Zerodha Varsity

Zerodha Varsity is one of its own kind online trading education portal which can be availed for free by users by the discount broking house of Zerodha. The complete set up is segregated into 10 different chapters with multiple topics further within each chapter.

(Although, very recently a competitive mobile app on stock market education named Stock Pathshala has been released on the Android Play store).

Zerodha Varsity Review

Depending on your current understanding of the stock market, you may choose to start from scratch or jump to the module that suits your stock market know-how.

This online stock market educational initiative is suitable for users who:

• have a limited market understanding and are looking to gain knowledge on different levels of stock market trading.
• are beginners and want to start trading with the right steps.
• want educational trading sources that can be accessed from anywhere using a mobile device

Now, the point here, although you get a vast and exhaustive source of online trading, still you are on your own when it comes to Zerodha Varsity and that is one bitter pill you will have to swallow.

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In tune to Zerodha Varsity, A Digital Blogger has come with ADB School providing free stock market education to all its users (in English and Hindi).

One differentiation ADB school has as compared to varsity is that the former provides media content including Videos, Infographics as well while the latter focuses only on the textual content.

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Now, let’s talk about the specific modules and features that you will get to access while using Zerodha Varsity.

Zerodha Varsity Modules

This stock market education-based initiative from Zerodha is bifurcated into 10 different modules. The segregation is done in such as way that a beginner with no background of stock market trading in the past can start with module 1 and can actually be someone with the pretty good know-how of the market by the end of module 10.

Here are those 10 different modules we are talking about:

Zerodha Varsity Module#1

Introduction to Stock Markets

This module talks about the basics of how to invest in the stock market, along with information on specific market entities such as:

• Regulators
• Financial Intermediaries
• IPO Markets
• Stock Market Index
• Trading Terminal
• Clearing & Settlement Process
• Corporate Actions
• Event Impacts on the Stock Market

This module sets the tone for a beginner level trader and builds fundamentalbeginner-leveled. Primarily, you will get to know about how the Stock Market Ecosystem works in India and how different entities are connected to each other.

By the end of this module, you will get to understand the necessary theoretical aspects related to the Indian Stock Market.

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Zerodha Varsity Module#2

Technical Analysis

For users, looking to trade at an intra-day level can learn some of the techniques be going through this module of Zerodha technical analysis. It talks about:

• Introduction to Technical Analysis
• Charts
  • Single Candlestick charts patterns
  • Multiple candlestick charts patterns
• Support and Resistance
• Volumes
• Moving Average
• Indicators
• Dow Theory

Traders looking for short-term investments will get to understand different tools and mechanisms that can help them to perform analysis and then pick stocks that can bring profits to them.

This also needs to be known that the use of such tools is definitely important and if you are placing your trades without any objective research, well then it will lead you directly out of the game.

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Zerodha Varsity Module#3

Fundamental Analysis

Similarly, users looking to invest their money on a long-term basis, need to perform an exhaustive fundamental analysis. This module readies you to do just that, by giving you insights on tips and tricks to perform long-term investment analysis with information on:

• Introduction of Fundamental Analysis
• Reading Annual Reports
• How to Read Profit and Loss Statements
• How to Read Balance Sheets
• How to Read the Cash Flow Statement
• Financial Ratios
• Equity Research

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Zerodha Varsity Module#4

Futures Trading

If you are somebody, who wants to trade at the derivatives level, then this module is apt for you. Not just the basics, here you get to understand different intricacies of derivative trading at the futures segment level. Furthermore, the module touches upon some of the advanced-level concepts as well.

Thus, be wary of the fact that it’s better not to jump concepts without getting the basics right first.

• Futures Contract
• Leverage or Exposure
• Margin Calculation
• Shorting
• Hedging
• Nifty Futures
• Open Interest Calculation

People looking to trade in the derivatives segments (futures trading specifically) must have an understanding of how things work in the backend. If you go through this module, then certainly you will have a fundamental level of understanding of the concept.

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Zerodha Varsity Module#5

Option Trading

Similarly, users looking to trade in the options segment are generally at an intermediate or advanced level of trading. This module takes you on the journey of setting up the basics right for this kind of trading with specific tips and tricks:

• Call option basics
• Buying & Selling a Call Option
• Buying & Selling a Put Option
• Bull Call Spread
• Bull Put Spread
• Call Ratio Back Spread
• Bear Call Ladder
• Synthetic Long & Arbitrage
• Bear Put Spread
• Bear Call Spread
• Put Ratio Back Spread
• Delta
• Gamma
• Theta
• Long Straddle
• Short Straddle
• Long Strangle
• Short Strangle
• Volatility

This intermediate-level module will assist you in understanding different option theories available out there for professional-level traders. Beginner level traders might find it hard to understand in the first go, however, with time and consistent practice, things can certainly get better.

