How markets work

Each one explains a single mechanic the simulation really runs, in the same words the game uses, and says where the model stops.

GuideWhat is a stock market simulator?A simulator makes up its own stock market. That one fact decides what it can teach you.GuideWhat actually moves a stock price?A price move is hardly ever one thing. Telling the six apart is most of what reading a market means.GuideHow to read an option chainAn option chain looks like a wall of numbers. Underneath, it's four ideas in a grid.GuideHow short selling worksSelling something you don't own is really a loan. Every odd thing about shorting comes from that.GuideHow interest rates affect stocksA rate decision changes the price of every future dollar. So it moves everything at once.GuidePaper trading vs simulationBoth use fake money. Only one lets you replay a crash before lunch.ReferenceTrading terms glossaryEvery term the game uses, in a sentence or two, with what it's actually for.

A caveat

These explain how markets work, and how this simulation works. None of it is financial advice and none of it is a recommendation. Margin Call has no connection to any real market. The companies are made up and the money is imaginary, which makes this a sensible place to be wrong.

Start here

Start a run What is actually simulated How to play

─ [ MC ] ─