Share market basics
Closing an open position by taking the opposite trade: selling what you bought or buying back what you sold short.
To square off is to close an open position. If you bought 100 shares intraday, you square off by selling 100; if you sold short, you square off by buying back. In futures and options, squaring off before expiry is how most traders exit, rather than waiting for settlement. Brokers automatically square off intraday positions that are still open near the close, usually between 3:15 and 3:25 PM for equities, and they charge a fee for doing it. Suppose you bought SBI at ₹800 in an MIS order and forgot about it; at 3:20 PM the broker sells it at the market price, whatever it is. Auto square-off also applies when margin runs short. Squaring off yourself, at a price and time you chose, is always better than letting the broker do it in a rush at the end of the day.
VideoA share is a portion of a company. The share market is where those portions change hands. Here is how it works, what you can trade in it, and why most people who trade actively lose money.
VideoThe share market runs on two activities that look alike and are nothing alike. Investing is owning a business for years. Trading is profiting from price moves over hours or weeks. Mixing them up is behind most early losses.
VideoTrading comes in a few distinct forms, and the one you pick decides how much time, capital and stress it takes. This lesson explains intraday, swing, positional, futures and options trading with Indian examples.
