How Markets Work
What a stock really is, who you’re trading against, and why price moves.
- Stocks, exchanges & brokers
- Bid, ask & the spread
- Market hours & order types
- Long, short & position basics
4 lessons • ~45 minStart Here →
● For absolute beginners — no jargon, no hype
Learn to trade
Learn to trade
without guessing.
A step-by-step school for people starting from zero. You’ll learn how markets actually work, how to read a chart, how candlesticks tell a story, how options work in plain English — and most importantly, how to protect your money while you learn.
Education only: This school teaches concepts and practice skills. It is not financial advice and does not recommend trades. Trading involves risk — you can lose money. Paper trade first.
Lesson Preview — Reading a ChartSAMPLE LESSON
What you learn first
What a candle’s body & wick actually mean
Try it below
Open the Pattern Lab to name 14 key patterns
1
Learn in order
Each module builds on the last. No skipping ahead to options before you understand risk — the path is designed to keep beginners safe.
2
Practice, don’t just watch
Every lesson ends with a chart to read, a pattern to spot, or numbers to run in the calculator. You learn by doing.
3
Paper trade first
Use a simulator with fake money for at least 30 days. Track every trade in a journal before you ever risk real dollars.
Not sure where to start?
Tell us your goal — we’ll point you to the right module
Pick a goal above and your personal starting path will appear here.
The Curriculum
Beginner → Confident
Nine modules. One clear path.
Built for regular US common stocks first — the cleanest way to learn — then options once the foundations are solid. All nine modules are here, in order. Four of them — 2, 3, 8 and 9 — also get a hands-on deep-dive section further down the page; Modules 4–7 are covered by the tools, journal and 30-day plan below, so the deep-dive headings jump from Module 3 to Module 8 by design, not because anything is missing. Tap any lesson name in the cards below to open the full lesson.
Reading Charts
Turn a messy chart into a simple story: trend, support, resistance, volume — then add indicators the right way.
- Timeframes that make sense
- Trendlines, support & resistance zones
- Volume — the truth teller
- Moving averages: SMA vs. EMA
- RSI & MACD in plain English
- Breakouts vs. fakeouts
6 lessons • ~90 minCore Skill
Candlesticks & Patterns
The visual language of trading. Learn the patterns that actually matter — and the traps.
- Candle anatomy — bodies, wicks & what they confess
- Single candles: Doji family, Hammer, Shooting Star
- Two-candle: Engulfing, Harami, Piercing, Dark Cloud
- Three-candle: Morning / Evening Star, Three Soldiers & Crows
- Patterns + key levels: confluence that counts
- Confirmation — don’t jump early
- Hammer vs. Hanging Man trap
7 lessons • ~105 minMost Popular
Risk Management
The module that keeps you in the game. Pros think about loss first, profit second.
- The 1% rule, explained
- Position sizing in 30 seconds
- Stop losses that work
- Why revenge trading ruins accounts
4 lessons • ~50 minMost Important
Options Basics
Calls and puts without the textbook headache. Only after Modules 1–4.
- Calls vs. puts, in plain English
- Strike, expiry & premium
- Reading an options chain
- Delta & Theta — the two Greeks that matter first
- Implied volatility & the earnings crush
- Why most options expire worthless
6 lessons • ~100 minIntermediate
Build Your Trading Day
A repeatable routine, a journal habit, and a plan you can actually stick to.
- Pre-market prep checklist
- Journaling every trade
- Reviewing wins & losses
- Building a nightly routine
4 lessons • ~50 minHabit
Trading Psychology
The market tests your emotions before it tests your strategy. This module is about the trader, not the chart.
- Fear, greed & the FOMO trade
- Why revenge trading happens — and the circuit breaker
- Rules you can follow while emotional
- Process goals vs. money goals
4 lessons • ~55 minMost Underrated
Your First Trades, On Paper
How orders actually work, how to practice with fake money, and how to read the calendar that moves markets.
- Market vs. limit vs. stop orders
- Placing your first paper trade, step by step
- Reading the economic calendar
- The journal template that makes practice count
- The 6 beginner mistakes — and how to skip them
5 lessons • ~70 minPractice
Broker Setup, Start to Finish
Where beginners actually get stuck: opening the account itself. This module walks you through it before a single real dollar moves.
- Choosing a broker — fees & features that matter
- Opening the account, step by step
- Cash vs. margin (and the day-trading rule)
- Funding it safely, a little at a time
- Your first real-money trade, placed calmly
5 lessons • ~60 minDo This First
Interactive Practice
Pattern Lab & Tools
Don’t just read about patterns — click through them, test yourself, and run real position-size numbers.
