Stocks and bonds

This course is a part of Finance and capital markets, a 10-course Topic series from Khan Academy.

This course contains 10 segments:

Introduction to stocks

Many people own stocks, but, unfortunately, most of them don't really understand what they own. This tutorial will keep you from being one of those people (not keep you from owning stock, but keep you from being ignorant about your investments).

Shorting stock

Can you sell something that you borrowed from someone else? Why, yes, you can and it is called "shorting". Why would you do this? Well, you can now make money if the price goes down. Is this bad? This tutorial has your answers.

Understanding company statements and capital structure

If you understand what a stock is (also a good idea to look at the topic on accounting and financial statements), then you're ready to dig in a bit on a company's actual financials. This tutorial does this to help you understand what the price of a company really is.

Corporate metrics and valuation

Life is full of people who will try to convince you that something is a good or bad idea by spouting technical jargon. Most of them have no idea what they are talking about. Don't be one of those people or their victims when it comes to stocks. From P/E rations to EV/EBITDA, we've got your back!

Life of a company--from birth to death

This is an old set of videos, but if you put up with Sal's messy handwriting (it has since improved) and spotty sound, there is a lot to be learned here. In particular, this tutorial walks through starting, financing and taking public a company (and even talks about what happens if it has trouble paying its debts).

Dilution

When companies issue new shares, many people consider this a share "dilution"--implying that the value of each share has been "watered down" a bit. This tutorial walks through the mechanics and why--assuming management isn't doing something stupid--the shares might not be diluted at all.

Mergers and acquisitions

Companies often buy or merge with other companies using shares (which is sometimes less intuitive than when they use cash). This tutorial walks through the mechanics of how this happens and details what is likely to happen in the public markets because of the transaction (including opportunities for arbitrage).

Leveraged buy-outs

Private equity firms often borrow money (use leverage) to buy companies. This tutorial explains how they do it and pay the debt.

Bonds

Both corporations and governments can borrow money by selling bonds. This tutorial explains how this works and how bond prices relate to interest rates. In general, understanding this not only helps you with your own investing, but gives you a lens on the entire global economy.

Corporate bankruptcy

Anybody or anything (you can decide if a corporation is a person) can have trouble paying its debts. This tutorial walks through what happens to a corporation in these circumstances.