Stock Market Basics
How the Indian stock market works – shares, NSE and BSE, SEBI, brokers, demat accounts, depositories, what happens when you click Buy, and what Nifty and Sensex really are.
Why should you care about the stock market?
Your savings lose value every year. Here is why, and where the stock market fits in.
What is a share, really?
A small story about a tiffin business that explains shares, IPOs and why share prices move.
The marketplace – NSE and BSE
What a stock exchange does, how BSE started under a banyan tree, and why NSE changed Indian trading.
SEBI – the referee of the market
Who protects you in the market, what SEBI does, and how to complain if something goes wrong.
Brokers, trading account and demat account
The three accounts you need, what a broker does, and how to choose one safely.
Depositories – NSDL and CDSL
The digital lockers that hold every share in India, and how to check that your shares are really yours.
What happens when you click Buy?
Follow your order from your phone to the exchange, the clearing corporation and your demat account. Includes T+1 settlement.
A day in the market – timings and orders
Market hours, the pre-open and closing sessions, order types like market, limit and stop-loss, and circuit limits.
Nifty, Sensex and what “market is up” means
What an index is, how Nifty and Sensex are calculated, and why a few big companies can move the whole market.
Traders vs investors – and the truth about risk
Different styles of participating in the market, what SEBI’s studies say about F&O losses, and the mindset you need before reading charts.