Trading education & analysis tools
Learn technical analysis. Trade with defined risk.
In-depth guides to candlestick patterns, chart analysis and risk management, plus eleven free calculators and a stock market simulator. Every guide covers the setup, the level that invalidates it, and how to size the position.
- Every pattern with its own chart, entry rules and stop placement
- Calculators run in your browser; nothing you enter is stored
- No account, no paywall, no email required
Core guides
The mechanics of trading, how to read a chart, and the risk arithmetic that determines whether a strategy survives a losing streak.
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Stock Trading
How a trade works end to end, what it really costs, and the difference between trading and investing.
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Technical Analysis
Reading trend, levels and volume, and an honest account of what chart reading cannot do.
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Day Trading
The mechanics, the $25,000 rule, four real strategies, and the success rates nobody advertises.
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Swing Trading
Days to weeks, around a job. The most realistic style for most people, and its overnight risk.
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Options Trading
Calls, puts, time decay and the Greeks, plus which strategies beginners should never touch.
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Risk Management
Position sizing, stops, R multiples and drawdown maths: the part that decides whether you last.
Candlestick patterns
Each guide covers the same ground: the identification rules, the order flow that produces the shape, the conditions under which it fails, and where the stop belongs.
- bullish 1 candle
Hammer Candlestick Pattern
One of the most reliable single-candle reversal signals when it appears in the right place. Here is how to tell a real hammer from the dozens of look-alikes that trap beginners.
- bullish 2 candles
Bullish Engulfing Pattern
A two-candle reversal that carries its own confirmation. When a green candle completely engulfs the prior red one, control of the market changed hands in a single session.
- neutral 1 candle
Doji Candlestick
The most misunderstood candle on the chart. A doji is a pause, not a reversal signal, and knowing the difference is what separates traders who use it well from those who lose money on it.
- bearish 1 candle
Shooting Star Candlestick
The mirror image of the hammer, appearing at tops. A long upper shadow means the rally was sold into, and everyone who bought the high is now trapped.
- bearish 2 candles
Bearish Engulfing Pattern
A two-candle topping signal with confirmation built in. When a red candle swallows the prior green one whole, sellers took back a full session in a single day.
From the blog
What the writers have learned the expensive way, and what they do differently now.
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The Trade That Taught Me to Size From the Stop
I knew the position sizing formula for years before I used it. It took one oversized loss, on a setup I still think was right, to make it a habit.
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The Cheap Stock That Kept Getting Cheaper
It traded at six times earnings, paid a dividend and had a plausible recovery story. Every screen said cheap. I want to explain what the screens were measuring.
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Why I Stopped Adding Indicators
At one point my chart had six indicators on it and I could not see the price. Here is how I worked out they were all saying the same thing, and what I kept.
Free trading calculators
Position sizing, risk/reward, options payoff, dividends and a stock market simulator. Everything runs in your browser; the numbers you enter are never transmitted.
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How many shares should I buy?
Position Size Calculator
Work out exactly how many shares to buy so a stop-out costs only what you decided to risk.
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Is this trade worth taking?
Risk / Reward Calculator
Reward-to-risk ratio, R multiple, and the win rate you would need just to break even.
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What did this trade net?
Stock Profit Calculator
Net result of a trade after commissions, in dollars, percent and R. Long or short.
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What is my real cost basis?
Stock Average Calculator
Weighted average cost across multiple purchases, plus break-even price and unrealised P&L.
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What does a split do to my holding?
Stock Split Calculator
How a forward or reverse split changes your share count, price and cost basis.
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What does this option pay at expiry?
Options Profit Calculator
Profit, loss and breakeven for calls and puts at expiry, with a payoff diagram.
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What will this portfolio pay me?
Dividend Calculator
Project dividend income over time, with reinvestment and dividend growth.
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Is this yield sustainable?
Dividend Yield Calculator
Yield, yield on cost and the payout ratio that shows whether a dividend is affordable.
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How does an account grow over time?
Compound Growth Calculator
Project an account forward with compounding returns and regular contributions.
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How big is this company really?
Market Cap Calculator
Market capitalisation, size category, enterprise value and P/E from share count and price.
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Can I practise without risking money?
Stock Market Simulator
Practise trading a live-moving chart with fake money. Buy, sell, set stops, advance day by day.
How we cover this
Failure conditions, not just setups
Most pattern guides list shapes and imply they are signals. Each guide here gives as much space to the conditions under which a pattern fails as to the pattern itself, because that is where positions are lost.
No signals, picks or subscriptions
We do not publish trade ideas, run a chat room, or accept broker affiliate commissions in exchange for recommendations. The site covers method; the decisions are yours.
Risk before entries
Position sizing, R multiples and expectancy get more coverage here than entry signals, because across a few hundred trades they account for more of the outcome.
New to this?
Start here
Read these three in order. Together they cover the shape, the context and the arithmetic, which is most of what a trader needs before risking real money.
- The complete candlestick pattern referenceWhat each shape means and when it does not matter.
- Risk management from first principlesWhy sizing decides results more than analysis does.
- The position size calculatorTurn a stop level into the number of shares to buy.