The P/E ratio has numerous shortcomings - some of which relate to how earnings are calculated, and some of which relate to the nature of looking at one year's data (as the other ratios like EV/EBITDA and P/Sales) do as well. This video illustrates in brief issues that relate to looking at one year of data.
This video looks at the Income statement in a bit more detail - and in particular, looks at the gross, operating and net margins and what they can tell us about how the company makes money, its efficiency, and how these margins can be used to compare companies.
This video provides a sample Balance Sheet and illustrates the components of the Balance Sheet and what kinds of things can happen on the Balance Sheet.
This video goes through an income statement - what it typically looks like, what information it captures and how it can be affected for example by a change in revenues.
This video summarises some of the terminology surrounding stocks - some of which is covered in more detail in other videos including those on dividends etc.
Normally we refer to short-selling and this is a very common thing that happens in financial markets (and there is another video on this). This video covers the topic of naked short-selling that is sometimes spoken about especially during times of market stress - it was a very hot topic in 2008 and became illegal in a number of countries at that time.
Central Banks - like the Fed, the Bank of Canada or the Bank of England fulfil a crucial role in keeping inflation in check and assisting the government in making sure the banking system functions and an economy grows steadily - a lot of what they do centres on monetary policy - here is an introduction.
This video discusses what is meant by the 'Time Value of Money' - a very simple concept that links an amount we have today to and an amount in the future for a given time period and with a given interest rate or return.
At first it might appear confusing that bond prices fall when interest rates rise - when properly looked at though this makes a lot of sense. This video clarifies why this is the case.
We can go into detail on a number of the important structures, investment options and concepts and principles - at the end of the day however the first basis premise is to bear the basic principles in mind.
This video provides a brief introduction to the often referred to concept of time value of money. It provides and introduction to Present Value and Future Value as well.
An Individual Savings Account or ISA is one of the most common and easy to access saving and investing tools in the UK. This video provides an summary of this products.
401k plans are spoken about very frequently in the US, and represent a potentially very tax efficient manner for money to be set aside for the future. This video introduces what 401k plans are - building on the concepts of taxes and compounding, providers and users of capital, principles of taxation, mutual funds and even dollar-cost averaging.
This is an introductory video to some of the structures, products and services that we as investors have to consider on a regular basis. It builds on the concepts and examples of products of the other videos - in this series the items discussed are often more specific, and often specific to a country or region as opposed to being more generic and potentially available in many regions.
The volume of issue of CDOs and the corresponding ability of banks to issue mortgages had a significant impact on the quantity of mortgages that could be made by banks. This video explores the topic of securitization further with a particular focus on CDOs and how that relates to the sub-prime crisis.
Stagflation is a very challenging combination of conditions, and although quite rare, represents such a challenging environment that fears of it and discussion of it nonetheless often crop up.
Deflation very much related to the subject of inflation, and in fact is a negative rate of inflation (i.e. prices are falling) for a sustained period of time. This video introduces deflation and some of the issues associated with it.
Defined Contribution Plans are the other of the two main pension plans available for many employees - and in fact, they have become the prevalent form of retirement or pension plan type in most countries, particularly in the private sector.
