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Every indicator the desk draws, every rate it watches and every session it trades across, written out with the arithmetic behind it. No hype, no predictions: what the reading is, how it is computed, and where it misleads.
18 guides · Updated 22 October 2026
The indicators drawn on every chart, with the arithmetic behind each one.
Technical analysis
EMA 50 and EMA 200
How the 50 and 200 exponential moving averages are calculated, what a golden cross and a death cross mean, and how an EMA touch is read across timeframes.
5 min read
Technical analysis
RSI explained
The relative strength index step by step: Wilder's formula, what 70 and 30 mean, why RSI stays overbought in a trend, and how divergence is read.
4 min read
Technical analysis
MACD explained
How MACD is built from two EMAs, what the signal line and histogram add, the three crossovers traders watch, and the cases where MACD misleads.
3 min read
Technical analysis
Bollinger Bands
How Bollinger Bands are built from a 20-period average and two standard deviations, what %B and bandwidth measure, and how the squeeze and band walks are read.
3 min read
Technical analysis
Pivot points
The classic pivot point formula with R1 to R3 and S1 to S3, a worked example, the Fibonacci and Camarilla variants, and which session to compute them from.
4 min read
Yields, the curve, the dollar, gold and the releases that move them.
Macro and rates
Yield curve and 2s10s
What the Treasury yield curve shows, how the 2s10s spread is computed, what an inversion has meant for recessions, and how a curve steepens or flattens.
4 min read
Macro and rates
Bond prices and yields
Why bond prices fall when yields rise, with a worked example, what duration measures, real yields and breakevens, and why the 10-year Treasury matters.
3 min read
Macro and rates
Reading the economic calendar
What actual, forecast and previous mean, why the surprise moves markets rather than the level, and the US and European releases that matter most.
4 min read
Macro and rates
The dollar index (DXY)
How the US Dollar Index is built from six currencies, its weights and history, what it leaves out, and why its moves run through gold, oil and emerging markets.
3 min read
Macro and rates
What moves gold
The drivers of the gold price in order of weight: real yields, the dollar, central bank buying, ETF flows and positioning, and how the price itself is set.
4 min read
Macro and rates
The VIX explained
How the VIX is derived from S&P 500 option prices, the rule of 16 for a daily move, what its levels and term structure mean, and how it tracks stocks.
4 min read
Sessions, breadth, sectors, index weights and how the tape is put together.
Market structure
Trading sessions and overlaps
The 24-hour cycle from Wellington to New York, the Asian, European and American sessions in UTC, and why the London–New York overlap carries the volume.
4 min read
Market structure
Pre-market and after-hours
US pre-market and after-hours trading hours, why liquidity is thin and spreads wide, how earnings move stocks after the close, and what the auctions do.
3 min read
Market structure
Market breadth
How many stocks share in an index move: the advance-decline line, the percent above the 200-day average, breadth thrusts and divergences.
3 min read
Market structure
Sector rotation
The eleven equity sectors, what each is sensitive to, the classic rotation through the business cycle, and how relative strength shows where money is moving.
3 min read
Market structure
Index points and weighting
How cap-weighted indices work, how a stock's weight times its move becomes basis points and index points, and the Nasdaq 100 and Dow exceptions.
3 min read
Market structure
Crypto market cap and dominance
How crypto market cap is computed, what fully diluted valuation adds, what Bitcoin dominance measures and signals, and why 24/7 trading changes the reading.
3 min read
Entries, targets, stops and how a record is judged.