HCCT Market Readiness Practice Series · Equity & ETF
How the US market works behind the screen.
A careful, fully sourced practice package on how the US stock and ETF market is organised around the individual investor, who earns at each step of an order, and how to reach your own decisions with the full picture in view.
- 3 guides
- 8 Excel workbooks
- 1 offline guided app
Before you trust any strategy, know what it is up against.
Every order you place passes through a system that was built long before you arrived. Brokers, exchanges, wholesalers, market makers, data vendors and fund issuers each have rules to follow, a way of being paid and a view of the flow of orders that you do not have.
What you will understand
The questions a practitioner asks first.
It offers no signals, picks or system, and it will not tell you what to own. It shows you how the market works, where your money tends to go and which questions come before any decision, so that whatever you choose to do next is done with the full picture in view.
- 01
What happens after you press the button
The journey of an order, where it can be sent and why, and who is paid along the way.
- 02
Where the costs sit, including the quiet ones
Spreads, routing, currency conversion, interest on idle cash, securities lending, fund costs and tax on dividends.
- 03
What your own behaviour reveals
How displayed orders, stop orders and predictable timing are seen by others, and what remains in your control.
- 04
What published numbers do and do not say
Ratings, price targets, lock-up expiries, offerings and index changes, and the incentives that sit behind them.
- 05
Who stands behind the platform
How to compare brokers by entity, protection, routing and full cost of ownership, not by the headline price alone.
- 06
What applies to you as a non-US investor
Withholding tax, forms, US estate-tax exposure and the effect of fund domicile.
The Duty Map
Seventeen parties stand between your order and its fill.
The package maps each one: what it must do for you, how it is paid, what it can see and what you can check for yourself. Read alongside a 53-point practitioner’s map, it turns an opaque process into a set of questions you can put to your broker, your fund and yourself.
Brokers and firms are named for comparison only. HCCT Group has received no payment, referral fee or sponsorship from any of them.
What is in the Equity & ETF package
One package, designed to be used together.
35 pages · PDF
Practice Guide
How shares, ETFs and the trading day work; how an order travels and who earns from it; what your actions reveal; costs and tax; a dated comparison of named brokers; step-by-step trade preparation; three documented case studies.
20 pages · PDF
Practitioner Decision Framework
How a considered decision is reached: ten principles, seven decision gates, the information to obtain before acting, a template for a written strategy and a decision record.
3 pages · PDF
Duty Map
The seventeen parties in an order’s journey, grouped by role, with what each must do, earns and knows, and what you can verify.
01 to 08 · Excel
Eight workbooks
Investor profile and tax; broker selection and cost of ownership; order planning; execution and routing audit; research and valuation decoding; event and supply calendar; ETF analysis; practitioner checklists.
Offline · any browser
Guided Companion app
A step-by-step app that teaches each decision gate with your own figures. No account and no internet connection needed; your entries never leave your device.
Read first
Start Here
What is in each folder, the order in which to use it, the software you need and the declaration of scope and independence.
How it was made
Prepared slowly, so that it can be relied on carefully.
- Primary sources first. Regulators, exchanges, legal texts, firms’ own disclosures and published enforcement cases, each listed with its URL.
- Dated, not timeless. Every fee, rate and rule is stated as at 1 October 2026, so you can see exactly what to recheck.
- Calculated in plain sight. No macros, no hidden logic, no live feeds. Every formula is explained beside its result.
- Layered for different readers. A core explanation, a deeper layer and practitioner notes on each topic, so you can read as far as you need.
- Independent. No payment or sponsorship from any broker, exchange, market maker or fund issuer named.
Who it is for
For people who prefer to understand first.
- Individual investors anywhere in the world who use, or plan to use, US-listed stocks and ETFs.
- Readers new to the market who want to begin with the full picture rather than a shortcut.
- Experienced investors who want to check their costs, their broker and their process against the evidence.
- Anyone who has been offered a course, signal service or strategy and wants to know what it would need to overcome.
Who it is not for
Not a shortcut, and not a promise.
- Anyone looking for trade signals, stock picks or a promised result.
- Anyone who would rather have a decision made for them. The package is designed to strengthen your own judgement, not to replace it.
A suggested way to use it
Four steps, at your own pace.
- 1
Start with the Guided Companion
In about 30 minutes it shows what any strategy is up against, using your own figures.
- 2
Read the Practice Guide
Keep the Duty Map beside you as the order’s journey unfolds, section by section.
- 3
Write your own one-page strategy
Use the Decision Framework to set down what you intend to do and why.
- 4
Work through the seven gates
Complete the matching workbook sheets before any decision that matters.
HCCT Market Readiness Practice Series
Understand the market before you test the idea.
Each package in the series adds one layer of real market mechanics to the last. Equity & ETF is the foundation and is available now. The others will follow one at a time, each prepared to the same standard of evidence, clarity and honest limitation.
01 · Available now
Equity & ETF
Ownership, venues, order routing, costs, tax and fund structure.
Get the package02 · In preparation
Equity Index Futures
Leverage, margin, daily settlement, basis, expiry and roll.
03 · In preparation
Equity & ETF Options
Non-linear pay-offs, volatility, time decay, exercise and assignment.
04 · In preparation
Interest Rates & Treasury Futures
Yield curves, duration, DV01, convexity and delivery baskets.
05 · In preparation
Spot FX
Currency pairs, rate differentials, carry, financing and settlement.
06 · In preparation
Commodity Futures
Physical supply, storage, delivery, seasonality and futures curves.
07 · In preparation
Corporate Credit
Spreads, default, recovery, seniority and refinancing.
Your view
Which market next?
Tell us which package would be most useful to you. Demand shapes the order of release.
Contact HCCT Group
The Equity & ETF package
Read it once. Return to it before every decision that matters.
USD349
One paymentInstant downloadFor your personal use
- Practice Guide, Decision Framework and Duty Map (PDF)
- Eight Excel workbooks for Excel 365 or 2021 and later
- Guided Companion app, fully offline
- Start Here guide to the order of use
Secure checkout and delivery through Gumroad. Facts stated as at 1 October 2026.
Questions
Before you decide.
Is this investment advice?
No. It is educational material. It does not recommend any security, broker, order or strategy, does not forecast prices and does not estimate the likelihood of any trading result.
Do I need to live in the United States?
No. The package is written for investors anywhere who use US-listed stocks and ETFs, and it covers the points that apply to non-US investors, such as withholding tax, forms, estate-tax exposure and fund domicile.
I am new to investing. Is it too technical?
Each topic begins with a plain core explanation. The deeper layers and practitioner notes are there for when you want them, and the Guided Companion takes you through the material step by step.
What software do I need?
Any PDF reader for the guides, Excel 365 or Excel 2021 and later for the workbooks, and any current browser for the Guided Companion. Nothing needs to be installed and no account is required.
How current is the information?
Facts are stated as at 1 October 2026, and every time-sensitive fact carries its source and date. Fees, rates, rules and broker terms change, so the package shows you exactly what to recheck and where.
Does it include trading signals or a strategy?
No. It is designed to help you understand the market and examine any strategy, including your own, before you rely on it.
Important information
Educational material only. It is not investment, legal or tax advice and does not recommend any security, broker, order or strategy. Facts are stated as at 1 October 2026; fees, rates, rules and broker terms change. Brokers are named for comparison only and do not endorse the material. The package has not been externally reviewed by a lawyer, tax adviser or market practitioner. Investing involves risk, including the loss of capital. © 2026 HCCT Group.