Learn
Trading basics
Trading is taking positions with a plan for exiting them. The holding period can be minutes or months. The defining feature is the exit rule, not the speed, and not the brightness of the interface.
A position is a hypothesis with a size
You need the instrument, the price area that would show you are wrong, and the amount of money that loss represents. Without those, a trade is a mood. The position-size calculator on this site turns the first two numbers into a quantity. It does not know whether the idea is any good.
Costs scale with activity
Spreads, commissions, financing and taxes are charged on activity. A strategy that looks profitable before costs can be a transfer to the broker after them. Infrequent mistakes in size usually matter more than frequent small wins.
Leverage is optional and often a bad default
Cash equities do not require leverage. CFDs, futures and some options structures do. If you do not understand variation margin or overnight financing, you are not looking at a simpler version of a share. You are looking at a different contract.
Related
Sources and review
Last reviewed: 2026-10-13. Next review due 2027-04-13. Status: editorial review of this page, not a live verification of every third-party fee.
Author: WiT Markets Editorial, Editorial desk. The WiT Markets editorial desk writes explanatory pages, comparison context and research notes. It separates sourced facts from items that are not confirmed, and it does not provide personal recommendations.
Reviewed by: WiT Markets Research Review.
Primary and regulatory sources
- Investor.gov — checked 2026-10-13
- Financial Conduct Authority — checked 2026-10-13
- FINRA — checked 2026-10-13