How the Stock Market Works

Series: How the Stock Market Works

(5)

Episodes

Rating

Year

2014

Language

English

Publisher

The Great Courses

About

This course is an introduction to the stock market and stock investing for novices and experienced investors alike. Professor DeGennaro uses simple analogies to explain the origin of stocks and other securities, as well as their relative risks. He stresses the danger of trying to beat the market by trying to pick winners, predict price trends, or otherwise find opportunities that other investors have missed. Far better, he counsels, to own a well-diversified portfolio of individual stocks or stock funds, which tend to grow as the economy grows. He offers detailed guidance on how to pursue this course. Among the topics covered in these 18 lectures are how to open a brokerage account and choose a financial advisor

Related Subjects

Episodes

1. Is Investing in Your Blood?

33m

Begin the course by exploring the difference between beating the market and investing in it. One carries very high risk, while the other is a much safer strategy. Learn about the human propensity to look for patterns in everything-but are stock returns predictable?

2. Understanding Fundamental Securities

31m

Learn how stock is an outgrowth of simple business relationships. Use an ingenious analogy to compare two major types of securities: stocks and bonds. Both are ways to share the assets that a corporation owns and the cash that it produces-but with crucial differences.

3. What Is the Stock Market?

29m

The stock market may be high-tech and getting more sophisticated every year, but it is essentially like markets you already know, such as grocery stores and car dealerships. Armed with this insight, delve into the special features of stock markets and how they work.

4. Historical Returns and Volatility

31m

Explore the relationship between the risk of investing in stocks and the return you can expect from owning them. Survey the average return on a broad portfolio of stocks held over many decades. Next, focus on the short-term volatility that makes many people understandably nervous.

5. Risk, Expected Return, and Diversification

30m

Address the investment advisor's favorite question: Do you want to eat well or do you want to sleep well? Analyze your risk tolerance in simple role-playing games. Then investigate strategies for limiting risk and improving your odds of making money in the long run.

6. What Determines How Much You'll Make

29m

Learn the most important formula in investing: the simple equation for compounding earnings. Then focus on the three variables that determine how much money you'll have at the end of an investment. Most people worry too much about the one variable that they can't reliably control.

7. The Efficient Market Hypothesis

29m

Delve into evidence that beating the market is hard even for seasoned professionals. According to the efficient market hypothesis, stock prices are almost always fair, with very few bargains available for sharp-eyed investors. Examine different scenarios and evidence that support this view.

8. Choosing a Brokerage Firm

30m

Walk through the steps for choosing a brokerage firm, which can be as simple as going online and filling out an application or as involved as interviewing multiple firms to find the right fit. Analyze your needs, and dispel misconceptions that you may have about brokers.

9. Trading and Investing Basics

31m

Explore how stock trades are made. Then look at ways you can place orders tailor-made to your needs. For example, you can avoid the emotion of spur-of-the moment decisions by specifying in advance when to buy or sell a stock. Also learn the mechanics of short selling.

Extended Details

SeriesHow the Stock Market Works

Closed CaptionsEnglish

Artists

The Great CoursesDirector

The Great CoursesProducer

Ramon P. DeGennaroActor