEWSpot, CFDs, Futures & ETFs — What You're Actually BuyingSame gold, four different receipts.Open →
7OPT.103NEWOptions Without the Greeks — What You’re Actually BuyingAn option is a bet with the stop built in — and the premium is the rent I pay for the time to be right.Open →
8SWAP.64NEWOvernight Costs — What Holding a Trade Really Charges YouLeverage is borrowed money, and borrowed money charges rent.Open →
9WKND.93NEWHolding Over the Weekend — Gaps, Guaranteed Stops and What a Stop Can’t DoThe weekend fills my stop wherever it likes — so the position is sized for the gap, not the level.Open →
10FUT.66NEWFutures, Contango and the Roll — Why a Flat Price Can Still Lose You MoneyThe price never moved, and you lost £1,651.Open →
11SPRD.97NEWSpreads & Slippage in Practice — The Annual BillThe spread is the only bill I can forecast — and it's the number of trades that decides it, not the number of points.Open →
12SCAM.48NEWScams, Gurus & Signal Sellers — Spotting the SharksIf they could trade, they wouldn't need you.Open →
13COPY.106NEWCopy Trading & Leaderboards — What You’re Actually CopyingA leaderboard sorts by risk taken — if I copy the rank, I copy the drawdown, at a size that isn't mine.Open →
14LEV.49NEWLeverage & Margin Calls — The Loan Inside Your AccountLeverage is a loan, not a superpower.Open →
15STMT.86NEWReading Your Account Statement — Balance, Equity, Margin, Free MarginBalance is what I had, equity is what I have, and free margin is how long I've got.Open →
16DD.50NEWDrawdown — Surviving the Losing StreakLosing streaks aren't a sign. They're arithmetic.Open →
17SIZE.80NEWSizing Beyond the 1% Rule — Volatility, Stop Distance and the Equity CurveStop where the idea is wrong, size so that costs one percent — and re-read the volatility every day.Open →
18CORR2.81NEWCorrelation Risk — Five Trades, One BetOne per cent is a rule about a trade — heat is the rule about the account.Open →