What You Should Know About Financial Markets
Before stepping into formal financial analysis training, having a basic understanding of how markets work will make everything click much faster. You don't need expert-level knowledge, but these fundamentals will help you grasp advanced concepts more easily.
Think of this as learning the language before visiting a foreign country — you can survive without it, but you'll get so much more out of the experience if you arrive prepared.
- Understand the difference between stocks, bonds, and other securities — and why companies issue them
- Know what drives stock prices beyond just "supply and demand" — earnings, growth expectations, industry trends
- Grasp basic economic indicators like GDP, inflation, and interest rates and how they affect business
- Recognize the major stock exchanges and trading hours — ASX, NYSE, NASDAQ and their significance
- Understand the role of financial statements in investment decisions — balance sheet, income statement, cash flow
- Know what analysts actually do day-to-day and the types of recommendations they make