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Zerodha Varsity Module#6

Option Trading Strategies

Take your skill level high by going through this module and learn stock market basics to know about specific strategies that you can make use of while trading in the options segment. You, in fact, can also ready yourself in setting up your own strategies once you complete this particular module.

• Bull Call and Put Spreads
• Bear Call and Put Spreads
• Put Ratio Spreads
• Long Straddle
• Short Straddle
• PCR Ratio

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Zerodha Varsity Module#7

Markets and Taxation

Users who are earning from the stock market at a primary level (or even the ones that spend a reasonable time in trading) also take care of the taxes applied on the profits they market from their trades. This module teaches you what type and how much tax they need to deposit based on their trade size and volume.

• Taxation for investors
• Taxation for traders
• ITR Forms
• Turnover, Balance Sheet and Profit and loss statement

This module does not really cover any trading related knowledge but if you are looking to trade on a consistent basis, then you would need to know different sorts of taxes and returns you need to file every now and then. Your chartered accountant, nonetheless, will be taking care of these tasks, but there is no harm in knowing it first hand as well.

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Zerodha Varsity Module#8

Currency and Commodity Futures

Then, apart from Equity trading in the stock market, there are users who trade at currency and commodity levels. Further, within these segments, there are specific currencies and commodities that require a different understanding of stock market trading.

With this module, you can get all your confusions removed as it goes through each bit and piece one by one and sets you up for this kind of trading.

• Currency Basics
• Reference Rates
• USD INR Pair
• Commodity basics
  • Gold
  • Silver
  • Crude Oil
  • Natural Gas
  • Commodity Options
  • Copper & Aluminium
  • Lead & Nickel
  • Cardamom & Mentha Oil
• Cross Currency Pairs
• Government Securities

Also read about the Zerodha Gold Bond

For someone who looks to explore different commodities for stock market trading, this module will assist in understanding the positioning of these respective commodities along with the related risks and return expectations.

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Zerodha Varsity Module#9

Risk Management and Trading Psychology

This module talks about some of the advanced concepts within the space of stock market trading and makes the user aware of some of the intricacies and facts about trading and investing. The major chunk of this module goes towards associating and dis-associating risks of stock market trading.

• Risks
• Equity Curve
• Expected Returns
• Portfolio Optimization
• Value at Risk
• Position Sizing
• Trading Biases

Although, this module has been placed at almost the last phase of stock market education, however, it certainly needs to be gone through by almost every trader to learn how different sorts of risks can directly or indirectly impact their trading behaviour.

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Zerodha Varsity Module#10

Trading Systems

This module is currently work-in-progress and for now, touches upon a couple of topics about the trading systems. Having said that, if you are a beginner level trader, you may choose to ignore this particular module for now as it covers the aspects that are absolutely not relevant in this phase of your trading cycle.

Here is a quick brief on the topics covered:

• What to expect from trading systems?
• Pair Trading Basics
• Linear Regression
• Error Ratio
• Trade Identification
• Calendar spreads

By the end of these complete portal modules, you can place yourself in a much better position as far as the theoretical understanding of trading and investing is concerned.

It is adviced that while you learn these concepts, make sure to get some sort of practical exposure on a parallel basis too. Otherwise, these concepts once learn can just vanish away in some time leaving you back to the original state of confusion.

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Zerodha Varsity Charges

There are no separate charges to access Zerodha varsity. This stock market education portal is free to use and users may access it online anytime without even providing any login details.

The idea is to get high user traction, implicit branding and then, of course, a sizable client base that gets influenced post reading this content.

In simple terms, Zerodha Varsity is free to use even though you are not a client of this discount broker.

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Zerodha Varsity Disadvantages

Although it’s a free knowledge tool, there are a few concerns that can be improved over time:

• There are no videos that can help in explaining the process in a much simpler way. Users need to go through exhaustive textual content which can be overwhelming and users may lose interest after a point in time.
• Some users still believe the content to be a bit too much and going through the whole process on your own can be time-consuming and confusing. However, there are options such as ADB School (free stock market education with Videos), StockPathshala that offers free and paid share market courses online.

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Zerodha Varsity Advantages

At the same time, here is the list of positives when it comes to the usage of Zerodha Varsity:

• It is free to use and users are not required to go through zerodha demat account opening process in order to access Zerodha Varsity.
• Zerodha Varsity is available in PDF format as well and in case you want to go through content offline or in physical format, you may choose to print out specific pages as well (not recommended).
• Varsity does not require a login either. Thus, making the overall content consumption process super easy and convenient.
• The content is written with real-life examples and anecdotes that make the whole learning process a lot more interesting than the users might anticipate when they look at the overall content base.
• All modules are updated on a regular basis with new information and latest market trends so that the readers get the most current information at any given point in time.

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