🕯️ Candlestick Pattern Lab
Tap a pattern to see what it looks like and what it’s trying to tell you.
Signal:
Watch out:
🧮 Position Size Calculator
The most important calculator in trading. How many shares can you buy without risking too much?
Formula: Shares = (Account × Risk%) ÷ (Entry − Stop). Try changing the stop — see how fast size changes.
✅ Quick Knowledge Check
0 / 8Candlesticks, up close
Anatomy of a single candle
Every candle is four prices and a tiny story. Learn to read the body and the wicks, and the patterns in the Lab above start making sense on their own.
Long lower wick
Sellers pushed price down and buyers took it all back. At support after a decline, that rejection is the heart of every Hammer-family signal.
Long upper wick
Buyers pushed price up and sellers handed it back. Near resistance after a rally, that’s exhaustion — the Shooting Star family.
Big range, tiny body
A fight with no winner. Volatility is high and conviction is low — beginners size down or stand aside until a candle commits.
The Doji family — four ways to say “nobody won”
Standard Doji
Open ≈ close in the middle. Indecision — after a strong trend, momentum is stalling.
Dragonfly Doji
Long lower wick, body at the top. Sellers drove it down; buyers erased the whole move. Bullish-leaning at support.
Gravestone Doji
Long upper wick, body at the bottom. Buyers drove it up; sellers erased the whole move. Bearish-leaning at resistance.
Long-Legged Doji
Huge wicks both ways. A violent disagreement — common around news. Not a signal to trade; a signal to be careful.
The rule that ties it together: a candle means the most at a level that already matters — support, resistance, a trendline, a moving average. Same candle mid-range is usually just noise. That overlap of signal + location is called confluence, and it’s what Module 3 trains you to wait for.
Technical Analysis Toolkit
Deep dive · Module 2Indicators, in plain English
Indicators don’t predict — they summarize. Each one answers one question about price. Beginners do best with two or three, understood deeply, instead of twelve understood vaguely.
Moving Averages (SMA & EMA)
The average closing price over the last N periods — the 50-day and 200-day are the famous ones. Price above a rising average = uptrend. The EMA reacts faster than the SMA because it weights recent prices more. Trap: averages lag — they confirm a trend, they don’t predict one, and they chop you up in sideways markets.
RSI — Relative Strength Index
A 0–100 momentum gauge. Above 70 is traditionally “overbought,” below 30 “oversold.” Beginners use it best as a context check: is this move stretched? Trap: RSI can pin above 70 for an entire uptrend — selling just because RSI is high fights the strongest moves.
MACD
Compares two moving averages to show momentum shifting. When the MACD line crosses above its signal line, momentum is turning up; the histogram bars show whether that momentum is growing or shrinking. Trap: in a sideways market MACD whipsaws — cross after cross, each one a small loss.
Bollinger Bands
A moving average wrapped in two bands set by volatility. Bands widen when the market gets wild and squeeze tight when it gets quiet — and quiet squeezes often precede the next big move. Trap: touching the upper band is not a sell signal; strong trends “walk the band” for days.
VWAP
The day’s average price weighted by volume — the line big institutions are judged against. Day traders watch whether price holds above it (buyers in control today) or below it. Trap: VWAP resets every morning and only exists intraday; it means nothing on a weekly chart.
Fibonacci Retracement
After a strong move, traders watch the 38.2%, 50%, and 61.8% pullback levels as places the bounce might start. It works partly because so many traders watch the same levels. Trap: a level is a zone to watch for a candle signal — not a line to buy blindly.
How pros combine them: trend first (moving average), location second (support/resistance or a Fib level), trigger last (a candlestick pattern), volume as the lie detector. One indicator alone is an opinion; three agreeing is a plan.
Deep dive · Module 3
A lesson, step by step
Every lesson follows the same rhythm so you always know what to do next.
| Step | What happens | Time | You’ll be able to… |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Watch | Short explainer with a real chart annotated in plain language. | 5 min | Name the pattern on sight |
| 2. Spot it | 10 chart screenshots — find the pattern before the answer reveals. | 5 min | Spot it in trend context, not isolation |
| 3. Confirm it | Learn what confirmation looks like and when to stay out. | 3 min | Avoid the #1 beginner trap: entering early |
| 4. Journal it | Log one paper trade using the pattern and write why you took it. | 2 min | Build the review habit from day one |
Built for real schedules
Learn on a night-shift rhythm
Short lessons designed to fit before a shift, on a break, or during weekend review — not 3-hour lectures.
