Home Page

 

This course is designed to begin with Module 1 and to proceed in chronological order. You may enter any of the subcategories through the following links.

At the bottom of this page is a link into an index of all web sites used in the course and a web site link for updating any broken links found after this CD went to press.

 

• Module 1 -- Evaluating and Setting Financial Goals
  
  • What is financial management  
  • Evaluating financial goals  
  • Assessing your personal level of risk 

 

• Module 2 -- Basic Investing Vocabulary
  
  • General economic concepts
    
    • Inflation and interest rate
    • Economic Indicators
    • Old versus New economy and other terms
      
  • Vocabulary dealing with financial rewards -- capital gains, diversification and asset allocation
    
  • Vocabulary and concepts relating to a financial portfolio -- capital appreciation versus capital preservation

 

• Module 3 -- Financial statements
  
  • Balance sheets
    • Assets
    • Liabilities
    • Shareholder Equity
      
  • Income Statements
    • Revenue
    • Costs
    • Profitability
    • Sample Income Statement
      
  • Capitalization
  • Screening Ratios from Financial Statements
  • Using Edgar for filings at the SEC

 

• Module 4 -- Types of investments -- general
  
  • Low risk -- Treasure bonds, government sponsored agency bonds
    
  • High risk
    • Stocks
    • Mutual Funds
    • Bonds

 

• Module 5 -- High Liquidity Assets
  
  • Savings accounts
  • Certificates of Deposit
  • Treasury Bills
  • Money Market Funds

 

• Module 6 -- Bonds
  
  • Vocabulary
    • Basic terms (issue, CUSIP number, face value, maturity date, coupon)
    • Price and points
    • Generic Types (callable, convertible) 
    • Yield
      
  •  Categories
    • Government
    • Corporate
    • Municipals (Munis)
    • Foreign
      
  • Ratings and risks
  • Evaluating bonds

 

• Module 7 --Vocabulary for Stock Analysis and Screening
  
  • Basic Snapshot variables 
    • Price, earnings and Beta
    • P/E and PEG
    • Book value and other ratios
    • Chart of snapshot variables
      
  • Variables related to Growth Trends
    • Sales
    • Earnings per share (ESP)
    • Income
    • Dividends
      
  • Variables related to Financial Strength
    • Debt to equity ratios and interest coverage
    • Liquidity ratios (quick and current)
    • Turnover ratios (receivables, inventory, asset)
      
  • Variables related to Management Effectiveness
    • Return on equity (ROE) and profit margin 
    • Return on assets (ROA) and investment (ROI)
    • Revenue and income per employee
      
  • Variables related to Cash Flow and Share Information
    
    • Cash flow (P/Cfs)
    • Share information
      
  • Reuters Mentor Learn About Tutorial

 

• Module 8 -- Evaluating Stocks
  
  • Getting started
    • Finding a company symbol
    • What if you can't find your company
    • Building your comparison criteria
      
  • Using available tools for evaluation and comparison
    
    • Morningstar
    • Smart Money
    • Reuters/Yahoo

 

• Module 9  -- Stock screening techniques, ETFs and Sharebuilder
  
  • Screening techniques
    
    • Morningstar
    • Business Week
    • Reuter/Yahoo
    • Alternative Methods of Screening
      
  • Index stocks and Exchange-traded funds (ETFs)
  • Starting small with ShareBuilder

 

• Module 10 -- Overview of mutual funds
  
  • Introduction to mutual funds
  • Basic vocabulary for mutual funds
    
    • Open versus closed-end funds
    • Load versus no-load funds
    • Fees and expenses
    • Net Asset Value (NAV)
      
  • Types of mutual funds
    
    • Equities
    • Mixed
    • Bonds

 

• Module 11 -- Vocabulary for screening mutual funds and the major organizations which rank and rate mutual funds
  
  • Vocabulary for Screening Funds
    
    • Annual returns (average, total and yield)
    • Beta and R-squared
    • Standard deviation
    • Sharpe Ratio
    • Fund composition
    • Style and drift
    • Manager Tenure and Portfolio Turnover
      
  • Major rating and ranking organizations
    
    • Morningstar
    • Lipper

 

• Module 12 -- Evaluating and screening funds
  
  • Getting started
    • Symbols and criteria
    • Basic screens from MFEA and Morningstar
    • Fidelity Fund Evaluator
    • Basic Screens from Reuter/Lipper  
    • Pre-screened funds
      
  • Evaluating mutual funds

 

• Module 13 -- IRA and online investing
  
  • The IRA
    
    • What are traditional and Roth IRAs
    • IRAs and 401-Ks
    • Suitable investment vehicles
      
  • Online investing
    
    • Introduction
    • Vocabulary
    • Online brokerage firms
    • Setting up accounts
    • Trading

 

• Module 14 -- Putting it All Together
  • Conservative Risk Takers
  • Moderate Risk Takers
  • High Risk Takers

Link to all web sites by module

Link to web site for updating any broken links after this CD went to press.