About this course: An overview of the ideas, methods, and institutions that permit human society to manage risks and foster enterprise. Emphasis on financially-savvy leadership skills. Description of practices today and analysis of prospects for the future. Introduction to risk management and behavioral finance principles to understand the real-world functioning of securities, insurance, and banking industries. The ultimate goal of this course is using such industries effectively and towards a better society.
Who is this class for: This course is for anyone interested in learning about financial markets and how it impacts the globe today. If you started an older version of Financial Markets prior to April 2017, you can access your course at https://www.coursera.org/learn/financial-markets/home/welcome
Created by: Yale University
Taught by: Robert Shiller, Sterling Professor of Economics at Yale University
Economics
| Level | Beginner |
| Commitment | 7 weeks of study, 3 - 4 hours per week |
| Language | English |
| How To Pass | Pass all graded assignments to complete the course. |
| User Ratings |
Syllabus
WEEK 1
Module 1
Welcome to the course! In this opening module, you will learn the basics of financial markets, insurance, and CAPM (Capital Asset Pricing Model). This module serves as the foundation of this course.
23 videos
- Video: Welcome video
- Video: Financial Markets Introduction
- Video: Your Teaching Assistant, Arun!
- Video: Good and Evil
- Discussion Prompt: Why is this course important to you?
- Video: VaR and Stress Tests
- Video: S&P 500
- Video: Joe McNay Story
- Video: Distribution and Outliers
- Video: Chalk Talk - Covariance
- Video: Insurance Fundamentals
- Video: Insurance Milestones
- Video: Insurance is a Local Phenomenon
- Video: Health Insurance
- Video: Disasters
- Video: Eggs in One Basket
- Video: Salon - Risk
- Video: CAPM
- Video: Chalk Talk: Beta
- Video: Chalk Talk: CAPM and Diversification
- Video: Short Sales
- Video: Calculating the Optimal Portfolio
- Video: Efficient Portfolio Frontier
- Video: Chalk Talk - Gordon Growth Model
Graded: Lesson #1 Quiz
Graded: Lesson #2 Quiz
Graded: Lession #3 Quiz
Graded: Lesson #4 Quiz
Graded: Module 1 Honors Quiz
WEEK 2
Module 2
In this next module, dive into some details of behavioral finance, forecasting, pricing, debt, and inflation.
17 videos
- Video: Invention Takes Time
- Video: Salon - Innovation
- Video: Limited Liability
- Video: Inflation Indexed Debt
- Video: Unidad de Fomento
- Video: Real Estate: Risk Management Devices
- Video: Forecasting
- Video: Intuition of Efficiency
- Video: Price as PDV
- Video: Doubting Efficiency
- Video: Introduction to Behavioral Finance
- Video: Prospect Theory
- Video: Chalk Talk - More on Prospect Theory
- Video: Logical Fallacies
- Video: The Brain
- Video: Magical Thinking
- Video: Personality Disorders
Graded: Lesson #5 Quiz
Graded: Lesson #6 Quiz
Graded: Lesson #7 Quiz
Graded: Module 2 Honors Quiz
WEEK 3
Module 3
Stocks, bonds, dividends, shares, market caps; what are these? Who needs them? Why? Module 3 explores these concepts, along with corporation basics and some basic financial markets history.
18 videos
- Video: 1982 Savings Account
- Video: Federal Funds and Interest Rates
- Video: Compound Interest
- Video: Discount Bonds
- Video: Consol and Annuity
- Video: Forward Rates and Expectation Theory
- Video: Inflation
- Video: Leverage
- Video: Market Capitalization by Country
- Video: The Corporation
- Video: Shares and Dividends
- Video: Common vs. Preferred
- Video: Corporate Charter
- Video: Corporations Raise Money
- Video: Dilution
- Video: Share Repurchase
- Video: PDV of Expected Dividends
- Video: Why do firms pay dividends?
Graded: Lesson #8 Quiz
Graded: Lesson #9 Quiz
Graded: Module 3 Honors Quiz
WEEK 4
Module 4
Take a look into the recent past, exploring recessions, bubbles, the mortgage crisis, and regulation.
22 videos
- Video: Salon - Recessions
- Video: History of Mortgage Lending
- Video: Commercial Real Estate Vehicles
- Video: Mortgages, part 1
- Video: Mortgages, part 2
- Video: PMI, CMOS, CDOS
- Video: Post Crisis Regulation
- Video: Chalk Talks - Excess Reserves
- Video: The Bubble, part 1
- Video: The Bubble, part 2
- Video: The Bubble, part 3
- Video: Salon - Bubbles
- Video: Regulation Overview
- Video: Salon - Regulation and housing
- Video: Within Firm Regulation, part 1
- Video: Within Firm Regulation, part 2
- Video: Trade Groups
- Video: Local Regulation
- Video: National Regulation, part 1
- Video: National Regulation, part 2
- Video: National Regulation, part 3
- Video: International Regulation
Graded: Lesson #10 Quiz
Graded: Lesson #11 Quiz
Graded: Financialization of Housing
Graded: Module 4 Honors Quiz
WEEK 5
Module 5
Options and bond markets are explored in module 5, important components of financial markets.
