A Guide to the Financial Markets for Architects, Engineers and Surveyors - An online continuing education course for architects, engineers and surveyors

A Guide to the Financial Markets for Architects, Engineers and Surveyors

Course Outline

The goal of this course is to provide a basic understanding of the financial markets. The importance of this understanding is underscored by opportunities to be more actively involved in the management of long-term retirement accounts and the need to be an informed investor whether one is dealing with retirement or after tax accounts. Topics discussed include an overview of the markets, investment and trading strategies, various investment opportunities such as equities, bonds, futures, mutual funds, ETFs, real estate and a brief introduction to options. Finally, foreign exchange trading is discussed as well as some information about financial certifications and specialized university degree programs. A host of web addresses pointing to more information about topics presented is embedded throughout the course for those interested in moving to a deeper level of knowledge.

This course includes a multiple-choice quiz at the end, which is designed to enhance the understanding of the course content.

Learning Objectives

At the conclusion of this course, the student will:

Have an understanding of the organization of the securities markets;
Be aware of the differences between broker and dealer markets;
Understand the unique functions of the new specialty and mini-exchanges;
Appreciate the impact of globalization on the securities markets;
Understand the trends in full-service and online brokerage firms;
Have an understanding of how to avoid Madoff fraud schemes;
Understand the difference between investing and trading;
Understand the concept of market capitalization of equities;
Know about the sector classification of the economy;
Understand the relationship between the business cycle and the securities market;
Know about various ways of classifying stocks;
Have an understanding of how economic indicators affect the markets;
Appreciate the differences among the three primary investment and trading strategies;
Understand how to reduce portfolio risk through diversification;
Be aware of the role of lifecycle funds in retirement planning;
Understand the major factors involved in fundamental analysis of stocks;
Understand the most popular chart representations of securities in technical analysis;
Have an understanding of the role of technical indicators in technical analysis;
Understand the importance of risk management and position sizing in trading;
Understand the implications of the “random walk” theory of markets;
Be aware of the basic elements needed in developing a trading system;
Understand what is meant by selling short;
Understand the importance of market breadth indicators;
Be aware of the importance of portfolio management tools;
Understand market indexes;
Have a basic understanding of bonds as an asset class;
Have a basic understanding of the futures market as a trading opportunity;
Understand the Forex market as a trading opportunity;
Have an overview understanding of mutual funds;
Have an overview understanding of ETFs;
Understand the nature of hedge funds;
Have an introductory understanding of options;
Have an understanding of real estate investment opportunities; and
Be aware of some financial certifications and specialized degree programs.

Intended Audience

This course is intended for all engineers.

Course Content

The course content is in a PDF file:

A Guide to the Financial Markets for Architects, Engineers and Surveyors

Please click on the above underlined hypertext to view, download or print the document for your study. Because of the file size, we recommend that you first save the file to your computer by right-clicking the mouse and choosing "Save Target As ...", and then open the file in Adobe Acrobat Reader from your computer.

TABLE OF CONTENT

Module #1:   Introduction
Module #2:   The Securities Markets
Module #3:   Equities
Module #4:   Economic Indicators
Module #5:   Information for Building Strategies
Module #6:   The Indexes
Module #7:   Bonds
Module #8:   Futures
Module #9:   Foreign Exchange (Forex)
Module #10: Mutual Funds
Module #11: Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs)
Module #12: Hedge Funds
Module #13: Options
Module #14: Real Estate
Module #15: Certifications and University Degrees

Course Summary

This course covers a variety of introductory topics about the financial markets with the goal of providing the reader with the domain knowledge needed to be a more informed investor. Topics discussed include an overview of the markets, investment and trading strategies, various investment opportunities such as equities, bonds, futures, mutual funds, ETFs, real estate and a brief introduction to options. Finally, foreign exchange trading is discussed as well as some information about financial certifications and specialized university degree programs.

Related Links

For additional technical information related to this subject, please visit the following website:

Wall Street Journal
http://www.wsj.com

Barron’s
http://www.barrons.com

Quiz

Once you finish studying the above course content, you need to take a quiz to obtain the PDH credits.

DISCLAIMER: The materials contained in the online course are not intended as a representation or warranty on the part of PDH Center or any other person/organization named herein. The materials are for general information only. They are not a substitute for competent professional advice. Application of this information to a specific project should be reviewed by a registered architect and/or professional engineer/surveyor. Anyone making use of the information set forth herein does so at their own risk and assumes any and all resulting liability arising therefrom.