◆ Sources
Check everything.
This site is published anonymously, so its credibility rests entirely here. These are the primary sources behind the substantive claims — go and read them.
Last reviewed · August 2026
Listed by topic. Where the site gives a figure, the wording in the text tells you whether it is a fixed fact or an estimate that moves; these sources are where those numbers come from. Regulatory figures in particular change over time — if a source has been updated since our last review, the source wins, and we would be grateful if you told us.
Market makers & order flow
Primary source for US equity market structure, best-execution obligations, payment for order flow disclosure rules (Rules 605/606), and the regulatory debate over retail order routing.
Publishes ATS (dark pool) transparency data, off-exchange volume reporting, and broker-dealer conduct rules. Source for our off-exchange share figures.
The foundational adverse-selection model of the bid-ask spread — why spreads widen when informed trading is more likely. Underpins our market-maker explanations.
Exchanges, halts & circuit breakers
Official trading hours, market-wide circuit breaker levels, and halt procedures.
Market structure documentation, Limit Up–Limit Down mechanics, and matching-engine behaviour.
The −7% / −13% / −20% market-wide thresholds cited in The Market Museum.
Crashes & market history
The official joint report on the Flash Crash. Source for our account of the event and why the circuit breakers of the day did not trigger.
Black Monday, the −22.6% single-day decline, and the role of program trading.
Margin buying, leverage, and the forced-selling spiral described in the Crash Chambers.
The definitive US account of the 2008 crisis: securitization, leverage, and contagion.
Candlestick history & technical analysis
General reference for definitions and standard descriptions of patterns, order types, and market terminology.
The book that introduced candlestick analysis to Western markets. Referenced in our history section; we quote no text from it.
▸ On technical analysis specifically: we are careful not to present pattern success rates as established fact, because the peer-reviewed evidence does not support fixed, reliable rates. Where the site discusses reliability, it describes tendencies and context, and The Contested Room sets out the criticisms in full.
Markets, hours & leverage
Authoritative source for global foreign-exchange turnover, the basis for describing FX as the deepest market.
Retail leverage caps and CFD restrictions — the reason our leverage descriptions say "capped by region" rather than giving one number.
A note on what these sources do and don't prove
These sources support the mechanics described on this site: how matching engines work, what a dark pool is, what circuit breakers do, why spreads widen. They do not, and cannot, support any claim that a pattern or strategy is profitable — no source can, and we make no such claim anywhere.
Some material on this site is deliberately presented as contested rather than settled. That is not a gap in sourcing; it reflects genuine, ongoing disagreement among experienced practitioners and researchers.