Credential program on the trader path
Intermediate Certificate in Trading
The second semester of the trader path: a day trading course and swing trading course in one, covering technical analysis, price action, intraday execution, news, options, evidence-based testing and the written trading plan, with a tested-plan capstone. No programming.
The second semester is where a trader chooses a method and learns to test it. Most day trading courses sell setups. This one teaches the setups and the tests together: what each indicator measures and what the evidence says about it, how to define a price action setup precisely enough to record it, what execution costs inside the trading day, and how to tell an edge from a lucky run before money depends on it.
What does the Intermediate Certificate cover?
Technical analysis with its evidence. Price action and market structure. Swing trading through overnight and gap risk. Intraday execution and the cost of spreads through the session. News and event trading. Options for beginners, kept to defined risk. Evidence-based trading in the scientific tradition of David Aronson. And the trading plan: idea generation, information sources and the rules that hold it all together.
How is it assessed?
Each course has its own exercises, problem sets and a proctored exam with a 60% pass mark. The certificate is awarded when all eight courses and the capstone are passed. The capstone is a written trading plan, tested by hand and then traded on a simulated account, assessed in writing by the faculty.
Who should take it?
Traders who have the foundations and want a tested method, and holders of the Foundation Certificate in Trading continuing on the trader path. No programming is needed at any point.
The courses in this program
- Technical Analysis, Tested: Indicators and Evidence Technical analysis as a set of claims you can check: moving averages, momentum oscillators, volume indicators and chart patterns, what each measures, what the published evidence says, and how to test one on your own market with a spreadsheet.
- Price Action Trading and Market Structure Price action trading reads the chart itself rather than indicators: market structure, swing points, trends and ranges, breakouts and failed breakouts, pullbacks and the zones where orders gather. Every setup is defined by a rule and checked on your own record.
- Swing Trading: Holding Trades for Days and Weeks Swing trading holds positions for days to weeks, which suits people who cannot watch a screen all day. This course covers scanning for candidates, the main setups, the overnight and gap risk that comes with holding, earnings and event dates, and a weekly routine you can keep.
- Intraday Trading: Manual Execution and Spread Costs Intraday trading lives or dies on execution. This course covers the shape of the trading day, how spreads and depth change from the open to the close, how to place orders by hand without paying away your edge, and how to measure slippage and cost per trade in your own record.
- News Trading: Earnings, Data Releases and Events News trading reacts to scheduled and unscheduled information: central bank decisions, economic data, earnings and company announcements. This course teaches how markets price an expected number, why the surprise matters more than the headline, what happens to spreads around a release, and when the right trade is no trade.
- Options Trading for Beginners: Calls, Puts and Risk Options trading for beginners, taught with payoff diagrams and a spreadsheet instead of formulas: what calls and puts are, how premium, time decay and implied volatility set the price, the common strategies such as covered calls and spreads, and the ways options lose money for the people who buy them.
- Evidence-Based Trading: Scientific Thinking for Traders Evidence-based technical analysis treats every trading idea as a claim to be tested. Following the scientific approach set out by David Aronson and the wider research literature, this course teaches the scientific method, the cognitive errors that make weak ideas look strong, data-mining bias, and a hand-run test that can reject your favourite setup.
- The Trading Plan: Ideas, Information and Rules A trading plan turns a set of habits into a written business. This course covers where trading ideas come from, which information sources are worth your time and money, how to choose markets and setups, the risk limits that protect the account, and the review cycle that keeps the plan honest.
What should you know before you start?
The courses in this program build on the courses below. They are not part of the program and not included in its price. If you have not studied this material, take them first. Admissions can tell you whether your background already covers them: [email protected].
- Stop Losses and Position Sizing for Traders Where to put a stop loss and how large a position to take, as one decision: fixed-fraction sizing, volatility-based stops, the risk reward ratio, daily and monthly loss limits, and what happens when the market gaps through your stop.
- Trading Edge: Expectancy, Probability and Luck A trading edge is a positive expected result after costs that you can show on a record. This course teaches the probability a trader needs to judge one: expectancy, win rate and payoff, variance, sample size and the many ways luck looks like skill.
- The Trading Journal: Self-Analysis for Traders A trading journal is the trader's laboratory notebook. This course teaches what to record for each trade, how to tag decisions and mistakes, how to run a weekly review, and how to read your own statistics in a spreadsheet so you learn from the record, not from memory.
- How to Trade Stocks: Markets, Brokers and Orders How to trade stocks with a clear picture of what happens behind the button: exchanges and brokers, every common order type, margin and short selling, corporate actions, settlement and the records you keep for tax.
- Trading Costs: Bid-Ask Spreads, Commissions and Slippage The bid ask spread is the first cost of every trade and the one most traders never count. This course measures it with commissions, slippage, financing and fees, and shows which trading styles survive their costs.
- How to Read Stock Charts: Candles, Volume and Levels How to read stock charts the way a careful trader does: what each candle records, how timeframes change the picture, what volume adds, where support and resistance come from, and which chart claims fail when tested.
- Day Trading for Beginners: What It Really Takes Day trading for beginners without the sales pitch: how the trading day is structured, which instruments suit it, the rules and costs that apply, the main setups, and the evidence on how many day traders make money.
What is the intermediate trading capstone?
You write a full trading plan covering two setups from the semester, test each setup by hand on past data with costs and an untouched test period, then trade the plan on a simulated account for eight weeks. The submission is the plan, the tests, the journal and a report of about 3,000 words. The faculty assess it against published criteria and return written feedback: whether each setup was stated precisely, whether the tests were fair, and whether the trading followed the plan.
What does the credential record?
It records that you passed the proctored exam of every course listed on this page and the capstone, assessed by the Institute's faculty. The credential is issued by the Institute. Each one carries a verification code that an employer can check with [email protected].
Questions applicants ask
Do I need the Foundation Certificate first?
You need the foundation courses this certificate builds on, which are listed under Before you start. Most students take them as the Foundation Certificate, but if you already have that knowledge you can take only the courses you lack.
Is this only about day trading?
No. Intraday trading and news trading are day trading subjects, while swing trading, options and the trading plan cover longer horizons. The certificate is built so that you can choose your style from your own results.
How long does the certificate take?
680 hours of study: one semester of 640 hours of courses and a 40-hour capstone. At 160 hours a month, four months of courses and then the exams and capstone.