Learn how to invest with skill and confidence to attain your financial goals with the 24 timely and informative lectures of Understanding Investments. Economist and Professor Connel Fullenkamp explains the fundamentals of investing to those new to the subject while broadening and deepening the knowledge of more experienced investors. He clearly explains the various kinds of financial markets, the different kinds of investments available to you, and the pros and cons of each-and shows you how to evaluate each of these in terms of your own financial situation and goals.
Understanding Investments
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.
Rated 5 out of
5
by
MCEden from
This is a fantastic course that dispelled for me many myths about investing. I feel much more confident about my understanding of investing and the stock market than I did even a month ago.
Date published: 2024-11-04
Rated 5 out of
5
by
Phids from
Excellent presentation
The professor who teaches this course is an exemplar of what TGC is all about. He explains concepts from the ground up, in the sense that he presumes the audience has no prior knowledge about the topic at the beginning. He constructs the "knowledge tower" of this course piece by piece, adding more and more complex concepts as the lectures continue. He explains ideas in very easy-to-understand ways, which is the best possible thing a professor can do.
The course content was very strong. I had a general knowledge about many of these topics, but I wanted to "fill in the gaps" and learn some new topics along the way. I was always curious about buying covered calls, and so the lecture on options was one of my favorites. I also enjoyed the topics at the beginning of the course about the philosophical nature of investing and efficient markets hypothesis. With that said, there were some moments when the topics were a bit drier, and these normally occurred when the lectures involved a lot of math. Still, as a whole, this course stands strong. Viewers should be advised the course dates to around 2012. I didn't mind this, because I think good ideas stand the test of time, but some people might frown on this.
Date published: 2024-09-20
Rated 4 out of
5
by
DaGeek from
Great Primer on Investing
If you are new to investing or just want a refresher of the basics, this is a great course for that purpose. It could easily have been A Dummies Guide to Investing. I do not mean that in a disparaging way. I spent 30 years in IT. Whenever I started working with a new technology I frequently bought one of the Dummy books or Idiot Guides. I found them a great way to get up to speed fast on the basics of a technology or subject. This is how I see this particular course.
The professor, Connel Fullenkamp, is very knowledgeable and has good presentation style with a slightly nerdy sense of humor. He kept me engage for the whole 24 unit lecture series as I was doing my due diligence on the treadmill.
I found it time well spent. While I have been investing for 35 years, I picked up more than a few things and was reminded of a few I had forgotten. Having said that, I realized very quickly that “playing” the market was really something I did not have the knowledge and the time for, and thus have been mostly a passive investor, mainly index funds. I walked away with the impression that is the camp Professor Fullenkamp is in.
Given that company pensions are going away, given that trying to live on just Social Security would be a nightmare, investing is something everyone who wants a decent retirement should be thinking about. This course is a good start on learning how.
Date published: 2024-07-30
Rated 4 out of
5
by
EngineerinVA from
Good Introductory Material
This course is largely what one would expect in a first course in Finance. It focuses on stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs). Topics include how to read a financial statement and a prospectus, fundamental and technical analysis, risks and advantages of leverage, and derivatives and options. Some topics, such as Return on Investment (ROI) and how the Federal Reserve Bank works receive scant attention. I don’t recall Beta being mentioned at all.
As lectures, this course is good. However, to actually gain the tools necessary to invest, one should also read appropriate books and also do practice problems such as homework.
Net Present Value (NPV) and risk, which are foundational to understand almost everything else in the course, are oddly deferred to the end of the course. The student might consider taking Lectures 21 and 22 after Lecture 2.
Dr. Fullenkamp is an engaging, smooth speaker. His pace is good and he uses helpful illustrations. However, he does have minor annoyances such as clearing his throat or starting/stopping/restarting sentences. The Great Courses (TGC) normally removes such things in production.
The course guide is slightly above average by TGC standards. It is written in a hybrid bullet/narrative format, which is to say that each bullet is a small paragraph. It averages nearly 8 pages per lecture, which is slightly above typical for a TGC course guide. Given how much mathematics and how many charts are in the lectures, I was surprised by how few graphics are in the course guide. There is an appendix with a glossary and a bibliography.
