Course › Level 0 — What is trading, actually?

What can you trade?

Different markets, same skill. The main things beginners meet:

• Forex — currencies traded in pairs, like EUR/USD (euros vs US dollars). The biggest market in the world.
• Commodities — gold, oil, silver.
• Stock indices — baskets of company shares, like the US 500.
• Synthetic indices — markets that exist only on the Deriv platform. They behave like real markets (they trend, they range, they spike) but run 24/7, every day of the year, and aren't affected by news.

Why synthetics are popular across Africa

Three practical reasons: they trade 24/7 (you can trade after work or on weekends), you can start with a very small account, and there are no surprise news events crashing your position at 3 am.

Popular ones you'll hear about: Volatility 75, Volatility 100, Boom 500 and Crash 500. Don't worry about the differences yet — we'll get there.

Mark lesson complete