Traded is a reference work about markets. It covers things that can be bought and sold — from copper cathodes and government debt to Pokémon cards, airport slots and someone's afternoon — and explains, for each one, what it actually is, where it changes hands, what a single unit means, and what tends to go wrong.
Why it exists
Most writing about markets is either promotional or assumes you already know. Brokerage material wants you to trade; academic material assumes a background; and the genuinely useful details — that UK silver carries VAT and gold does not, that a gilt's capital gain is tax-free, that a cask of whisky you cannot get a delivery order for is not a cask of whisky — are scattered across places you would only find if you already knew to look.
This site collects them in one place, in plain English, with the unglamorous parts included.
What it is not
It is not advice. There are no recommendations here, no price targets and no view on what belongs in your portfolio. Several entries describe markets that lose money for the overwhelming majority of the people who enter them, and they say so.
It is also not a trading platform. Nothing can be bought here.
Coverage
Entries span nine categories, from the deeply liquid to the almost untradeable. The bias is towards the UK — tax treatment, regulation and venues are described as they apply here — because that detail is where most general references become useless.
Corrections
Markets change, regulations change, and some of what is written here will go out of date. If you find something wrong, it is worth telling us about.