Free Trading Courses
A Note to the Reader
Welcome! Before you is the result of over 13 years of active trading on financial markets. Trading became my profession in 2013, and during this time I have selected only the methods I use in practice every day. To understand this topic more deeply, I recommend studying the trading basics . My goal is to provide you with a quality knowledge base for free, without unnecessary theory or complex terminology. All materials are openly available — with no hidden fees or subscriptions.
The course covers all key sections of trading theory needed to start trading. On the platform you will find over 150 articles, 70+ video lessons , and a series of trading books with international ISBNs in free access, covering both basic and advanced topics.
Course Structure
Materials are built on a "simple to complex" principle. Each section is a building block in the foundation of your trading system needed to begin trading . I do not recommend skipping stages: without understanding basic concepts, more complex topics will be unclear.
Articles provide theoretical grounding, videos offer practical application. At the end of each block, you will find a summary with key points and recommendations for further study.
The ultimate goal is mastering a trading system with positive mathematical expectancy. This is what distinguishes a prepared trader from a beginner trading at random.
Introduction to the Trading Profession
Section objective: let go of illusions and understand the real picture of exchange trading.
Many beginners come to the market with false expectations, not understanding that trading is a full-fledged business requiring investments of time, knowledge, and emotional resources. Without proper preparation, the risk of losing funds increases significantly. If you are not familiar with the basics, start with a book on trading.
What separates survivors from statistics:
- A defined edge — specific conditions where probability favors you
- A complete system — rules for entry, exit, and position sizing
- Sufficient runway — time and money to survive the learning curve
- Psychological stability — ability to follow rules when emotions scream otherwise
This section dismantles popular myths: the fantasy of quick riches, the danger of averaging down losers, the illusion of having "market intuition."
Reading Market Structure
Goal: Identify current market phase and trade in the right direction.
Technical analysis is how you decode what the market is telling you. Charts record the battle between buyers and sellers. Your job is to read that story and anticipate what happens next.
The Two Market States
Markets exist in two conditions: trend (directional movement) or balance (sideways consolidation). Recognizing which state you're in determines your entire approach.
In trends, trade with momentum: buy pullbacks in uptrends, sell rallies in downtrends. In balance, trade the range: buy at support, sell at resistance.
Identifying Who Controls the Market
The Priority Change Level (PCL) is where you spot who's in charge. It's the origin point of an impulse move that broke previous structure. When price returns here, you're looking at a potential entry — if the controlling side still holds their positions, the move should continue.
Reversal Patterns
Trends don't last forever. Recognizing transition patterns lets you catch new moves early. Core principle: old resistance becomes new support, and vice versa.
Measuring Trend Strength
Not all trends are created equal. Strong trends feature fast impulse waves and slow, shallow pullbacks. Weak trends show pullbacks that grow deeper and more aggressive than impulses.
Simple rule: strong moves are fast moves. When price flies, conviction is high. When it crawls, energy is fading.
Volume Analysis: Seeing What Others Miss
Goal: Use volume to detect institutional activity invisible on price charts.
Volume analysis is like having X-ray vision. Price shows what happened. Volume shows how much force was behind it and who's likely responsible.
The Effort-vs-Result Principle
This is the foundation of Wyckoff methodology. The concept is straightforward: big volume should produce big movement. When you see high volume without corresponding price change, something's off. Someone is absorbing the pressure.
Gold chart breakdown:
Zone 1: Massive volume on an up-bar, but price stalls. Effort without result. Translation: sellers absorbed all buying pressure. First sign of weakness.
Zone 2: Price attempts to push higher — fails. False breakout confirms: institutions aren't interested in higher prices.
Zone 3: New downtrend begins. Now we trade short only until we see opposite signals.
Wyckoff's key insight: "Weakness appears on up-bars, strength appears on down-bars." Professionals buy when the crowd sells and sell when the crowd buys.
Smart Money: The Institutional Playbook
Goal: Understand how big players engineer price moves and stop being their victim.
Smart Money isn't conspiracy theory — it's market mechanics. Banks, funds, and market makers have enough size to move price. They use this power to enter positions at optimal prices, often by triggering retail stop-losses first.
