Course Description

Being a financial analyst is not easy. You have a lot on your plate, always gathering and processing information, making important investment decisions, trading securities, hedging various risks, and investing capital. To help you complete these tasks successfully, you need to understand the characteristics of the markets in which they are executed. Our Fundamentals of Financial Markets course provides a structural overview of financial markets and their operating characteristics. It touches on several topics, starting from asset classification and the financial system’s primary functions. You will learn the difference between financial instruments such as currencies, securities, commodities, and real assets, which is a must-know for all successful financial analysts. Moreover, we provide an overview of financial intermediaries (entities that facilitate the functioning of the financial system) and compare the trading positions an investor can take in an asset. You will learn about the benefits and risks of short and long positions and how traders finance them. We also explore the different trade orders, how markets process them, and the primary and secondary markets. And finally, we discuss the characteristics of a well-functioning financial system. Next, this Fundamentals of Financial Markets course examines security market indexes and their returns. Securities prices alone reveal little about a market’s investment horizon. Yet, investors’ success largely depends on comparisons between periods, companies, shares, ratios, industries, and so on. Over 100 years ago, Charles Dow and Edward Jones set up the very first security market index. Today, hundreds of indicators help investors and analysts gauge the financial health of a firm or the overall market performance. Gradually, indexes became an inseparable part of the financial ecosystem. So, to improve your analytical skills, we delve into the choices and issues in index construction and management and the main uses of security market indexes. We also define the three forms of market efficiency and discuss the implications for technical and fundamental analysis. Lastly, we explore several market anomalies and describe how they relate to investment strategies. By the end of this course, you will understand what drives the famous saying, “You can’t beat the market.” We highly recommend enrolling for this Fundamentals of Financial Markets course if you want to pursue a career in investment banking or investment analysis. Sign up now and start learning.

Curriculum