Learn

Read the market like a pro.

Free, plain-English guides to the concepts behind every Ticker Coach read. Educational — not investment advice.

Getting Started

How Ticker Coach works, and how to invest well around a full-time job.

#01

How to Use Ticker Coach: A Practical Tour

From first watchlist to a tested plan, in five steps
beginner · 10 min
#02

Investing With a Full-Time Job: A Realistic System

You can't watch the market — here's why that can be fine
beginner · 11 min

Technical Analysis

How to read charts: what price is telling you, and the signals the pros watch.

#01

What is Technical Analysis?

Your first step to reading charts
beginner · 10 min
#02

Candlestick Charts Explained

A 300-year-old way to read market psychology
beginner · 12 min
#03

Support & Resistance Explained

The price levels where trends pause, turn, or accelerate
beginner · 12 min
#04

Moving Averages Explained: Reading the Trend

The 50-day, the 200-day, and what crosses really mean
beginner · 12 min
#05

RSI Explained: The Momentum Indicator

Reading momentum, exhaustion, and divergence
beginner · 15 min
#06

MACD Explained: Trend & Momentum

How Gerald Appel's classic indicator reads trend strength
beginner · 15 min
#07

Bollinger Bands Explained: Reading Volatility

Squeezes, band walks, and what volatility cycles tell you
intermediate · 14 min
#08

Volume Explained: The Market's Conviction Meter

Confirmation, climaxes, and what participation reveals
intermediate · 14 min

Chart Patterns

The classic shapes — what forms them, what confirms them, and how often they fail.

#01

Cup & Handle Pattern Explained

The rounded base, the shakeout, and what makes it studied
beginner · 11 min
#02

Head & Shoulders Pattern Explained

The most famous reversal shape — and its honest hit rate
beginner · 11 min
#03

Double Tops & Double Bottoms Explained

Why the second test matters more than the first
beginner · 10 min
#04

Flags & Triangles Explained: Continuation Patterns

How trends rest — and what a healthy pause looks like
intermediate · 12 min

Fundamentals

The business behind the ticker: price vs. value, and what the financial statements reveal.

#01

Why Fundamentals Matter: Price vs. Value

The business behind the ticker
beginner · 11 min

Market History

The great traders' stories — told honestly, endings and all. History and lessons, never methods to copy.

#01

Jesse Livermore: Lessons From the Boy Plunger

A famous trading story — including its ending
beginner · 13 min
#02

Nicolas Darvas: The Dancer Who Traded by Telegram

Boxes, distance, and the discipline of doing less
beginner · 12 min

Investing Basics

How the market's plumbing works: sentiment AI, backtests, filings, and the data behind the headlines.

#01

What Is a 13F? Following the Smart Money, Carefully

What institutional filings reveal — and what they hide
beginner · 11 min
#02

How AI Stock Sentiment Analysis Works

What the machines actually read — and where they're blind
beginner · 12 min
#03

What Is Backtesting? A Plain-English Guide

Testing rules against history — and the traps that make results lie
beginner · 12 min

Case Studies

Anatomy-of-a-setup walkthroughs of real market history — including the versions that fail. Educational, never predictions.

#01

Anatomy of a Breakout: From Quiet Base to Follow-Through

A walkthrough of one classic setup — and the version that fails
beginner · 12 min
#02

Anatomy of a Squeeze: NVIDIA, Autumn 2022

What compression told you before the AI rally — and what it didn't
intermediate · 11 min
#03

Anatomy of a Capitulation: March 2020

The fastest crash in history, and what climax volume really marks
intermediate · 12 min
#04

Anatomy of a Blow-off Top: AMC, June 2021

When record volume marks a crescendo — seen clearly only afterward
intermediate · 11 min
#05

Anatomy of a W Bottom: Meta, 2022–2023

A 77% decline, a double bottom, and the catalyst behind the chart
intermediate · 11 min
#06

Anatomy of a Death Cross: 2022 vs. 2020

The same signal, two years apart — one worked, one whipsawed
beginner · 11 min
#07

Anatomy of a Bear-Market Rally: 2022

Four convincing rallies, three failures — and the one that was the bottom
intermediate · 12 min
#08

Anatomy of an Earnings Gap: NVIDIA, May 2023

When price teleports — and why 'gaps always fill' is a myth
beginner · 11 min
#09

Anatomy of a Correction: The 2018 Christmas Eve Low

Twenty percent in three months, then a V — and the retest that never came
beginner · 11 min
#10

Anatomy of a Parabolic Trend: Tesla, 2020

A parabola with an engine — and what separates it from a mania
intermediate · 12 min

Reference

Look anything up.

A–Z

The Investing Glossary

Every term from these guides, defined in plain English — backtest to whipsaw.
reference · 58 terms