7:00 PM
Wake-up review
One 15-min lesson + yesterday’s journal entry. Coffee optional but encouraged.
8:00 PM
Market prep
Check the day’s session, key levels, and tomorrow’s calendar. No trading — just context.
ON BREAK
Pattern drill
5 minutes in the Pattern Lab. Repetition is how pattern recognition sticks.
WEEKEND
Deep review
Finish a full module, review your paper trades, and plan next week’s focus.
Your first month
The 30-day starter plan
| Week | Focus | Goal by Sunday |
|---|---|---|
| Week 1 | Modules 1–2: Markets + Charts. Open your broker paper account (Module 9) | Read any chart and describe trend, support, and resistance out loud |
| Week 2 | Module 3: Candlesticks & Patterns + the TA Toolkit | Name all 14 patterns in the Lab and explain what confirms each one |
| Week 3 | Modules 4 + 7: Risk & Psychology — paper trading starts (Module 8) | Size every paper trade with the 1% rule and journal every single one — no exceptions |
| Week 4 | Modules 5, 6 + 8: Options, routine & trade mechanics | Explain a call, a put, delta and IV to a friend; place paper trades with limit and stop orders; 10+ journaled trades |
Deep dive · Module 8
How a trade actually happens
Charts tell you what and when. Order types are how — and paper trading is where you learn the how for free.
Order types, decoded
Four orders cover 95% of what a beginner will ever place.
Market order — “Buy now, whatever the price.” Fills almost instantly at the best available price. Fine for very liquid stocks; dangerous in fast or thin markets, where your fill can land far from the quote you saw.
Limit order — “Buy only at my price or better.” You set the most you’ll pay (or least you’ll accept). The beginner default: you control the price, but the trade may never fill — and that’s okay.
Stop order (stop loss) — “If price hits my stop, sell me out at the market.” This is how a stop loss actually executes. It guarantees an exit, not a price — a gap down can fill below your stop.
Stop-limit order — “At my stop, place a limit order instead.” Protects your price but not your exit: if price gaps straight through, the order may never fill and you’re still holding.
Paper trading: your first 30 days
A paper account is a simulator with fake money and real market prices. Treat it like it’s real, or it teaches you nothing.
1
Open a broker paper account and fund it with what you’d honestly start with — not a fantasy $1,000,000. Position sizes only feel real when the account is realistic.
2
Trade the plan only: setups from Modules 2–3, at key levels, sized with the 1% rule, stop placed at entry. No “just testing” YOLO trades — they build the worst habits.
3
Journal every trade using the template below — including the ones you’re embarrassed about. Especially those.
4
Graduate on evidence, not feelings: 30+ journaled trades, a written review of what worked, and a drawdown you handled without breaking a rule. Then — and only then — small real size.
Deep dive · Module 9
Broker setup: open, fund, first trade
Charts and patterns are useless without an account to trade in. Here’s the whole setup, in order — most beginners finish it in under an hour, and the trading itself comes last, on purpose.
Choosing a broker
A broker is the company that holds your account and sends your orders to the exchange. For this course you need one that’s regulated in the US and built for beginners — compare on these five things, not on ads:
Regulation first — pick a US broker regulated by the SEC and FINRA, with accounts insured by SIPC (up to $500,000 in securities). If a “broker” is offshore, unregulated, or found you through social media DMs, walk away.
Costs — US stock trades are $0 commission at most major brokers; options usually cost a small per-contract fee. That fee is the number to compare — it’s what you’ll actually pay.
A real paper-trading mode — non-negotiable for this course. You’ll live in the simulator for your first 30+ trades (Module 8), so it should use live prices and the same order screen as real trading.
Order types & options approval — it should offer limit and stop orders from day one, and let you apply for options approval later. Brokers grant options in levels; beginners start at the lowest level and that’s by design.
An app you’ll actually use — clear charts, a watchlist, and price alerts. Fancy is not better. Confusing order screens cause expensive fat-finger mistakes.
Open it, fund it, place trade #1
Work through these in order. Nothing here puts money at risk until step 4 — and even then, less than you think.
1
Apply online (about 15 minutes). You’ll need your Social Security number, address, employer, and income range — federal law requires brokers to verify who you are. Pick a cash account, not margin: no borrowing, no interest, and no pattern-day-trader rule (that $25,000 minimum only restricts margin accounts).
