Financial Markets

1. Financial Instruments
   1. Equities
      1. Common Stocks
         1. Characteristics
            1. Ownership Rights
            2. Voting Rights
            3. Dividend Payments
         2. Valuation Methods
            1. Price-to-Earnings Ratio
            2. Dividend Discount Model
            3. Free Cash Flow Analysis
         3. Investment Strategies
            1. Growth Investing
            2. Value Investing
            3. Dividend Investing
      2. Preferred Stocks
         1. Characteristics
            1. Fixed Dividend Payments
            2. Priority over Common Stocks
            3. Convertibility
         2. Types
            1. Cumulative Preferred Stock
            2. Non-Cumulative Preferred Stock
            3. Convertible Preferred Stock
         3. Valuation Approaches
            1. Yield Method
            2. Price Comparison
   2. Fixed Income Securities
      1. Government Bonds
         1. Treasury Bonds
            1. Long-term Maturities
            2. Tax Treatment
         2. Treasury Notes and Bills
            1. Differences in Maturity
            2. Auction Process
         3. Inflation-Protected Securities
            1. Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS)
      2. Corporate Bonds
         1. Characteristics
            1. Credit Rating
            2. Yield Spread
         2. Types
            1. Convertible Bonds
            2. Zero-Coupon Bonds
            3. Callable Bonds
         3. Risks
            1. Credit Risk
            2. Interest Rate Risk
      3. Municipal Bonds
         1. General Obligation Bonds
         2. Revenue Bonds
            1. Infrastructure Projects
            2. Public Utilities
         3. Tax Advantages
   3. Derivatives
      1. Plain Vanilla Derivatives
         1. Futures Contracts
            1. Standardization
            2. Margin Requirements
         2. Options Contracts
            1. Call Options
            2. Put Options
         3. Forwards Contracts
            1. Customization
            2. Settlement
      2. Exotic Derivatives
         1. Barrier Options
         2. Asian Options
         3. Swaptions
         4. Weather Derivatives
         5. Credit Derivatives
            1. Credit Default Swaps (CDS)
            2. Collateralized Debt Obligations (CDOs)
   4. Foreign Exchange Instruments
      1. Spot Transactions
         1. Settlement Process
         2. Currency Pairs
      2. Forward Contracts
         1. Pricing
         2. Hedging Strategies
      3. Options on Currency
         1. American vs European Styles
         2. Pricing Models (Black-Scholes, etc.)
   5. Commodities and Commodity-linked Instruments
      1. Physical Commodities
         1. Ownership and Storage
         2. Quality and Grade
      2. Commodity Futures
         1. Hedging Uses
         2. Speculation and Arbitrage
      3. Commodity Options
         1. Agricultural Options
         2. Energy Options
      4. Commodity Swaps
         1. Price and Yield Swaps
         2. Index Swaps