Instruments
Shares, stock indices, commodities, bonds and ETFs: how each market works, how CFDs on them differ, and what moves them.
Markets week in review 44/2026: Intel’s crash drags the Nasdaq as the DAX gains 2.5%
Big Tech earnings and Intel’s weakest guidance in years sent the Nasdaq 100 down 1.98% and the S&P 500 down 0.57%, a third straight weekly loss, while the DAX rose 2.53% and the FTSE 100 and Nikkei 225 edged higher. Gold fell 3.74% to a one-year low and the expiring December Brent contract rolled off near $118.
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What is a stock index? How the S&P 500, Dow, DAX and others are built
A stock index is a rulebook for turning many share prices into one number. The rules differ more than most traders realise, and they shape how each index behaves.
What are financial instruments? Asset classes, derivatives and how retail traders access them
Shares, bonds, ETFs, futures, options and CFDs are all financial instruments, but they behave very differently. Here is how they fit together, how retail traders reach them and where each sits on the risk ladder.
Trading index CFDs: point value, financing, gaps and dividends
Index CFDs look simple: one price, one market. Underneath are contract sizes, cash versus futures pricing, overnight financing, dividend adjustments and opening gaps that decide what a trade really costs.
Stock CFDs vs real shares: ownership, dividends, costs, leverage and tax compared
A share CFD and a real share move with the same price, but one makes you a part-owner of a company and the other is a leveraged contract with your broker. Here is how ownership, dividends, costs, risk and tax differ.
Oil trading explained: WTI vs Brent, OPEC+, inventories and the futures curve
Crude oil is one of the most traded commodities in the world and one of the most volatile. Here is how WTI and Brent differ, what moves them, and why the futures curve matters even if you only ever trade a CFD.
How stock markets work: exchanges, order books, auctions and what moves share prices
What actually happens between pressing "buy" and owning a share: listing, exchanges and other venues, the order book, opening and closing auctions, market makers, settlement, and the forces that move prices.