16 videos
- Video: Salon - Student Loans
- Video: Forwards and Futures Introduction
- Video: Forward Contracts
- Video: Futures Contracts
- Video: Rice Futures
- Video: Wheat Futures
- Video: Buying, Selling, and Settlement
- Video: Fair Value in Futures Contracts
- Video: Oil Futures
- Video: SPI & FFR Futures
- Video: Options Overview
- Video: Reading Options Pricing
- Video: Why Options exist
- Video: Ubiquity of Options
- Video: Put / Call parity
- Video: Using Options to Hedge
Graded: Lesson #12 Quiz
Graded: Lesson #13 Quiz
Graded: Module 5 Honors Quiz
WEEK 6
Module 6
In module 6, Professor Shiller introduces investment banking, underwriting processes, brokers, dealers, exchanges, and new innovations in financial markets.
19 videos
- Video: Investment Banks Introduction
- Video: The Underwriting Process
- Video: IPOs
- Video: Goldman Sachs and John Whitehead
- Video: Ratings Agencies
- Video: Glass Steagall
- Video: Net Worth of the US
- Video: The Prudent Person
- Video: Salon - Advisors
- Video: Mutual Funds and ETFs
- Video: Brokers and Dealers
- Video: Exchanges
- Video: Limit Order Book
- Video: High Frequency Trading
- Video: Payment for Order Flow
- Video: Government Debt
- Video: Government involvement in Corporations
- Video: Municipal Finance
- Video: Government Social Insurance
Graded: Lesson #14 Quiz
Graded: Lesson #15 Quiz
Graded: Lesson #16 Quiz
Graded: Module 6 Honors Quiz
WEEK 7
MODULE 7
Professor Shiller's final module includes lectures about nonprofits and corporations, and your career in finance.
14 videos
- Video: Nonprofits
- Video: Cooperatives
- Video: Alternative Forms
- Video: Salon - Public vs. Private
- Video: Critics of Modern Finance
- Video: Democratization of Finance
- Video: Salon - Democratization of Finance
- Video: Finance and War
- Video: Finance and Population Growth
- Video: The Importance of Financial Theory
- Video: Wealth and Poverty
- Video: Your Career and Finance
- Video: Interview with Roger Ferguson
- Video: Interview with Lei Zhang
Graded: Lesson #17 Quiz
Graded: Lesson #18 Quiz
Graded: Final Exam
FAQs
How It Works
Coursework
Each course is like an interactive textbook, featuring pre-recorded videos, quizzes and projects.
Help from Your Peers
Connect with thousands of other learners and debate ideas, discuss course material, and get help mastering concepts.
Certificates
Earn official recognition for your work, and share your success with friends, colleagues, and employers.
Creators
Yale University
For more than 300 years, Yale University has inspired the minds that inspire the world. Based in New Haven, Connecticut, Yale brings people and ideas together for positive impact around the globe. A research university that focuses on students and encourages learning as an essential way of life, Yale is a place for connection, creativity, and innovation among cultures and across disciplines.
Pricing
| Audit | Purchase Course | |
|---|---|---|
| Access to course materials | Available | Available |
| Access to graded materials | Not available | Available |
| Receive a final grade | Not available | Available |
| Earn a shareable Course Certificate | Not available | Available |
Ratings and Reviews
This course provided amazing insight to financial markets. I have been in financial markets for many years, but this course gave me a different perspective on various markets. I am already using my new enlightenment with positive results!
Thank you Professor Shiller, for a great course! I have learnt a great deal and I very much enjoyed the peer-graded assignment. I felt there was a lot of engagement. One constructive point of feedback: I would love to see some more technical assignments in the course. Some risk calculations, etc.
I really enjoyed taking this course. The content is very appropriate and state of the art. The examples and exercises are very challenging. The student interaction is quite informative and gives a feeling of actually attending the course in person. The bonus interviews are just the cream on the cake. Prof. Shiller is a fascinating orator.
Coursera provides universal access to the world’s best education, partnering with top universities and organizations to offer courses online.
© 2017 Coursera Inc. All rights reserved.
AS
The course was a great overview of Financial Markets. It was a great course with valuable information that has inspired me to delve deeper into the world of financial literacy