2
Turn on paper trading first. Before funding anything, find the simulator and place a few practice orders with fake money. Learn where every button is while mistakes are free (Module 8 walks you through it).
3
Fund it small and boring. Link your bank and transfer by ACH — free at most brokers, usually settled in 1–3 business days. Start with an amount whose total loss wouldn’t change your life. You can always add more later; you can’t un-lose money.
4
Place the first real trade like a checklist: pick a liquid, well-known stock from your watchlist → size it with the calculator (1% rule) → enter as a limit order, never market → place the stop loss immediately → write the journal entry before you walk away. Small, planned, and logged — that’s a successful first trade whatever the outcome.
5
Leave options approval for later. When you reach Module 5 and have 30+ journaled paper trades, apply for the beginner options level. Approval is the broker checking that options fit your experience and finances — honest answers protect you here.
No endorsements: this school doesn’t recommend a specific broker and gets paid by none of them. Any major regulated US broker with $0 stock commissions and a paper-trading mode will run this entire curriculum — pick the one whose app confuses you least.
The trading journal
Your memory lies. The journal doesn’t.
Every professional keeps one. It turns random trades into data about your setups — and about yourself. Record: date, ticker, setup, entry, exit, size, result, how you felt, and the one lesson.
| Date | Ticker | Setup | Entry | Exit | Shares | Result | The lesson |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 6 | ABC | Bullish engulfing at support | $24.50 | $26.10 | 40 | +$64 | Waited for confirmation — worked exactly as planned |
| Oct 7 | XYZ | Chased a breakout — no setup (FOMO) | $88.20 | $85.40 | 25 | −$70 | No plan, no stop placed. The journal entry hurt more than the loss |
| Oct 9 | ABC | Pullback to the 20-day average | $25.10 | $24.60 (stop) | 40 | −$20 | Stop did its job; size was right. A “good loss” |
| Oct 12 | LMN | Held through a CPI release | $41.00 | $39.80 | 30 | −$36 | Check the economic calendar first. Always |
Sample paper-trade entries with fictional tickers, shown so you can copy the format. Review the journal weekly: your most repeated lesson is your next thing to fix.
Reading the calendar
Why the whole market jumps at 8:30 a.m.
A handful of scheduled reports move every stock at once, no matter what the chart says. Beginners don’t trade these releases — they plan around them.
| Event | When | What it measures | Why traders care |
|---|---|---|---|
| CPI — Consumer Price Index | Monthly, 8:30 a.m. ET | Inflation at the checkout: what households pay for goods and services | Hot CPI → the Fed may raise (or delay cutting) rates → stocks drop and Treasury yields jump within seconds |
| FOMC rate decision | 8 times a year, 2:00 p.m. ET | The Federal Reserve’s interest-rate decision, plus the press conference after | The single biggest scheduled mover. Rates shape what every dollar of future earnings is worth today |
| Jobs report (Nonfarm Payrolls) | Usually the first Friday, 8:30 a.m. ET | Jobs added last month and the unemployment rate | Strong jobs can be good news (healthy economy) or bad news (Fed stays hawkish) — the market’s mood decides which |
| PPI — Producer Price Index | Monthly, 8:30 a.m. ET | Inflation at the factory gate — what businesses pay for inputs | An early inflation warning: rising producer prices often show up in CPI a month or two later |
| Retail Sales | Monthly, 8:30 a.m. ET | How much consumers actually spent | Consumer spending is roughly 70% of the US economy — a surprise here re-prices the whole growth story |
| Earnings reports | Quarterly, per company | One company’s results and outlook | The stock can gap 5–20% overnight — and option premiums inflate before the report, then crush right after (see IV in Module 5) |
Beginner protocol: check the calendar before your first trade of the day, write big events in your journal, and don’t open new positions in the hour around an FOMC decision or CPI print during your first months. Let the storm pass; the chart will still be there.
Skip the expensive lessons
Six mistakes almost every beginner makes
You will be tempted by all six. The traders who last are the ones who recognize the temptation in the moment.
1. Trading with no stop loss
“I’ll just watch it” lasts until one gap down takes a month of progress. Fix: the stop is decided — and placed — before you enter, every time.
2. Sizing like a gambler
Risking 10–20% of the account on one idea means three normal losses end your career. Fix: the 1% rule from Module 4, run through the calculator, no exceptions for “sure things.”
3. FOMO entries
The stock is already up 9%, everyone’s posting about it, and you buy the very top. Fix: if there was no plan before the move, there is no trade during it. Missed money is not lost money.
