Financial Markets

Retirement planning is essential, but most Americans have no retirement plan. A great retirement planner is Jane White's book, America, Welcome to the Poorhouse.

An introduction to the financial markets, including a definition of financial markets, a description the components of the financial markets and how the markets impact the U.S. economy.

Insufficient Federal regulations for the financial industry have been blamed for the recession. Will increased regulations prevent another financial crisis.

A definition of stocks, how stock investing benefits the individual investor, the impact of stocks and stock investing on the U.S. economy. Tips on how to be a good stock investor.

Explains components of the stock market, including the Dow Jones averages and the most popular exchanges, including NASDAQ and the NYSE.

Describes mutual funds, how they are different from stocks, and how they impact the US economy.

Describes the bond market, including corporate bonds, high yield bonds, Treasury bonds, savings bonds and municipal bonds.

An explanation of the commodities market, how it works, and why it is important to the US economy.

A definition of hedge funds, who invests in them and why. How the growth of hedge funds has affected the financial markets and the U.S. economy. The LTCM crisis and 1998.

Forex trading has grown to a stunning $4 trillion per day. This greatly influences the value of the dollar, interest rates and inflation.

Definition of how the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 affects the U.S. economy.

How the S&P 500 is different from other stock market indices.

How the S&P 500 is different from other stock market indices.