Understanding Investments

Course Description
Take control of your financial destiny with this comprehensive and easy-to-understand guide to the basics of investing, taught by a professor of Economics. Learn how to build wealth, minimize risks, and create a solid financial plan.

What You’ll Learn in the Course

• Fundamental principles of investing and common mistakes to avoid.

• How stocks, bonds, mutual funds, ETFs, and options work.

• Tools for analyzing companies, financial statements, and market cycles.

• Strategies for diversification, retirement planning, and long-term growth.

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Lessons

01: How to Stop Worrying and Start Investing (31 min)
Introduction to investing fundamentals, barriers to sound decisions, and strategies for becoming a confident investor.

02: How Investors Make Money (30 min)
Examine the Efficient Market Hypothesis, the debate around it, and how it shapes investment strategies.

03: Starting with Stocks (28 min)
Learn the basics of stocks, brokers vs. dealers, order types, and what stocks truly represent.

04: The Basics of Bonds (28 min)
Understand different types of bonds, their features, and how to “ladder” holdings for income.

05: Introduction to Mutual Funds (31 min)
Explore pooled investments, focusing on open-end mutual funds, and learn how to evaluate them.

06: What Are Exchange-Traded Funds? (30 min)
Understand ETFs, their advantages over mutual funds, and the role of depository receipts.

07: Financial Statement Analysis (29 min)
Learn to read income statements and balance sheets to identify a company’s strengths and weaknesses.

08: P/E Ratios and the Method of Comparables (31 min)
Explore valuation models with price-to-earnings ratios and comparables.

09: Fundamentals-Based Analysis of Stocks (30 min)
Understand the Dividend Discount Model and the concept of valuing investments by future cash flows.

10: Startup Companies and IPOs (30 min)
Dive into the process of IPOs, including the “Dutch auction” method, risks, and opportunities.

11: Why Should You Care about Dividends? (29 min)
Discover dividends, reinvestment programs, stock splits, and other shareholder rewards.

12: Using Leverage (29 min)
Learn how leverage and margin work, including risks of short sales and amplified returns/losses.

13: Choosing Bonds (29 min)
Analyze bond choices using criteria like default risk, inflation protection, and taxation.

14: Bond School (30 min)
Explore bond trading, price-yield relationships, and the jargon of the bond market.

15: Picking Mutual Funds (29 min)
Navigate mutual fund categories, assets, growth vs. value, and diversification strategies.

16: Investing in Foreign Assets (31 min)
Examine global investment opportunities and how to diversify internationally.

17: Options Are for Everyone (28 min)
Understand calls, puts, strike prices, and low-risk strategies like covered calls.

18: Real Estate and Commodities (29 min)
Assess the role of real estate and commodities, including REITs and commodity ETFs, in portfolios.

19: Cycles and Market Timing (29 min)
Learn about price, business, and interest rate cycles, and how they affect investment decisions.

20: Deciding When to Sell (29 min)
Overcome the emotional challenges of selling and learn strategies for making better decisions.

21: Risk, Return, and Diversification (30 min)
Uncover the truth behind risk and return, and how diversification manages different types of risks.

22: Time Value of Money (31 min)
Learn key calculations for comparing returns, estimating value, and evaluating investments.

23: Financial Planning (28 min)
Apply investment skills to goal-based planning, including retirement strategies.

24: Taking Charge of Your Investments (30 min)
Turn plans into action: shape investments to match retirement goals and generate income.