Basics of Markets & Investing
Foundational concepts covering why markets exist, why people invest, how ownership works, and how capital grows over time.
12 topicsWhy People Invest
Inflation, compounding, opportunity cost, and why long-term investing is often necessary to grow purchasing power.
Saving vs Investing
When to prioritize safety and liquidity, and when to accept volatility in pursuit of higher long-term returns.
Risk and Return: The Basic Trade-Off
Why higher expected returns usually come with more uncertainty, deeper drawdowns, and a wider range of outcomes.
The Power of Compounding
How reinvested returns can create exponential growth over time and why time in the market matters.
What Is a Stock?
A plain-language explanation of equity ownership, voting rights, dividends, and capital appreciation.
What Is a Bond?
How debt instruments work, what issuers promise, and how maturity, coupon, and credit quality affect investors.
How Stock Markets Work
Exchanges, buyers and sellers, listed companies, price discovery, and the role of broad market indices.
Primary Market vs Secondary Market
How new securities are issued to investors and how those securities then trade among investors afterwards.
Investing vs Trading
A comparison of time horizon, decision-making style, turnover, risk profile, and performance expectations.
Types of Market Participants
Retail investors, institutions, brokers, market makers, regulators, issuers, and how each affects market behavior.
What Moves Prices in Financial Markets?
Supply and demand, earnings expectations, interest rates, news flow, liquidity, and investor sentiment.
Bull Markets, Bear Markets and Corrections
How market cycles are described, why trends persist, and what these phases usually feel like in practice.