Hallycon Academy

Course 14 · Going deeper

Reading news and charts

How to read headlines, central bank decisions, company results and price charts without being fooled, and when to ignore them.

  • 8 lessons
  • 56 min
  • Free
  • A certificate when you finish

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Who it is for

For anyone who follows the markets in the news and wants to read a headline or a chart without being rushed into anything.

The lessons

Each lesson has a short video, a quiz and links to learn more. The full lessons open after a free sign-in.

  1. Lesson 1: News versus noise

    7 min

    Most money headlines don't matter for long-term savings. How to tell news from noise, what headlines are built to do, and why to sleep on any scary one.

    Key points

    • Most daily headlines don't matter for long-term money.
    • Ask who benefits from the headline and what it leaves out.
    • No money decisions on the day of a scary headline.

  2. Lesson 2: Reading a central bank decision

    7 min

    The ECB decides on rates about every six weeks, the SNB four times a year. What to read in their statements, and what a decision means for your savings and your loan.

    Key points

    • The ECB Governing Council decides about every six weeks; the SNB each quarter.
    • Markets react to the surprise and to hints about the future, not to the decision alone.
    • For you: savings rates, variable mortgages and bond prices follow, each at its own speed.

  3. Lesson 3: Company results in plain words

    7 min

    Revenue, profit, earnings per share and outlook. Why prices react to "better or worse than expected", not to the number itself, and why one period is only one period.

    Key points

    • Revenue is what a company sold; profit is what's left after costs.
    • Markets react to the gap between results and expectations.
    • One quarter is one quarter; look at several years.

  4. Lesson 4: The economic calendar

    7 min

    Inflation, jobs, growth and rate decisions come out on fixed dates. What a headline number really means, and why surprises move prices and expected numbers don't.

    Key points

    • The key releases: inflation flash estimates, jobs, GDP and central bank decisions.
    • Prices move on surprises, not on numbers everyone expected.
    • Read the calendar from official sources, not from ads.

  5. Lesson 5: Reading a price chart

    7 min

    The time axis, the price axis, points against percent, and why the same history can look calm or terrifying depending on how it's drawn.

    Key points

    • Check the time range and the price scale first.
    • One day looks dramatic; ten years tells a different story.
    • Over decades a "log" scale shows percentage moves fairly; a normal scale makes old falls look tiny.

  6. Lesson 6: Candlesticks and volume

    7 min

    Open, high, low and close in one shape, and volume as a sign of how many took part. What a single candle can and can't tell you. A reading skill, not a trading method.

    Key points

    • A candle shows the open, high, low and close of one period; green up, red down (colours vary).
    • Volume shows how much changed hands; big moves on small volume mean less.
    • A single candle tells you little about what comes next.

  7. Lesson 7: Trends, support, resistance and the limits of charts

    7 min

    Higher highs, higher lows, and levels where prices paused before. Why charts describe the past and are no crystal ball.

    Key points

    • A rising trend is a run of higher highs and higher lows.
    • Prices often pause near levels where they turned before, and often break through them too.
    • Charts show the past, not the future; never use them alone.

  8. Lesson 8: Misleading charts and numbers

    7 min

    Clever start dates, missing inflation, only the winners shown. How to spot a chart or a headline built to sell you something.

    Key points

    • Check the start and end dates: moving them changes any story.
    • Ask if a number is before or after inflation, costs and tax.
    • Funds and coins that died are often left out of the picture (survivorship bias).

What’s inside

  • Short videos: About two minutes for each lesson
  • Quizzes: Three questions after each lesson
  • Calculators: Inflation, compound interest, an emergency fund and fees
  • Certificate: For every course you complete

The full lessons, videos and quizzes open after a free sign-in: your name, email, mobile number and a PIN. No card, no obligation.

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General financial education. Hallycon Academy does not manage money, sell investment products or give personal advice. Examples in the lessons promise no return.

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