HN Academy

Financial Markets course [0] taught by Robert Shiller (Nobel laureate) is a phenomenal course to understand the basics of financial markets. He explains how financial markets work from an engineering perspective which is an interesting approach in contrast to other similar courses.

[0] https://www.coursera.org/learn/financial-markets-global

⬐ closeparen

I tried this course and found it nearly unwatchable due to the editing. Rapid cuts jump around topics and rooms and days without any transitions and without any logical continuity either. Shiller frequently references things he probably said 5 minutes ago in the actual lecture, but won’t say for 10 more videos in the Coursera edit.

I cannot find anyone else talking about this in the reviews; they are all glowing. Wondering if I’m crazy, if Coursera is glitching just for me, or if no one actually watched the videos.

⬐ soramimo

Here's the 2011 version of Shiller's lecture on Financial Markets on YouTube, which doesn't have this problem: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8FB14A2200B87185

⬐ closeparen

Thank you!

Not sure if it's a new one, but I'm liking https://www.coursera.org/learn/financial-markets-global thus far.

What resource are you using for bonds and what did you use for learning options?

I've become interested in stocks/trading recently and have been wanting to understand it well enough before losing all my money. I started Financial Markets [0]. Just finished Week 1 and it seems a little too broad/dry so far. Any recommendations are welcome.

[0] https://www.coursera.org/learn/financial-markets-global

⬐ aerovistae

I taught myself by reading a lot of articles online, basically. I start by googling something basic and clicking the first 4-6 results and reading them, opening a lot of extra tabs for things they link to as I go. If anything is unclear, I repeat the process, googling the unclear thing. I take notes as I go.

Slowly a general understanding emerges and then I can flesh it out by seeking specific details once I know what I don't know. And by reading and comparing multiple resources I get a very full and objective understanding.

Investopedia has been the single most helpful site by a wide margin. Their content is top notch.

When I hit on something I can't find the answer to, I ask the customer service at my brokerage (Etrade) and they're very helpful. But if it's a very specific question, I've found I'm best off asking to speak to their customer service team for that specific thing, like their bond desk or futures desk, etc.

For the very basics, there is a pretty good, free course taught by the economist Robert Shiller called "Financial Markets". It is on Coursera [1] and is a good starting point for learning about different markets, equities, bonds, futures, insurance, and some of the legislation around them.

1. https://www.coursera.org/learn/financial-markets-global

⬐ cultofthecow

Thanks!

I think I've only really taken one MOOC, that was Shiller's course on Financial Markets. It's a bit slow, but he has a lot of good anecdotes.

https://www.coursera.org/learn/financial-markets-global

Financial markets by Robert Shiller: https://www.coursera.org/learn/financial-markets-global

I wanted to invest better so I took this course to learn the basics of financial markets (I'm a software guy and have zero training in finance). After taking it, not only do I have the basics nailed down but have gained a massive appreciation of finance as a technology that, at its best, mitigates risk and advances society.

Shiller is an authority on the topic, having won a Nobel Prize in Economics no less. His penchant for financial market history and human behavior angle on things is a massive plus for this course. I'd say the course is useful education for entrepreneurs and curious folks alike.

⬐ jadbox

I actually just finished this course and loved it! It covered all the financial ground that I was looking for... stock, options, brokers, financial planning, insurance, and financial theory.

⬐ dfield

+1 I loved this class

⬐ Salutator

I was about to disagree, but it seems that course was redesigned in 2017 and the new syllabus looks like a real course.

So I'll just say the pre-2017 version I took was clearly created by bad PR-people.

⬐ dannygarcia

It's kind of crazy that, at least in the US, personal finance is not taught so much in grade school. I had to do a lot of reading and research now in my late twenties to figure out the best way to manage the RSUs I get at work and how to plan for a home purchase and retirement. It turns out (surprise) that most financial institutions don't have regular investors' best interest in mind. Instead, they see us as customers with value to siphon out over long periods of time.

Understanding how economies work[1], how financial service companies sell products, theories behind volatility and market forces, and how simple portfolio management can be goes a long way to improving an individuals ability to efficiently self-manage their finances.

1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHe0bXAIuk0

⬐ kobiguru

The video gives a really good explanation but i loved the book he released freely along with that but maybe I have a preference for that. I am awed at by the knowledge this guy has ... If you haven't already read the book "Principles" by Dalio ( same guy)

Robert Shiller (who authored this review) has an excellent Coursera course called "Financial Markets" [0]. It gives a broad overview of many important facets of the economy.

[0] https://www.coursera.org/learn/financial-markets

> broad economical trends and projections

Any good Economics Text book will do: like Principles of Economics/ Principles of Microeconomics, Gregory Mankiw

You can also try, although, personally I have not taken these:

https://www.coursera.org/course/microecon

https://www.coursera.org/learn/principles-of-macroeconomics

> FT and all the stats that CNBC shows me

For Investment valuation and Corporate Finance Damodaran is one of the best sources:

http://people.stern.nyu.edu/adamodar/

Visit his blog, read his books. He has online classes as well

Also you can try, (I've not taken this course): https://www.coursera.org/learn/financial-markets

For Value Investing, Benjamin Graham is a classic:

http://www.amazon.com/Intelligent-Investor-Definitive-Invest...

> For Technical Analysis and Futures Trading though, there are tonnes of books. May be you can start with these:

http://www.amazon.com/Technical-Analysis-Financial-Markets-C...

http://www.amazon.com/Options-Futures-Other-Derivatives-Edit...

And lastly,

> combine my CS background with Finance and do something interesting in it

https://www.coursera.org/learn/computational-investing

⬐ manish_gill

Fantastic. Thanks for this!

⬐ phrogdriver

Damodaran and Graham are fantastic, as is Shiller's Financial Markets. His 2008 course on Open Yale was an early spark in my career.

After a quick look at the "Technical Analysis" book preview on Amazon, I would caution that technical analysis is generally a rorschach test of humans finding patterns in data when there really aren't any. Skip that one.

https://www.coursera.org/course/financialmarkets

⬐ sten

Wow. I had already signed up for it, but this certainly makes it more interesting.