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Equity InvestmentsModule 1 of 6

Market Organization and Structure

7

Concepts

3

Formulas

1

Decisions

3

Quiz Questions

Key Concepts

7 concepts covered in this module.

Financial System Functions

Achieve purposes: save, borrow, raise equity, manage risk, exchange assets, trade on information.

Asset Classifications

Securities (stocks, bonds), Currencies, Commodities, Real assets, Contracts (forwards, futures, options, swaps).

Financial Intermediaries

Brokers (match buyers/sellers), Dealers (trade from inventory), Exchanges (organized markets), ATS (dark pools).

Short Selling

Borrow and sell security, buy back later. Profit if price falls. Unlimited loss potential. Margin requirements apply.

Leverage

Margin buying: borrow to buy securities. Amplifies both gains and losses. Margin call if equity falls below maintenance.

Order Types

Market (execute immediately at best price), Limit (specify max buy/min sell price), Stop (triggered at price level).

Market Efficiency

Prices reflect all available information. Weak (past prices), Semi-strong (public info), Strong (all info including private).

Formulas

3 essential formulas for this module.

Leverage Ratio

Leverage = Asset Value / Equity Value

Where: Higher leverage = more risk and potential return

Margin Call Price

Pcall = P0 × (1 - Initial Margin) / (1 - Maintenance Margin)

Where: For long positions

Return on Leveraged Position

R = (Rasset × Leverage) - (Rborrow × (Leverage - 1))

Where: Leveraged return

Decision Frameworks

1 decision frameworks to guide your analysis.

Market order vs Limit order?

  • Market: when speed of execution matters more than price
  • Limit: when price certainty matters more than speed

Mind Map

Visual overview of how concepts connect in this module.

Market Organization
Asset Types
Securities
Currencies
Commodities
Real assets
Contracts
Intermediaries
Brokers
Dealers
Exchanges
ATS/Dark pools
Clearinghouses
Positions
Long: own the asset
Short: sell borrowed asset
Margin/leverage
Margin calls
Order Types
Market
Limit
Stop
Stop-limit

Study Market Organization and Structure

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