I used the video streaming version. It would not work well to use audio-only such as while driving or exercising since there is heavy use of mathematics and graphs that are integral to the course.
The course was published in 2012.
Date published: 2024-07-15
Rated 3 out of
5
by
StanG from
Does cover many topics but ......
First, I wish I knew this is now 12 years old. A lot has changed with investing since then while a lot is the same. Connel Fullenkamp does a nice job but throws a ton of information at you. It really got boring when he does math formulas explaining things, like we're going to remember that? I have given up after watching 14 of the 24 lectures. Too much information and really, only a small amount of it has been practical. I will eventually go back and watch the final 10 lectures but for now, I am watching other investing and stock market courses.
Date published: 2024-07-14
Rated 4 out of
5
by
Mithel from
General Investment Information
This is a good general course on investing. It's rather "dated" now (I believe it was released in 2012). Sometimes he dives off into math formulas which is a bit of a waste of time (better to look those up in written form or use an online calculator). Nothing is gone into with a lot of depth, this is more of a broad awareness course so you have some exposure to a variety of basic investment strategies.
Something that no investment course has done, is to dive into speculation of what the future will be. The USA and the World are at a point where we can't expect the financial world to function like it has for the past fifty years. It would be valuable to give consideration to potential major disruptions coming in the future.
Date published: 2024-04-30
Rated 2 out of
5
by
Merlininvest from
Not practical
This course does not provide much practical information, not useful for hands on investing.
Date published: 2023-01-25
Rated 5 out of
5
by
Chuck71 from
Understanding Investments
I wish I bought this video years ago. It's been a valuable source of information. Better late than never. Thank you Great Courses. I want to add that the presenter was highly qualified and was very good at explaining the information.
Date published: 2022-09-15
Overview
About
Connel Fullenkamp is a Professor of the Practice of Economics at Duke University. He received his PhD in Economics from Harvard University. He has won multiple teaching awards during his career, including Duke’s highest honor for undergraduate teaching. He also does consulting work for the International Monetary Fund Institute for Capacity Development, training government officials around the world. He has published more than 20 articles in academic journals, and his op-eds have appeared in Newsweek and The New York Times.
Trailer
01: How to Stop Worrying and Start Investing
In this introduction to investing, learn some of investing's fundamental ideas and the basic impediments that can interfere with sound investment decisions. Also, learn that there are ways to protect yourself, and that the path to becoming a sound investor is available to anyone willing to learn.
31 min
02: How Investors Make Money
Can anyone actually beat the performance of the stock market? Grasp what the Efficient Market Hypothesis and the debate over its validity can reveal about the answer-and how your own opinion can shape your investment strategy.
30 min
03: Starting with Stocks
Learn why stocks, though often not the best place for a newcomer to begin investing, can be the best means of learning about investing. Explore key ideas like dealers vs. brokers, the different kinds of buy-or-sell orders, and what stocks really are.
28 min
04: The Basics of Bonds
In this first lecture about bonds-with the focus on a "buy-and-hold" strategy-grasp the variety of available bonds and the features most important to an investor: who issued them, whether they are secured, and the timing of payments. You also learn how to "ladder" your holdings for a consistent income stream.
28 min
05: Introduction to Mutual Funds
Mutual funds are one of several types of so-called "pooled investments," which allow small investors to hold securities they perhaps couldn't afford individually. Explore how these pooled investments work, with the focus on the most popular type, the open-end mutual fund, and learn what to look for in a summary prospectus.
31 min
06: What Are Exchange-Traded Funds?
Learn how this relatively new option for investors differs from mutual funds and about the advantages they may have over mutual funds for those making investments outside of tax-advantaged plans such as 401(k)s. You also learn what depository receipts are, and the key role they play in ETFs.
30 min
07: Financial Statement Analysis
In the first of three lectures introducing standard tools for analyzing and selecting stocks and other possible investments, learn how to read a typical financial statement. Grasp the meaning of concepts like income statements and balance sheets, and learn what they can tell you about a company's strengths and weaknesses.
