When you first try to learn markets, the jargon alone is overwhelming — stock indices, rates, FX, the fear index… memorizing them one by one is endless. But markets get surprisingly simple once you see them as a few big buckets. This guide lays out what each bucket is and how they connect, then points you to deeper guides for each — it's your starting point.
Markets in six buckets
What you can invest in usually splits into stocks · rates (bonds) · FX · commodities · crypto · market sentiment (macro). They look separate, but they actually push and pull on each other — mostly through interest rates. Let's take them one at a time.
1. Stocks — ownership of a company
A stock is a slice of a company. Its price ultimately moves on expectations of how much the company earns, and will earn.
- The basic yardsticks for cheap vs. expensive are in stock valuation (P/E, P/B).
- If a single name feels risky, ETFs let you diversify across the whole market or a sector.
- Dividend investing pays cash just for holding.
- Which sectors money is flowing into is read via sector rotation.
2. Rates and bonds — the benchmark for everything
Rates are the "price of money," so they anchor almost every asset. When rates rise, risk assets like stocks usually face a headwind.
- Start with the world's benchmark: the US 10-year Treasury yield.
- The yield-curve spread is an early clue to recession.
- Why bond prices move opposite to yields is covered in bond basics.
- Who sets rates and when: the Fed and the FOMC.
3. FX — the relative price of money
An exchange rate is the ratio between two currencies, connecting everything from exporter earnings to import prices to foreign capital flows.
- Overall dollar strength is read via the dollar index (DXY).
- The big forces behind currencies are in what moves FX.
- For a Korea angle, see USD/KRW and Korean equities.
4. Commodities — signals from the real economy
Commodity prices mirror inflation and the economy.
- Gold, the classic crisis hedge, and
- crude oil, sensitive to inflation and growth, are the headliners.
5. Crypto — a newer risk asset
Volatile, but useful for reading market sentiment.
- The whole market's flow is read via market cap and BTC dominance,
- and Bitcoin's value cycle via on-chain indicators.
6. Sentiment and macro — the mood and the big picture
The layer above individual prices — the temperature of the whole market.
- Volatility via the VIX, sentiment via the Fear & Greed Index,
- inflation via CPI, jobs via employment data, and the leading edge via PMI/ISM.
How to actually start
Rather than memorizing every indicator, settle the mindset and habits first.
- Diversify. Not concentrating is the most basic defense — diversification and asset allocation.
- Make time your ally. Over the long run, compounding is the most powerful force.
- Learn not to lose first. Risk management beats chasing returns for staying in the game.
Indicators worth watching alongside
All of these buckets ultimately move together. The Global Market Dashboard shows stocks, rates, FX, commodities, crypto and sentiment on one screen, so you can grasp the big picture of where the market stands. Read it alongside the guides above as you learn.
This article is for informational purposes only and is not investment advice.