Money and markets, explained plainly
A fund label, a Buy button, a profit figure and a wallet balance can all make money look simpler than it is. This week follows what happens underneath: what you hold, when a trade really completes, what remains after costs, why a profitable company can be short of cash, and what a lost crypto wallet needs for recovery.
Each lesson stands alone. Together they answer one practical question: how do holdings, trades and cash flows actually work?
01 · Question
?02 · Plain answer
=03 · Picture
□04 · Use it
→05 · Evidence
✓Mon · Investing Basics · Foundation
An ETF is a fund traded on an exchange; an index fund is a fund designed to track an index. Many ETFs are index funds, but an ETF can be actively managed and an index fund need not trade on an exchange.
Tue · Street Smart · Market reality
Pressing Buy submits an order; it does not guarantee a trade. Execution creates a trade at the actual fill price. Settlement is the later exchange of securities and cash; most in-scope UK securities currently settle on T+2, with a planned move to T+1 on 11 October 2027.
Wed · Trading · Active application
Start with net sale proceeds and subtract the total cash cost of buying. Use actual fill prices and add separately charged costs, but do not deduct spread or slippage again when their effects are already in those fills. A reconstructed cash result is not automatically the same as a taxable gain.
Thu · Small Caps · Specialist equities
Profit records income and expenses under accounting rules; cash changes when money is actually received or paid. A profitable company can therefore use up cash when customers owe more, inventory builds, capital expenditure rises or financing repayments exceed new funding.
Fri · Crypto · Alternative assets
A private key is secret data a wallet uses to sign a transaction; one key may be insufficient if the wallet requires other signers or conditions. A seed phrase can recreate many keys in a compatible wallet, but it cannot restore every wallet on its own: a passphrase, wallet settings, other signers or a provider’s account process may also be needed.
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