29 min
08: P/E Ratios and the Method of Comparables
Your skills broaden as you gain an additional tool for drilling down into a company to evaluate its investment potential. This lecture introduces the concept of valuation models, beginning with the popular Method of Comparables, which uses ratios like price-to-earnings, or P/E, to value stocks.
31 min
09: Fundamentals-Based Analysis of Stocks
Add another stock-pricing model to your toolbox-the Dividend Discount Model. You learn that such fundamentals-based models rest on two ideas: that an investment's price should depend only on what it will pay you, and that future cash is worth less than present cash.
30 min
10: Startup Companies and IPOs
The glamour of initial public offerings can obscure their realities. This lecture explains how most IPOs are done, the "Dutch auction" method that is sometimes used instead, and what you need to know if you get the opportunity to participate in an IPO.
30 min
11: Why Should You Care about Dividends?
Interpreted correctly, dividends can be an extremely revealing indicator of a company's value. Explore not only dividends, but several other ways by which companies can reward their shareholders, including preferred stock, dividend reinvestment programs, and stock splits.
29 min
12: Using Leverage
Although using leverage-borrowing a portion of the purchase price of an investment-can offer tempting rewards, the level of risk can be high. Explore how leverage works as you learn about margin requirements, short sales, and how leverage impacts both potential profits and potential losses.
29 min
13: Choosing Bonds
Gain the analytical tools to intelligently navigate the wide ocean of choices faced by anyone contemplating an investment in bonds. This lecture guides you through the three critical issues that can help shape your selection: default risk, inflation protection, and how your earnings may be taxed.
29 min
14: Bond School
Although bonds are often part of a buy-and-hold investment strategy, they can also be as actively traded as stocks, with just as great a risk. This lecture explains the descriptive terms, jargon, pricing, price-yield relationships, and standard practices you can encounter in the potentially confusing marketplace for bonds.
30 min
15: Picking Mutual Funds
Today's marketplace contains an amazing variety of mutual funds from which to choose. You can navigate this often-bewildering array of choices with confidence as you learn the key categories of differentiating them, including assets, goals, balance of growth vs. value, and diversification.
29 min
16: Investing in Foreign Assets
With about $80 trillion of investment opportunities outside the United States, foreign investment can be a tempting option. Learn how the rules for diversifying into these investments are changing, and what you need to know to help ensure that your foreign investment decisions are as sound as possible.
31 min
17: Options Are for Everyone
Explore the world of stock and index options and how you can put them to work for you at very low or even zero risk. Learn about call options, put options, strike prices, and how to use the return-enhancing technique known as the covered call strategy.
28 min
18: Real Estate and Commodities
Do real estate and commodities belong in your portfolio? And if they do, what are the best instruments for putting them there? This lecture offers a realistic view of these questions, including a look at real estate investment trusts, or REITs, and commodity-focused ETFs.
29 min
19: Cycles and Market Timing
What role should three key cycles-price cycles in financial markets, the business cycle, and the interest rate or credit cycle-play in your investment decisions? Learn how these cycles work and the best way to protect yourself against their fluctuations.
29 min
20: Deciding When to Sell
Selling an investment-whether a winner or loser-can be emotionally difficult. In addition to learning why this is so, grasp the different reasons that selling is often the right decision, and learn some techniques that can help offset emotional influences.
29 min
21: Risk, Return, and Diversification
The cliche is that high risk brings the potential of high returns. But you learn in this insightful lecture that the cliche isn't true as you explore the two ways risks are classified and the very different expectation of potential rewards that come with each.
30 min
22: Time Value of Money
In addition to understanding some basic ideas, you need some key skills for smart investing. This lecture teaches you how to perform the simple calculations that will enable you to compare returns across different investments, project their future value, and estimate a reasonable price to pay for them.
31 min
23: Financial Planning
Zero in on the whole point of investing: reaching a particular goal or goals you've decided on. This lecture uses the calculating tools you've already learned to show you how to plan for your retirement, but its techniques can be applied to any financial goal you set for yourself.
28 min
24: Taking Charge of Your Investments
Now that you understand the many investment products out there, it's time for practical decision making about turning your financial planning into financial reality. Grasp how to shape your investment choices to match your retirement plans and how to turn those investments into income for living expenses when you do reach retirement.
30 min
