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LearnToTick is a free futures course for complete beginners. It teaches the fundamentals only: what futures are, how to read a chart, how orders work, how the market is structured, how to manage risk, and how to handle the mental side. It does not teach setups or strategies, and nothing here is a trade recommendation.
Start with RunnerOpen the glossary
The levels and your rank
The course has 6 levels, named after the old trading pit career ladder. Each level ends in a quiz. Passing it gives you the next rank as a role in the LearnToTick Discord, so your rank is your progress record.
- Runner: What Are Futures. Passing its quiz makes you a Clerk.
- Clerk: Reading the Chart. Passing its quiz makes you an Order Filler.
- Order Filler: Placing a Trade. Passing its quiz makes you a Floor Trader.
- Floor Trader: Market Structure. Passing its quiz makes you a Local.
- Local: Risk and Survival. Passing its quiz makes you a Seat Holder.
- Seat Holder: Psychology and Process. Ends in the final exam. Passing it makes you a Graduate.
You hold one rank at a time. Logging in for the first time makes you a Runner, and each promotion replaces your old rank with the new one. After Seat Holder, the optional The Broker's Desk: Series 3 Prep track prepares you for the Series 3 exam.
How long each level takes
These are estimates. They come from the word count of each level's written lessons, read at about 230 words per minute, rounded to the nearest 5 minutes. Videos, rereading and quizzes take extra time.
| Level | Lessons | Estimated reading time |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Runner | 13 | about 40 minutes (estimate) |
| 2. Clerk | 11 | about 35 minutes (estimate) |
| 3. Order Filler | 13 | about 45 minutes (estimate) |
| 4. Floor Trader | 14 | about 55 minutes (estimate) |
| 5. Local | 17 | about 1 hour 10 minutes (estimate) |
| 6. Seat Holder | 14 | about 50 minutes (estimate) |
| All 6 levels | 82 | about 4 hours 55 minutes (estimate) |
How quizzes work
- Every lesson is free to read. You never need an account to read.
- A level quiz draws 15 questions from that level's question bank and shuffles the answers. You need 80% to pass.
- After each question you see the correct answer and a one line explanation, with its source.
- The questions are drawn and scored on our server, so the answers are never in the page.
- If you do not pass, you can try again for credit after 30 minutes. Use the time to reread the lessons behind the questions you missed.
- The Seat Holder final draws 30 questions from every level and also needs 80%.
Logging in with Discord
Quizzes need a free Discord login, because a pass gives you a rank in the LearnToTick Discord server. The login asks Discord only for your basic profile (its "identify" permission), so it tells us who passed and cannot post as you. Joining the server is optional, but your rank only shows there, and the help channels are where you can ask questions.
Try the Runner quiz as a guest
Not ready to log in? You can try the Runner quiz as a guest: the same 15 questions drawn on the server, the same 80% pass mark, with answers explained as you go. A guest try is not saved and gives no rank. It is the only quiz you can take without logging in.
Already know the basics?
The placement test is for people who already know the basics. It asks 30 questions from Runner through the level before Seat Holder, and places you at the highest level you clear at 80% or better, counting up from Runner with no gaps. It can make you a Seat Holder at most; the Seat Holder final is still required to graduate. It needs a login, and you get one try every 24 hours.
Words you do not know yet
The first time a lesson uses a market term, it links to the glossary, where each term is defined in plain words with its source.
Educational content only. Not financial advice. Futures trading involves substantial risk of loss. Facts in lessons are checked against primary sources, and each lesson shows the date its facts were last checked. The Broker's Desk is at The Broker's Desk.