The Pullback Entry Method
The highest-probability entry comes after an impulse, on the pullback to the breakout zone. Logic: if the breakout was genuine, the big players who initiated it will defend their positions at that level.
Gold example: impulse wave on high volume breaks support. Then comes the pullback to breakout zone on declining volume. When selling resumes — that's your entry short.
More detailed examples in the trading system section.
Risk Management: The Survival Skill
Goal: Protect capital and maintain emotional control.
Risk management isn't about making money — it's about not losing it all during inevitable drawdowns. This is what keeps you in the game long enough to become profitable.
The Non-Negotiable Stop-Loss
Stop-loss on every trade. No exceptions. No debates. One trade without a stop can destroy months of profits.
Position Sizing Formula
Example setup:
- Account: $35,000
- Risk per trade: 1%
- Stop distance: 150 pips
- Pip value: $10
Calculation: ($35,000 × 1%) / (150 × $10) = $350 / $1,500 = 0.23 lots
If stopped out, you lose $350 — exactly 1% of account. Math protects capital.
Emotional Traps
Fear and greed destroy more accounts than bad analysis. Fear makes you cut winners short and hold losers too long. Greed pushes you into oversized positions and rule violations.
The solution: trade the system, not your feelings. When rules are clear, there's no room for impulsive decisions.
The Math of Profitable Trading
Goal: Understand why the 1:3 ratio creates long-term profitability.
Three Pillars of Success
1. Stop-loss — always. Without it, you don't control risk.
2. Minimum 1:3 reward-to-risk. Risk 5 pips, target 15+.
3. Win rate isn't everything. Profit-to-loss ratio matters more.
10-Trade Example
Setup: 5-pip stop, 15-pip target (1:3). Results: 4 losses, 6 wins (60% win rate).
- Total losses: 4 × 5 = 20 pips
- Total profits: 6 × 15 = 90 pips
- Net result: +70 pips
Even with just 40% winners, a 1:3 system stays profitable. That's why mathematics beats "gut feeling" every time.
Deliberate Practice
Goal: Transform knowledge into skill through structured practice.
Information without execution is worthless. Open a demo account with any broker and start applying the rules. Minimum 100 trades before going live.
Keep a trading journal: record entry reason, result, emotional state. Analyze mistakes. Track statistics: win rate, average win, average loss, expectancy.
Trading is a marathon, not a sprint. Victory goes to those who profit consistently over hundreds of trades, not those who got lucky once.
Final Thoughts
This list allows you to build a "roadmap" in mastering the profession of a trader and provides sufficient understanding of which direction to develop in. I also believe that these topics, when studied, provide a complete understanding of all the risks associated with trading, and allow everyone interested to make an informed decision about the need to study this profession and whether it is worth buying a course . If you are not familiar with the basics, start with trading book .
Trading changes you. It teaches discipline, patience, critical thinking. The path won't be easy, but the transformation is worth the effort.
Respectfully, course author — Igor Arapov.
Frequently Asked Questions
Absolutely. This course contains 130+ articles and 70 video lessons covering everything from basics to advanced Smart Money strategies. It's designed to give you a complete self-study trading without any paid upsells.
Theory takes 3-4 weeks of dedicated study. Practice requires 100+ demo trades over 1-2 months. Total time to consistent profitability: approximately 3 months of systematic work.
It means your potential profit should be at least 3 times your risk. If your stop-loss is 10 pips, your target should be 30+ pips. This math allows you to be profitable even with only 40% winning trades.
Smart Money refers to institutional traders — banks, hedge funds, market makers. They have enough capital to move price. Understanding their playbook helps you trade with them, not against them.
Three main reasons: no trading system (negative expectancy), no risk management (overleveraging), and emotional trading. A proven system with strict rules eliminates all three problems.
For learning: zero — use a demo account. For live trading: depends on your broker, but the amount matters less than proper risk management. Never risk more than 1-2% per trade.
It's the price zone where an impulse move started that broke previous highs or lows. When price returns to this zone, it often presents a high-probability entry point.
Signs: price pierces a level on high volume but fails to hold, forms a rejection candle, then reverses back into range. Smart Money uses these to trap retail traders before moving the opposite direction.