4. Revenge trading
A loss stings, so you immediately trade bigger to “win it back.” This is how small red days become account-enders. Fix: a written circuit breaker — two rule-breaking moments or a max daily loss, and you are done for the day.
5. Buying options into earnings, blind
Premiums are inflated before the report; after it, IV crush can sink your option even if you called the direction right. Fix: learn delta, theta and IV (Module 5) before ever holding an option through earnings.
6. No journal, no memory
Without records, you repeat the same three mistakes for a year and call it “experience.” Fix: if it isn’t written down, it didn’t teach you anything. Five lines per trade is enough.
No-jargon glossary
Words you’ll actually hear
Search any term. Definitions are written the way a friend would explain them.
Questions
Before you start
I know nothing about stocks. Is this really for me?
Yes — Module 1 assumes zero knowledge. If you can read a simple chart by the end of Week 1, you’re on track. If a lesson ever feels too fast, redo the practice drill before moving on; the path rewards patience.
Do I need a lot of money to start learning?
No. Learning and paper trading cost nothing but time. The curriculum teaches position sizing as a percentage of your account, so the same rules work whether the practice account is $1,000 or $100,000.
When do we get to options?
Module 5 — deliberately. Options multiply both gains and mistakes, so you’ll learn charts and risk first. That order is the single biggest favor this school does for beginners.
Is this financial advice or trade alerts?
Neither. This is education: concepts, practice tools, and habits. There are no picks, alerts, or guarantees. Any trading decision is yours, and real trading can lose money.
How is this different from watching videos online?
Order and practice. Random videos teach fragments; this path sequences the ideas, checks your understanding with quizzes, and makes you journal paper trades so the knowledge actually sticks.
How long should I paper trade before using real money?
At least 30 days and 30+ journaled trades — and the real graduation test isn’t the calendar, it’s your journal: can you show a written review of what worked, what didn’t, and a drawdown you handled without breaking your own rules? If not, keep practicing. The market will wait; your capital won’t come back.
Do I need to learn every indicator and pattern on this page?
No — the opposite. Pick one trend tool (a moving average), one way to mark levels (support/resistance), and two or three candlestick patterns, and learn those deeply in the Pattern Lab and on paper. The Toolkit and the full pattern list are a reference shelf, not a checklist. Depth beats breadth for beginners.
Learn together
Join the Community
Learning to trade is easier — and a lot less lonely — with other beginners walking the same path. The Jacobs Trading Academy Discord is where students hang out between lessons: ask the questions you were afraid were too basic, compare notes, and keep each other honest about paper trading and journaling.
Join the Discord Server ↗Free to join. Opens Discord in a new tab — you’ll need a free Discord account if you don’t have one yet.
💬 Ask questions, no judgmentStuck on a candle pattern or an order type? Ask in the chat — someone was stuck on the same thing last week.
📓 Share what you’re learningPost a chart you’re reading, a journal entry, or a paper-trade review and get a second pair of eyes on it.
🌙 Study together, any scheduleNight-shift friendly: the conversation runs around the clock, so there’s almost always someone around to learn with.
Community ground rule, same as the school: education only. Members share learning and practice — never trade picks, alerts, or financial advice.
About the founder
Hi, I’m Keon Jacobs — the “Jacobs” in Jacobs Trading Academy
I work a separate night job — 8pm to 6am ET, Sunday through Wednesday — and I trade around it. Trading isn’t my night-shift work; it’s something I fit in on my own time, around that schedule. That’s why this school is built for real life: short lessons, clear steps, and a routine that doesn’t require sitting at a desk all day.
When I was a beginner, what I found was either hype (“get rich by Friday”) or textbooks written for people who already understood trading. What I needed was a path: start at zero, in order, with risk taught before profit and practice before real money. Nobody had built that the way I needed it, so I built it here — this is the beginner school I wish had existed when I was starting out.
That’s all this is — one trader passing along the sequence that would have saved him a lot of expensive lessons. It’s education only, not financial advice: no picks, no alerts, no promises. Trading can lose money, and the honest goal of this school is to make sure you understand that before you ever risk a dollar.
Your first lesson takes 15 minutes.
Start with Module 1, Lesson 1: “What you actually own when you buy a stock.” No account, no card — just start learning in order.
Browse the Full Curriculum ↑
Ask a Question in the Community ↗
Questions about the school? Ask in the Discord community — it’s free to join, and someone’s almost always around.