Markets
What you can practice and what is worth studying.
The markets HFM lists on its website, explained for learning: what they are, which instruments represent them and what to be clear on before practicing them on demo.
Nine markets
The ones HFM lists on its website
In the order they appear in the HFM menu. The program starts with forex and moves on to metals and indices.
Forex
Currency pairs: majors, minors and exotics. It is the market the program starts with because it is the most liquid and the one that best teaches you to read structure and levels.
- EUR/USD
- GBP/USD
- USD/JPY
- USD/MXN
- AUD/USD
- USD/CAD
What to study
Start with EUR/USD: trading hours, sessions, and how it reacts to inflation and interest rate data.
Be clear on this
Leverage turns a small move into a large loss. Practice position sizing on demo.
Metals
CFDs on the spot price of precious metals: gold, silver, platinum and palladium, without buying the physical asset.
- Gold (XAU/USD)
- Silver (XAG/USD)
- Platinum
- Palladium
What to study
Gold responds to interest rates, the dollar and geopolitics. A good market for studying daily and weekly levels.
Be clear on this
Metals move fast and have market breaks. Check the hours for each instrument on hfm.com.
Indices
CFDs on stock indices: the direction of a group of stocks in a single trade, up or down.
- US Wall Street 30 (USA30)
- US SPX500 (USA500)
- US Tech 100 (USA100)
- UK 100
- Germany 40
- Japan 225
What to study
US30 and NAS100 are the reference indices in Levels. Watch how they react to the New York open.
Be clear on this
An index CFD tracks the price; it does not make you the owner of anything. It has its own trading hours and futures contracts have expiry dates.
Energies
CFDs on crude oil, in spot and futures contracts.
- US Crude Oil (USOIL)
- UK Brent Oil (UKOIL)
What to study
Crude depends on supply, demand, weather and geopolitics. Study the inventory reports on the calendar.
Be clear on this
Very sensitive to news; price gaps are frequent. Use a stop and a small size on demo.
Commodities
CFDs on futures contracts of agricultural and industrial commodities.
- Cocoa
- Coffee
- Copper
- Cotton
- Sugar
What to study
Seasonal markets: learn to read expiry dates and market breaks before practicing them.
Be clear on this
Futures contracts expire and pending orders are cancelled during breaks. Read the specifications on hfm.com.
Stocks
CFDs on shares of large, well-known companies in the United States and Europe.
- Apple
- Amazon
- Meta
- Alphabet
- Coca-Cola
- Boeing
What to study
Quarterly reports and the trading hours of the home exchange. A good place to understand fundamental analysis.
Be clear on this
You trade the price through a CFD, not the share: no shareholder rights, and with leverage.
Bonds
CFDs on government bonds of the main economies.
- Euro Bund
- UK Gilt
- US 10-year Treasury Note
What to study
Bonds teach the relationship between interest rates and price: when one rises, the other falls.
Be clear on this
A market for advanced students. Contracts expire and orders at the open may be temporarily rejected.
ETFs
CFDs on exchange-traded funds that track whole indices or sectors.
- SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust
- Invesco QQQ
- iShares Russell 1000
- SPDR sector ETFs
What to study
To understand diversification: a single instrument with dozens or hundreds of companies behind it.
Be clear on this
Diversifying reduces the risk of one company, not market risk: in a general sell-off everything falls.
Cryptocurrencies
CFDs on the price of cryptocurrencies against the dollar and other currencies, without a digital wallet.
- Bitcoin
- Ethereum
- Ripple
- Litecoin
- BNB
- Cardano
What to study
They trade almost all week. Useful for observing volatility, not for getting started.
Be clear on this
Extreme volatility. If you are learning, observe them; do not practice them until you have mastered risk.
List taken from the markets menu on hfm.com on 26 October 2026; the examples appear in HFM's specification tables. The instruments available depend on the account type. Nothing on this page is a recommendation to buy or sell.
Before you trade any of them
Four things that do not change
A CFD does not make you the owner of anything
You trade the change in price. You do not own the stock, the gold or the bond; you hold a leveraged contract with the broker.
Every market has its own hours
Forex runs almost 24 hours from Monday to Friday; indices and stocks follow their exchange; cryptocurrencies trade almost all week. HFM publishes the hours for each instrument.
HFM sets the conditions
Spreads, leverage, contract size and account types are on hfm.com and can change. Arco does not set any of them.
Demo first
Any new market is observed and practiced on demo before you consider it on a live account.
Frequently asked questions
What everyone asks
Which market do I start with?
EUR/USD. It is the most liquid pair, has long trading hours and reacts to public, scheduled data. Once you read it comfortably, gold and US30.
Can I trade all of these markets from the same account?
HFM shows these markets on its website. Which instruments you see on your platform depends on the account type you open; check hfm.com or your market watch window.
Does Arco recommend any market or instrument?
No. This guide explains what each market is and what is worth studying in it. It is not a recommendation to buy or sell, nor investment advice.
Where do I see spreads, leverage and trading hours?
On each market's page on hfm.com, linked on every card. They are HFM's figures and can change; Arco does not publish them so that we never show you an outdated number.
Pick a market. Watch it for a week on demo.
Mark its levels every day and write down what happened. It is the first exercise of module 3.