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Finance and capital markets

Interest and debt

Compound interest basics: Interest and debtInterest basics: Interest and debtCredit cards and loans: Interest and debt
Continuous compound interest and e: Interest and debtPresent value: Interest and debtPersonal bankruptcy: Interest and debt

Housing

Home equity and personal balance sheets: HousingRenting vs. buying a home: HousingMortgages: Housing
Home buying process: Housing

Inflation

Inflation basics: InflationInflation scenarios: InflationReal and nominal return: Inflation
Capacity utilization and inflation: InflationDeflation: Inflation

Taxes

Personal taxes: TaxesCorporate taxation: Taxes

Accounting and financial statements

Cash versus accrual accounting: Accounting and financial statementsThree core financial statements: Accounting and financial statementsDepreciation and amortization: Accounting and financial statements

Stocks and bonds

Introduction to stocks: Stocks and bondsShorting stock: Stocks and bondsUnderstanding company statements and capital structure: Stocks and bondsCorporate metrics and valuation: Stocks and bondsLife of a company--from birth to death: Stocks and bonds
Dilution: Stocks and bondsMergers and acquisitions: Stocks and bondsLeveraged buy-outs: Stocks and bondsBonds: Stocks and bondsCorporate bankruptcy: Stocks and bonds

Investment vehicles, insurance, and retirement

Mutual funds and ETFs: Investment vehicles, insurance, and retirementRetirement accounts: IRAs and 401ks: Investment vehicles, insurance, and retirementLife insurance: Investment vehicles, insurance, and retirement
Hedge funds: Investment vehicles, insurance, and retirementInvestment and consumption: Investment vehicles, insurance, and retirement

Money, banking and central banks

Banking and money: Money, banking and central banksQuantitative easing: Money, banking and central banks2008 bank bailout: Money, banking and central banksGeithner plan: Money, banking and central banks
Foreign exchange and trade: Money, banking and central banksChinese currency and U.S. debt: Money, banking and central banks2011-2012 Greek debt crisis: Money, banking and central banksBitcoin: Money, banking and central banks

Options, swaps, futures, MBSs, CDOs, and other derivatives

Put and call options: Options, swaps, futures, MBSs, CDOs, and other derivativesForward and futures contracts: Options, swaps, futures, MBSs, CDOs, and other derivativesMortgage-backed securities: Options, swaps, futures, MBSs, CDOs, and other derivatives
Collateralized debt obligations: Options, swaps, futures, MBSs, CDOs, and other derivativesCredit default swaps: Options, swaps, futures, MBSs, CDOs, and other derivativesInterest rate swaps: Options, swaps, futures, MBSs, CDOs, and other derivativesBlack-Scholes formula: Options, swaps, futures, MBSs, CDOs, and other derivatives

Current economics

Unemployment: Current economicsHousing price conundrum: Current economicsCredit crisis: Current economics
Paulson bailout: Current economicsEuropean Union: Current economics

Recommended

Compound interest introduction
The rule of 72 for compound interest
Introduction to interest
Interest (part 2)
Annual percentage rate (APR) and effective APR

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Compound interest basics

Interest is the basis of modern capital markets. Depending on whether you are lending or borrowing, it can be viewed as a return on an asset (lending) or the cost of capital (borrowing). This tutorial gives an introduction to this fundamental concept, including what it means to compound. It also gives a rule of thumb that might make it easy to do some rough interest calculations in your head.
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