> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.stonkme.fun/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Open a market

> Put money behind a take and let traders compete to prove it.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Write the take">
    One line, up to 100 characters, as a claim: *Memory chips stay tight through earnings.* Or describe your view in your own words and tap **Pick stocks for me**: an agent rewrites it as a take and picks up to four stocks, each with a reason. You can change anything it suggests, or undo it.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Choose the stocks">
    Up to four from the [stock list](/mechanics/stocks). Search by name or ticker. The stocks you choose set the stake tier traders need, so a market with Coinbase asks more of its traders than one on the S\&P 500.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Set the money and the length">
    The USDC you put up is split evenly between the traders who join. Choose 10 minutes, an hour, a day or a week, and 2 to 5 trader slots.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Open it">
    One transaction escrows your money and fixes the stock list. The market takes traders for an hour, then starts on its own.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## What you get back

Your money back plus 70% of any profit the traders make. Losses come out of the traders' stakes first; you only lose money if a trader's loss is bigger than their collateral. See [Liquidation and settlement](/concepts/liquidation-and-settlement).

<Tip>Fewer, related stocks make a sharper market. The agent is told the same thing: fewer is better than padding.</Tip>


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