Did you ever wonder what the Dow actually measures? What a Hedge Fund is? When should you prefer stocks to bonds? How to allocate your savings to various financial investments, and what difference will it make when you retire? This course will cover the basics: the difference between financial assets and real assets, between stocks and bonds. It will describe how financial markets work, various types of financial instruments, mutual funds, the rudiments of asset allocation and its importance, and the risk/return nexus.

Did you ever wonder what the Dow actually measures? What a Hedge Fund is? When should you prefer stocks to bonds? How to allocate your savings to various financial investments, and what difference will it make when you retire? This course will cover the basics: the difference between financial assets and real assets, between stocks and bonds. It will describe how financial markets work, various types of financial instruments, mutual funds, the rudiments of asset allocation and its importance, and the risk/return nexus.