NCFM Financial Markets (Beginners) study plan

Map the equity market ecosystem: primary vs secondary market, cash vs derivatives segment, and the roles of exchange, clearing corporation, and depository

Explain the trade lifecycle end to end - order types, matching, T+1 settlement, and the clearing member chain

Distinguish demat vs physical holding and describe how corporate actions (split, bonus, dividend) adjust positions

Calculate brokerage, STT, stamp duty, GST, and exchange charges on a sample trade to build cost intuition

Compare market and limit orders and explain circuit breakers, price bands, and when trading halts occur

Describe margin trading, T+1/T+2 pay-in mechanics, and auction/short delivery consequences

Walk through the IPO process: DRHP, SEBI filing, book building vs fixed price, anchor investor allotment, and listing day

Compute an allotment scenario under oversubscription in retail, HNI, and QIB categories

Define a futures contract and compute margin, mark-to-market, and daily settlement cash flows for a long and short position

Explain futures pricing using cost of carry - spot, carry, dividends, and convergence at expiry

Distinguish hedging, speculation, and arbitrage with a concrete example of each on an index future

Describe option payoffs (long call, short put, spreads) and the meaning of premium, intrinsic value, and time value

List contract specifications: lot size, expiry, strike intervals, and settlement of index vs stock options

Explain how an index is constructed - free-float market capitalisation, rebalancing, and the difference between Nifty 50, Nifty Next 50, and sectoral indices

Describe index derivatives and how index arbitrage links futures to the cash market

Distinguish open interest, volume, and rollover and what each tells a trader

Compute a portfolio beta and explain how index futures hedge it

Explain currency futures and options: USDINR contract size, expiry, settlement, and who uses them (importers, exporters, arbitrageurs)

Distinguish OTC forwards vs exchange-traded currency futures and describe the role of RBI and SEBI

Describe commodity derivatives: contract specifications, delivery, warehouse receipts, and the role of MCX/NCDEX

Compare physical settlement and cash settlement in commodities and explain basis risk for a hedger

Explain how gold, crude, and agri contracts differ in delivery and regulatory constraints

Define interest rate derivatives: FRAs, interest rate futures on G-Secs, and OIS, and explain how a bank hedges a bond portfolio

Compute modified duration and use it to estimate price change for a given yield shift

Describe the fixed income market: primary (auctions) vs secondary, day count conventions, and yield-to-maturity mechanics

Explain credit rating, credit spread, and how repo and reverse repo affect short-term rates

Compare G-Sec, T-Bill, corporate bond, and commercial paper on risk, tenor, and taxation

Classify mutual fund schemes: equity, debt, hybrid, index, ETF, and explain the difference between direct and regular plans

Compute NAV, expense ratio impact, exit load, and SIP vs lump-sum returns on a worked example

Describe SEBI's scheme categorisation and the role of AMC, trustee, and registrar

Explain the Emerge (SME) platform: eligibility norms, minimum investment, lot size, and why SME listings carry higher risk

Compare SME vs mainboard listing requirements and the migration path for a growing SME

Re-test all ten domains against the exam weightage and log every weak sub-topic

Re-derive the key formulas - cost of carry, MTM, beta, modified duration, NAV, allotment - from memory

Complete two timed full-length mock tests and analyse error patterns by domain

Revisit the three highest-error domains with targeted practice until accuracy exceeds 75%