The lessons
- 1.1
What you actually own when you buy a share
A share is a slice of a real business, not a ticker on a screen.
- 1.2
Where shares are bought and sold
What an exchange is, who's on the other side of your trade, and what a broker does.
- 1.3
Why the price moves
The price is what two people agreed on a second ago — not what the company is worth.
- 1.4
Market order vs limit order
The two ways of saying "buy", and what each one gives up.
- 1.5
Why the price you saw isn't the price you got
Spread, slippage, and the seconds between click and fill.
- 1.6
You bought a share and you're already down
The spread explains almost all of it. Nothing has gone wrong.
- 1.7
Why your trade takes days to settle
Trade date, settlement date, and why the cash doesn't move the instant you do.
- 1.8
Fractional shares — what you actually own
Owning 0.34 of a share, and what that does to dividends and voting.
- 1.9
Nominee accounts: who actually holds your shares
Why your name isn't on the share register, and what that does and doesn't mean.
- 1.10
Compounding, plainly
The one bit of maths that makes long horizons behave differently from short ones.
- 1.11
Why prices move while the market is shut
LSE hours, overnight news, and the gap you see at the open.
Educational content only. It is not personal financial advice.