Learn to Trade
Your dedicated educational hub that’s been shaped by decades of market experience.
Futures trading involves significant risk of loss and is not suitable for all investors.
Trade your way, learn your way
Browse our different categories to find the right starting point. There is no prescribed order and you can move between tracks as your questions change.
Trading basics
New to Markets
If you are approaching financial markets for the first time or coming from equities, crypto, or CFDs and want to understand how regulated futures work, this is your starting point.
- What futures are, how they are structured, and why they work differently from other instruments
- How margin and leverage actually function — and what that means for your capital
- Order types, exchange mechanics, and how trades are executed and cleared
- The vocabulary you need to follow market commentary without guessing
Platform skills
Getting active
Platform skills close the gap between market understanding and workflow readiness so when you open a position, you're not working out how the platform works at the same time.
- Platform walkthroughs for StoneX Futures, TradingView, RJO Futures Pro, and MetaTrader 5
- Order entry, account setup, and margin management in practice
- Reading depth of market, charts, and real-time data effectively
- 28-day demo access to practice in live market conditions before committing capital
Strategy concepts
Building strategy
Strategy concepts cover the frameworks that active traders use to interpret price action, manage risk, and approach markets with more discipline and less guesswork.
- Technical analysis: price action, chart patterns, volume, and indicators
- Risk management: position sizing, margin discipline, and drawdown control
- Reading macro context: how economic data, policy decisions, and events move markets
- Developing a decision-making process that holds up under pressure
Market-specific education
Market Focus
Market-specific education lets you go deeper on the asset class you are most interested in — the price drivers, seasonal patterns, contract mechanics, and structural features that are unique to each market.
- Energy: crude oil supply dynamics, inventory reports, and OPEC decisions
- Metals: gold's relationship to real yields, silver's dual role, copper as a macro signal
- Equity indices: how macro data and earnings cycles drive S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures
- Agricultural: crop reports, seasonal patterns, and soft commodity market structure
Find the right format
The same concepts land differently depending on how you engage with them. Browse by format below to find the resources that match you prefer to learn.
Trading guides
Written resources covering market fundamentals, strategy frameworks, and concept explanations you can work through at your own pace.
Glossary
A working reference for futures and financial market terminology, built for traders who want a clear definition, not a textbook entry.
Videos
Short-form explainers and platform tutorials covering specific concepts, tools, and market mechanics without unnecessary padding.
Open a trading account
Ready to start trading? Open a StoneX account and access the platform that works best for you.
The trading of derivatives such as futures, options, and over-the-counter (OTC) products or “swaps” may not be suitable for all investors. Derivatives trading involves substantial risk of loss, and you should fully understand the risks prior to trading. Past results are not necessarily indicative of future results.
Apply your knowledge: tools and practice
Understanding how markets work is most useful when you can test that understanding against live market conditions. The tools below connect what you are learning to real market data, contract mechanics, and simulated trading environments, so you can move from concept to experimentation without any capital at risk.
Futures calculators and market quotes
Before placing a trade, the most useful question is usually a practical one: what does a one-point move in this contract cost me? The calculators and quotes tools below let you work through those questions against live market data.
Futures Calculator
Calculate tick values and profit and loss scenarios for specific contracts before committing capital. Pair with the contract specs pages for full detail.
Futures quotes and charts
Live market data and charting across equity index, energy, metals, and agricultural futures contracts. Use alongside educational content to see how price behaves in the markets you are studying.
Futures Calendar
Key dates across contract expiry cycles, USDA reports, EIA inventory releases, FOMC decisions, and other scheduled events that move futures markets. Useful for planning around known volatility events.
28-day demo account
Full access to the StoneX Futures platform with live market data and simulated order entry. The most direct way to apply what you have learned to real market conditions without opening a funded account.
Explore markets by asset class
Get market-specific educational content, contract specifications, and the trading pages for that asset class.
Energy
Crude oil, natural gas, and refined product futures. Supply dynamics, inventory reports, and seasonal demand patterns.
Metals
Gold, silver, and copper futures. Monetary policy, real yields, industrial demand, and safe-haven dynamics.
Equity indices
E-mini S&P 500, Nasdaq, and Dow Jones futures. Earnings cycles, economic data, and macro market positioning.
Grains
Grains, oilseeds, livestock, coffee, sugar, and cotton. Seasonal patterns, crop reports, and weather-driven price moves.
Crypto
Bitcoin and Ethereum futures listed on regulated exchanges. CME-cleared contracts with no counterparty risk.
Interest rates
Treasury futures and short-term rate contracts. Central bank policy, yield curve dynamics, and macro rate positioning.
Our market expertise, advanced platforms, global reach, culture of full transparency and commitment to our clients’ success all set us apart in the financial marketplace.
Reach
With access to 40+ derivatives exchanges, 180+ foreign exchange markets, nearly every global securities marketplace and numerous bi-lateral liquidity venues, StoneX’s digital network and deep relationships can take clients anywhere they want to go.
Transparency
As a publicly traded company meeting the highest standards of regulatory compliance in the markets we serve, our financials and record of accomplishment are matters of public record. StoneX’s commitment to “doing the right thing over the easy thing” sets us apart in the industry and helps us build respect, client trust and new partnerships.
Expertise
From our proprietary Market Intelligence platform, to “boots on the ground” expertise from award-winning traders and professionals, we connect our clients directly to actionable insights they can use to make more informed decisions and achieve their goals in the global markets.