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Investing and options, explained plainly
Short guides for everyday investors: what the numbers on a quote mean, how to tell how your investments really did, and how common option strategies work, including where they go wrong.
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How to read a stock quote
Price, change, bid and ask, volume and market cap: what each number on a quote means and which ones to check before you buy or sell.
Investing basics ·6 min read - Investing basics
How to read a stock chart: candlesticks, volume and timeframes
Line charts, candlesticks, volume bars and timeframes: what a price chart shows, how to read one bar at a time, and the common ways a chart can mislead you.
8 min read - Investing basics
Market, limit and stop orders: which to use when
What market, limit, stop and stop-limit orders do, how long an order stays open, and how each behaves when a stock gaps or trades outside regular hours.
6 min read - Investing basics
Pre-market and after-hours trading: how it works and its risks
US stocks trade before the opening bell and after the close, but with fewer buyers and sellers. When the sessions run, why spreads widen, why prices differ between sources, and how Wenlo labels extended-hours prices.
6 min read - Investing basics
P/E ratio and dividends, explained
How the price-to-earnings ratio compares a stock’s price with what the company earns, how dividend yield and payout ratio work, and the traps in both.
5 min read - Investing basics
P/E, EPS and valuation: what “expensive” really means
Trailing and forward P/E, diluted and adjusted EPS, the PEG ratio and other yardsticks: how investors judge whether a stock is expensive, and where each measure falls short.
7 min read - Investing basics
Dividends explained: yield, key dates, DRIP and taxes
How dividends are declared and paid, what the ex-dividend, record and payment dates mean, how trailing and forward yield differ, how reinvestment works, and the general difference between qualified and ordinary dividends in the US.
7 min read - Investing basics
What is an ETF?
Exchange-traded funds hold a basket of investments and trade like a single stock. How they work, what they cost, and the risks that are easy to miss.
5 min read - Investing basics
ETFs vs mutual funds vs index funds
An index fund is a strategy; ETFs and mutual funds are two ways to package one. How they differ in trading, costs and taxes, and the questions to ask when you compare two funds.
6 min read - Investing basics
Diversification and position sizing: why one stock shouldn’t be 40% of your portfolio
How concentration magnifies losses, why owning many stocks that move together isn’t the same as diversifying, and simple sizing rules of thumb investors use to keep any one holding in proportion.
6 min read - Investing basics
How earnings move stocks
Why a company can beat expectations and still fall, how options show the move the market expects, and why option prices often drop the morning after.
5 min read - Investing basics
How to read a 10-K, 10-Q and 8-K
What a company’s annual, quarterly and current reports to the SEC contain, where to find the sections that matter most, and the warning signs worth looking for.
6 min read - Investing basics
Tracking your real returns
Fees, dividends, time and a fair comparison: how to work out what your investments actually earned, and why the number in your brokerage app can mislead.
5 min read - Investing basics
How to read Wenlo’s technical chart
Candles, moving averages, Bollinger Bands, volume, MACD, RSI and VWAP on the ticker page’s Technical chart: what each line means, what it can’t tell you, and how it matches the screener.
8 min read - Options strategies
Covered calls, explained
Selling a call against shares you own brings in cash now in exchange for capping your upside. How it works, what can happen by expiration, and the risks that remain.
5 min read - Options strategies
Cash-secured puts, explained
Selling a put with the cash set aside to buy the shares: how it pays, what happens if the stock falls, and how to read the yield and the odds honestly.
5 min read - Options strategies
The wheel strategy, explained
Selling puts until you’re assigned, then calls until the shares are sold: how one full cycle works with numbers, and where the strategy goes wrong.
5 min read - Options numbers
IV Rank, explained
Implied volatility tells you how much movement option prices assume. IV Rank tells you whether that is high or low for this particular stock. How both work, and what they can’t tell you.
5 min read - Options numbers
Probability of profit (POP), explained
POP is a model’s estimate of the chance an option trade makes money at expiration. How Wenlo calculates it, how it relates to delta, and why a high POP can still be a poor trade.
5 min read - Options strategies
Iron condors, strangles and straddles, explained
Some option trades don’t bet on a direction. They make money if the stock stays in a range. What “delta-neutral” means, how iron condors, strangles and straddles work, and what can go wrong.
7 min read