Browse Finance guides
Finance guides
Everything from what a share actually is to reading a company's financials and researching a stock on YOLFT. Start at the top and work down, or jump to whatever you need.
Market foundations
How the stock market works
What a stock is, what exchanges do, primary vs secondary markets, and what people mean by 'the market'.
Who's who in the market
Companies, retail investors, institutions, market makers, brokers, and regulators, and how they interact.
Market hours, sessions, and holidays
Pre-market, regular hours, after-hours, market holidays, and why timing changes how prices behave.
Orders and how trades happen
Market vs limit orders, the bid-ask spread, order books, slippage, and liquidity in plain language.
Indices explained
What an index is, how the S&P 500, Nasdaq, and Dow are built, and why they work as a market gauge.
Understanding a company
How to read a stock quote
Price, change, percent, volume, day range, 52-week range, and previous close, explained field by field.
Market cap and company size
How market cap is calculated, large/mid/small cap, float, and shares outstanding.
Reading the fundamentals
Revenue, earnings, EPS, and margins, and what these numbers actually signal about a business.
Valuation ratios that matter
P/E, P/S, P/B, PEG, and dividend yield, and how to compare companies fairly.
The financial statements
The income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statement, in plain language.
Dividends and buybacks
How companies return money to shareholders: yield, payout ratio, and ex-dividend dates.
Sectors and industries
The 11 sectors, why they rotate, and the difference between cyclical and defensive names.
Reading price and risk
Reading a price chart
Candles, timeframes, trend, and the basics of support and resistance.
Volume and what it tells you
How volume confirms moves and what accumulation and distribution look like.
Volatility and risk
Beta, drawdowns, why prices swing, and the intuition behind sizing a position.
Common technical indicators
Moving averages, RSI, and MACD at a beginner level, and what they are really measuring.
Earnings season
What to expect, how guidance works, and why stocks gap on beats and misses.