Category · 6 articles
Asset classes
An asset class is a group of instruments that trade in a similar way and react to the same forces: stocks, currencies, commodities, bonds. This category has 6 guides on stocks, from blue chips to penny stocks and low-float shares, and on currencies, from fiat money to the forex market.
The pattern statistics on this site are measured on crypto, forex, stocks, ETFs, indices and commodities, and each pattern page shows its results market by market. See the pattern statistics table and the methodology.
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Blue Chip Stocks vs. the S&P 500: 28 Years of the Dow 30 Against the 500, ComputedBlue chips against the S&P 500: what each holds, which led and when, and why 79% of active large-cap funds trailed the index in 2025, per SPIVA.
The Forex Market: Size, Players, Sessions and Rules, With the Latest BIS FiguresOnly 2.5% of forex turnover is retail-driven, per the BIS survey of April 2025. Who trades, the 50 to 1 U.S. leverage cap, and the hours EUR/USD moves.
Penny Stocks: The SEC Definition, the Broker Rules and Why They Are So VolatileWhat the SEC counts as a penny stock, the broker rules and fraud alerts that come with it, and why old split-adjusted prices were never penny stock prices.
Stocks
Blue Chip Stocks vs. Growth Stocks: Why More Than Half the Dow 30 Counted as Growth in S&P's Lists17 of the 30 Dow blue chips sat at least partly in S&P's growth index. How growth and blue chip are defined, and how growth and value returns compared.- Blue Chip Stocks vs. the S&P 500: 28 Years of the Dow 30 Against the 500, ComputedBlue chips against the S&P 500: what each holds, which led and when, and why 79% of active large-cap funds trailed the index in 2025, per SPIVA.
- Penny Stocks: The SEC Definition, the Broker Rules and Why They Are So VolatileWhat the SEC counts as a penny stock, the broker rules and fraud alerts that come with it, and why old split-adjusted prices were never penny stock prices.
Low-Float Stocks: What the Float Is, Why It Moves Prices and Why Manipulators Want ItA small float can make a stock jump, and FINRA warns fraudsters buy up the float of low-priced stocks before promoting them. How the float is counted.
Currencies
Fiat Money and Fiduciary Money: What They Mean and When the Dollar Became FiatFiat money can't be converted into gold. When the dollar became fiat, why fiduciary money means two things, and how U.S. prices rose 8.26 times since 1971.- The Forex Market: Size, Players, Sessions and Rules, With the Latest BIS FiguresOnly 2.5% of forex turnover is retail-driven, per the BIS survey of April 2025. Who trades, the 50 to 1 U.S. leverage cap, and the hours EUR/USD moves.