Theory is free. Applying it isn't.
Varsity and NISM already teach this material better than we could, so we don't duplicate them — we sequence them. Every node below points at the best free explanation, the Primaegis tool that implements the idea, and the number it produces in a real book.
Seven levels, 42 nodes. Read across a row: concept → source → tool → what it measured. The order is a recommendation, not a lock — jump wherever you need to. Levels 4 and 5 are where the money is; if you only read two, read those.
Absolute beginner
What the market is and what it costs to participate.
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Demat, brokers, and order types
Market, limit, stop-loss and GTT — and when each is the wrong choice.
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What Nifty and Sensex actually measure
An index is a sample, and knowing which sample matters more than the level.
Varsity · Introduction to Stock Markets — The Stock Markets Index ↗Your number Signed-in only — computed from your own trades -
Reading a quote — OHLC, volume, circuit bands
A 5% circuit band means you cannot get out on the day you need to.
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What trading actually costs
Brokerage, STT, stamp duty, GST and slippage — decisive on tight-stop ideas.
Varsity · Markets and Taxation ↗ Round-trip cost model →Your number Signed-in only — computed from your own trades -
Why most retail participants lose
Not stock picking. Costs, size, and the two exit mistakes.
Market mechanics
The plumbing that decides whether your plan survives contact with the market.
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Settlement, T+1, and unsettled proceeds
Rolling unsettled proceeds into the next name is leverage, whatever the product code says.
Varsity · Introduction to Stock Markets — Clearing and Settlement ↗From one trader's book Five largest positions in this book ran at 109–127% of capital -
Liquidity — why a stop needs a bid
In an illiquid name a stop is a wish; there is nobody on the other side.
Varsity · Introduction to Stock Markets — The 20-Market Depth ↗ Turnover gate — ₹8cr/day →From one trader's book One name failed this gate and cost ₹5.18L; the rule is now named after it -
Corporate actions — splits, bonuses, demergers
Your average cost is not what your broker shows after a split.
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Taxation — STCG, LTCG, and harvesting
Round-tripping a winner hands over a fifth of the gain before you re-enter.
After: What trading actually costs -
The certification map — where NISM fits
Series XV is the Research Analyst prerequisite, and the cheapest structured syllabus available.
Technical analysis and stage
Reading structure, and knowing the difference between a pullback and a breakdown.
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Trend, support and resistance
Levels are where decisions get made, not where prices magically stop.
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Moving averages and the 10/20/40W ladder
Breaking the 10W and breaking the 40W are different events needing different actions.
Varsity · Technical Analysis — Moving Averages ↗ IN Analytics Pro 3 →Your number Signed-in only — computed from your own trades -
Weinstein stage analysis
Four stages; only one of them is worth owning.
Varsity · Technical Analysis ↗ Stage-2 Position Planner →Your number Signed-in only — computed from your own trades -
Relative strength
Rising in isolation means little; rising against the index is the signal.
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Volatility — ATR, ADR, and where a stop belongs
A stop closer than one day's noise is not a stop; it is a coin flip you pay for.
Varsity · Technical Analysis ↗ Volatility-anchored stop →From one trader's book One stop in this book sat at 0.29× ATR when a single day's range was 3.5× the whole stop distance -
Volume — accumulation, distribution, stopping volume
Price tells you what happened; volume tells you whether to believe it.
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Wyckoff — spring, UTAD, SOS and LPS
A structural vocabulary for what accumulation and distribution look like.
Fundamentals and valuation
What a business is worth, and why one multiple is never the answer.
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Reading the P&L, balance sheet and cash flow
Three statements, one business; the cash flow is the one that lies least.
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Ratios — ROE, ROCE, leverage, working capital
Ratios are questions, not verdicts.
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Why blended multiples beat any single one
Combining P/E, P/S, P/B and EV/EBITDA measurably reduces valuation error — this is a researched result, not a preference.
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Company type decides which multiple matters
A lender is not valued like a hyper-growth name; the weights should not be identical either.
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Fair-value bands, not point estimates
A single target price is false precision; a band is an honest answer.
