Topics in this course
U.S. securities markets operate through venues, orders, brokerage accounts, settlement, custody, records, regulation, and investor protections. The course follows a trade from security identity through post-trade records.
How U.S. markets are structured: exchanges, venues, indexes
Understand exchanges, off-exchange trading, market makers, listing venues, indexes, and the distinction between a market benchmark and the securities that trade through multiple venues.
- U.S. stock market fundamentals
- Exchanges, OTC markets, and trading venues
- Major U.S. market indexes
- Primary and secondary markets perform different jobs
Trading mechanics: orders, spreads, settlement, and execution
Understand bid and ask prices, spreads, order types, liquidity, market impact, trading sessions, halts, execution quality, settlement, and the records that complete a U.S. securities trade.
- Brokerage firms and account providers
- Core characteristics of U.S. stock trading
- Ticker symbols and share-class codes
- Regular, pre-market, and after-hours sessions
- + 5 more sections
U.S. brokerage accounts and trade execution
Connect U.S. brokerage account types, permissions, order handling, cash and margin, settlement, confirmations, and records to the execution of an investment decision.
- Cash accounts and margin accounts
- Trading in a cash account: payment, settlement, freeriding, and good faith
- Settlement and the T+1 cycle
- Same-day trading and intraday margin rules
- + 3 more sections
Custody, records, and short selling: follow the ownership trail
Understand brokerage custody, street name, beneficial ownership, securities lending, short selling, record dates, settlement records, and how those mechanics affect investor rights and obligations.
- Use confirmations, statements, and cost-basis records as an audit trail
- Know what account protection does, and what it does not do
- Clearing, custody, and securities delivery
- Margin borrowing and short selling
- + 1 more sections
U.S. market regulation and account operations
Understand the roles of the SEC, FINRA, exchanges, SIPC, brokers, clearing firms, account records, investor protections, and operational rules without treating any protection as a guarantee against investment loss.
- Regulators and self-regulatory organizations
- Brokerage-account opening process
- Plan account transfers before pressing “transfer”
- Fractional shares solve affordability, not every custody problem
- + 3 more sections
Securities lending: what changes when fully paid shares are lent
Understand fully paid lending from the owner’s side: authorization, collateral, income, rights, recall, and protection.
- Fully paid lending
- Borrow economics
- Rights & collateral
Read the guides in order for a complete path.
All 5 guides in this category appear below in the recommended sequence; any guide can also be opened directly from navigation or search.