CADET · Module F01: Your First Steps · About 25 minutes
Safety first: We are learning to read the screen. We are not depositing money or placing live trades.
Your mission today
Recognise a chart, a market symbol, a time setting, a price scale and the difference between a demo account and a real-money account.
1. Open a chart, not a trade
A chart is a picture of how a market's price changed over time. Imagine tracking the temperature every hour and drawing the results. A price chart is a similar picture, except the numbers are prices rather than degrees.
Most charting platforms have common parts. Different apps put the buttons in different places, but the ideas are similar.
- Market name / symbol: Tells you which market or product is displayed.
- Time setting: Tells you how much time each candle or point covers.
- Price scale: Usually on the right, showing higher and lower prices.
- Time scale: Along the bottom, showing when price observations occurred.
- Chart area: The large middle section where the price history appears.
A chart is a way to look at prices. A trading account is a way to place orders. These are connected in many apps, but they are not the same thing.
2. A demo account is your practice cockpit
An app such as MetaTrader 5 (MT5) may offer a demo account with imaginary money. You can learn which buttons do what without risking real funds. That is useful, but demo results should never be confused with real-world results: order execution, spreads, emotions and slippage can differ.
If you are opening an account simply to learn, look for the word Demo, Practice or Simulation. Check that you have not selected a real-money account by accident.
You are allowed to spend this entire course in practice mode. Successful completion of our Cadet lessons does not require placing real trades.
3. The three things to find on any chart
First: Find the market name. It might say EURUSD, GOLD, BTCUSD or a company ticker. Read it out loud. Ask: what does this symbol actually represent?
Second: Find the price numbers. If the price scale reads 100, 101, 102, a point plotted near 102 represents a higher displayed price than a point near 100.
Third: Find the time labels. Moving from left to right usually means moving forward in time. The most recent displayed price is toward the right side.
For your first visit, do not add indicators, automated robots, dozens of coloured lines or chat-room signals. A clean chart is much easier to understand.
4. Time settings explained without jargon
A chart may show 1 minute, 5 minutes, 1 hour, or 1 day. That setting changes how much time each candle represents. It does not change the underlying market into a different asset.
For example, on a 1-hour chart, each completed candle describes one hour. On a daily chart, each completed candle describes one day or trading session. The same week can look crowded on a minute chart and simple on a daily chart.
For your first lesson, select one time setting and leave it there while you learn. Avoid trying to make trading decisions simply because an image looks convincing.
5. A safe beginner routine
- Select a demo chart.
- Read the symbol and the time setting.
- Point to the price scale and the time scale.
- Move backward to view older prices.
- Close the app without entering a trade.
That counts as completing this lesson. You are learning the controls before attempting to fly, which is an entirely reasonable policy.
Practice mission
Without placing any order, open one demo chart and fill in these blanks:
- The market symbol says: ____
- I think it represents: ____
- The chart time setting is: ____
- The price numbers are on the: ____
- Older price activity is toward the: ____
Self-check: Prices usually appear on the right and older activity on the left, though platforms may allow different layouts.
Before your next lesson
You should be able to identify the five basic parts of a chart without help.
Coming next: How to read a single red or green candlestick without guessing what happens next.