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Guidance, estimates, and whether the company delivers
A firm that has met guidance six quarters running is not the same risk as one that misses.
Varsity · Fundamental Analysis ↗Your number Signed-in only — computed from your own trades -
Sector analysis
Most of a stock's move is its sector's move.
Varsity · Sector Analysis — Sector Analysis Overview ↗Your number Signed-in only — computed from your own trades
Risk and portfolio construction
The level that decides whether an edge survives. Every node maps to a rule and a number.
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Risk is capped against capital, not the position
A wide stop is not more risk — it is a smaller position.
Varsity · Risk Management and Trading Psychology ↗From one trader's book A 1.5×ADR stop on a 3%-ADR name is ≥4.5%, so no name can ever satisfy a 3%-of-position cap -
Stop placement follows volatility, not preference
Never tighten a stop to hit a risk number — that is how a good trade gets stopped out on Tuesday.
Varsity · Risk Management and Trading Psychology ↗ Anchored stop →Your number Signed-in only — computed from your own trades -
Size is derived, never chosen
qty = risk ÷ (entry − stop). Choosing size first forces the stop, and the stop then sits inside the noise.
Varsity · Risk Management and Trading Psychology — Position Sizing ↗ Stage-2 Position Planner →Your number Signed-in only — computed from your own trades -
Portfolio heat
What you lose if every position stops out at once — not what your positions are worth.
Varsity · Risk Management and Trading Psychology ↗Your number Signed-in only — computed from your own trades -
Earning size — the risk ladder
Exposure is earned with measured results, and given back automatically when they stop.
After: Portfolio heatVarsity · Trading Systems ↗Your number Signed-in only — computed from your own trades -
Concentration, correlation and effective N
Ten positions can be one bet; effective N tells you which you actually own.
After: Portfolio heat -
Adding to winners without adding risk
After any add, the combined stop moves so total risk stays inside the original budget.
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Exit frameworks — fast signals trim, slow signals exit
Exhaustion signals sell a tranche; only structure takes you fully out.
Varsity · Trading Systems ↗ Position state machine →Your number Signed-in only — computed from your own trades
Behaviour and the feedback loop
The level no other course can teach, because it needs your own book.
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The disposition effect
Selling winners early and holding losers long — the single most expensive bias in retail equity.
Varsity · Innerworth — Mind over Markets ↗From one trader's book Best-to-worst exit decision spanned ₹22.3L across 21 sell legs in this book -
Override — why we break our own rules
The gap between the size the system sanctioned and the size actually taken.
Varsity · Risk Management and Trading Psychology — Trading Biases (Part 2) ↗From one trader's book One entry was taken at 2.6× the sanctioned size, with a stop at a third of the sanctioned distance -
Expectancy, win rate and payoff
A 33% win rate is not a broken system if the payoff is 3×; judging by hit rate alone destroys good processes.
Varsity · Trading Systems ↗From one trader's book 33% win rate at 3.2× payoff — a working trend-following profile -
Post-exit drift
Track what happens after you sell, or you will never learn whether your exits are early, late, or random.
After: The disposition effectVarsity · Innerworth — Mind over Markets ↗Your number Signed-in only — computed from your own trades -
Journaling and the improvement loop
You cannot improve a process that does not exist; the log is what turns trading into a process.
Varsity · Risk Management and Trading Psychology ↗Your number Signed-in only — computed from your own trades
Professional track
Where this goes if you want it to be a career rather than a hobby.
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NISM Series XV and Research Analyst registration
The certification is the cheap part; the registration is what lets you charge.
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CMT or CFA — which fits your process
CMT is the technical-analysis equivalent of the CFA; pick the one that matches how you actually decide.
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Tools versus advice — the SEBI boundary
Publishing calls and giving personalised recommendations are separate regulated activities.
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Building a process you can audit
Every threshold in one file, every change a commit, every trade classified against it.
Every link above goes to free material published by others — Zerodha Varsity and NISM. We claim no credit for their work and take no fee for pointing at it. What is ours is the sequencing, the tools, and the measurement.