Stock Market Basics – 6 Free Sources for You to Learn From

New to investing and worried about how you are going to learn? There are many podcasts, books, and online brokers with educational resources that are filled with information that can help you learn more about investing and make you gain the confidence to try it yourself.

We selected the ones we think are perfect for a beginner to learn from. These resources let you learn everything you need to know about the stock market and will turn you into a pro in no time!

TD Ameritrade

TD Ameritrade is a licensed broker that believes knowledge is your most valuable asset. They have an education tab designed to help you grow as an investor with content tailored to your own personal investing goals and needs. TD Ameritrade’s education hub is available to all clients and houses an extensive library of content organized for ease of use and curated by topic, level, goals, and objectives.

Pros Almost daily free webcasts for you to learn from Free short videos about the basics of investing Free online courses dedicated to deepening your investing know-how Articles about relevant topics to beginners Easy to navigate and organized Every piece of content in their education tab is free

Cons To access their online courses you have to create an account

Overview

TD Ameritrade has over 200 instructional videos, tutorials, and investing publications. This broker lets you consume content across a variety of channels and content types. They personalize their content recommendations and curate content for investor’s specific needs, all you have to do is choose how you would like to learn.

The biggest plus to this broker’s educational platform is the trading course taught by experienced teachers, covering a variety of investing and trading topics that can help you become a more informed investor.

Investopedia

Investopedia is a good one if you are looking to know the basics of the basics. Their mission is to simplify financial decisions and information, to give their readers the confidence to manage every aspect of their financial life. Use their free articles in the education tab to guide you through the beginning of your trading process.

Pros  Offers a large amount of articles on the basics of investing, explain the most basic of terms It’s helpful to both beginners and more advanced traders It has a large selection of news articles to guide your trades

Cons Their academy is payed and has some bugs Hard to navigate and find what you are looking for Videos and courses are paid

Overview

Investopedia is best for people with little or no background knowledge when it comes to investing, who want to educate themselves before getting started and moving on to content more curated to their needs and investment style. That being said it always provides the answer to questions you might have even when you begin to have more experience.

Interactive Brokers

Interactive Brokers has always been a great choice for active traders, especially those who can move into the broker’s cheaper volume-pricing setup. They are an American multinational brokerage firm that does broker/dealer business on over 135 market destinations worldwide.

They focus on giving beginner and advanced traders online courses on the concepts and tools of financial trading.

Pros Extensive library of beginner friendly educational material categorized by your level of trading Almost daily Webinars about different opportunities to take advantage of and other topics Offers a glossary of relevant terms to trading and investing Offers short videos to deepen your knowledge

Cons Website isn’t user friendly You have to make an account to take lesson quizzes Some content is paid

Overview

Interactive Brokers makes available a lot of content to enrich its users and to better help them trade and invest. Although some of the content provided is payed, the free available content is as good as the other resources on this list. Right now it might be a little confusing trying to find what you want in the academy but interactive brokers has been making changes to simplify this process.

The Money Tree Investing Podcast

This is a weekly free podcast featuring a panel of four investing experts who interview a different guest each episode about something related to investing, passive income, or personal finance. The panellists then discuss the interviewee’s responses during the course of the next hour.

Pros You can listen to it while driving to work or doing other tasks It offers different perspectives about the same topics It has plenty of material available It always has updated content

Cons Content quality varies depending on the guest Each episode is around an hour long

Overview

A different way to learn about the stock market and all it’s aspects. Its informative and the guests invited have a broad range of investment and touch on the different facets of investing. You can learn something new every episode and benefit from the perspectives of the panellists. There are always some tips you can look forward to.

eToro Academy

eToro is a stock broker that like many others, lets you get into the world of trading. They have a very complete education tab with news about the latest trends and an academy for beginners to develop their knowledge.

Pros User friendly website Weekly webinars about the basics of stock trading, currencies, and cryptocurrencies 20 min weekly podcast about cryptocurrency and other topics of interest 5 min videos you can binge watch to learn more about investing and trading, among other things Very well organized

Cons Limited content compared to some other brokers mentioned on this list

Overview

eToro education section is well organized and makes it easier for beginners to search for content specifically prepared for them. The academy is well structured which makes it easier to find any specific topic the user is looking for. In addition to what was mentioned before you can choose how you would like to learn, be that videos, articles or podcasts.

Motley Fool

Motley Fool is a stock advisor platform with articles on how to do various things, most notably start trading, investing and deal with cryptocurrency. This company provides free and premium investment guidance to individual investors around the world.

Pros It offers different media you can choose from according to your tastes: podcast, newsletter and a newspaper column. Free educational Articles on their website Easy to navigate

Cons Compared to other resources mentioned on this list, the information provided is limited Some content is paid

Overview

Motley Fool offers something for every kind of investor. They have free features such as their different podcasts, or fee-based services (their newsletter), so you can choose exactly how you want to learn and what’s best for you.

Closing Thoughts

Something you need to know above all else is that investing is a lifelong game. You can take your time learning the basics and developing your style of trading. See what works for you and what platform you enjoy best for learning.

Investing is a life skill that needs to be honed and like all good things, it needs a little patience, time, and study. With thoughtful investment, you can make your money work for you and achieve your goals and dreams. So take your time there isn’t a reason to rush into the stock market.

Start small and learn from every trade you make. Our blog is here for you to upgrade your trading skills.