Introduction to Investments Review: Diving Deeper Into edX’s Course

Introduction to Investments Review

The overview and rankings

What is Introduction to Investments about?

This investment course is created to help students know the key concepts and terms used in investments.

It teaches students about the general structure of primary and secondary equity markets from an international or domestic perspective.

Starting with introductory finance notions of return and risk, the Introduction to Investments course examines qualitative ideas like valuation and market efficiency. 

These tools allow students to establish valuation models for common stocks. In this course, students will also learn how expert financial analysts should evaluate companies. 

This course is ideal for students looking to work for a financial services company, investment company, or brokerage company.

They should learn the responsibilities of selecting and evaluating equity securities for investment portfolios.

This course aims to familiarize students with the primary and secondary equities markets from a global and domestic perspective.

Students will first learn about basic financial concepts, such as risk and return, before moving on to more abstract ideas like market efficiency and stock valuation.

In addition, resources are available to assist in developing common stock models. By going through this procedure, you will acquire the skills necessary to perform the duties of a professional financial analyst and assess businesses.

You will learn, among other things, that the course enhances your comprehension of core ideas of financial markets and market participants.

In addition, the student should comprehend the fundamental ideas of financial markets and market participants. 

You will also gain an understanding of the structure of global equity markets. You will assess and comprehend the economic and industry context in which businesses function.

This course will help you become acquainted with financial analysis tools for assessing firm fundamentals and relate valuation theories with practical aspects of investment.

Check out this 1-minute and 40-second video to know more about this course... 

Let us then know who started this all...

Who is Professor S.G. Badrinath

Professor S.G. Badrinath is the instructor for the entire course.

As of today, he’s the Chairperson of the Center for Capital Markets and Risk Management at IIM Bangalore.

He is also a professional at San Diego State where he teaches in the Risk Management and Investments areas. 

Badrinath has a Ph.D. in Finance. He got his Ph.D. from the Krannert Graduate School of Management, Purdue University. 

In addition to that, he also has an M.A. from St. Stephen’s College and PGDM in Finance from IIMB. 

A lot of his research papers have appeared in well-known publications. This includes the Journal of Business, The Journal of Banking and Finance, the Journal of Risk and Insurance, the Review of Financial Studies, the Journal of Financial Economics, and the Journal of Finance.

Because of this, you can guarantee that Professor S.G. Badrinath is the real deal when it comes to investments and finance. 

How does Introduction to Investments Work?

Just like other online courses out there, the Introduction to Investments course is divided into several modules. Then, each module contains various lessons as well.

It will be up to you to decide on how you’ll finish the course. However, it’s recommended that you finish every module each week to fully understand the course. 

In this course, you’ll learn a couple of things.

This includes:

• How to connect theories of valuation to practical aspects of investing

• Recognize methods of valuing equity securities

• Develop and use tools of financial analysis for evaluating company fundamentals

• Assess the industry and economic environment in which companies operate

• Explain the global markets’ structure in which equities trade

• Advance your knowledge of fundamental ideas of market participants and financial markets

Inside Introduction to Investments

Now that you know what to expect when you enroll in this course, you’re probably wondering what’s inside it. 

Well, the Introduction to Investments course is divided into 5 modules. According to edX, you can finish each module in a week. 

Thus, if you follow their flow, you can finish this course in a month. 

Module 1: Introduction to Performance, Participants, and Markets

This is the first module of the course. It contains 5 various lessons. These lessons include:

• Role for retail investors

• Financial analysts

• History of funds, players, and stock markets

• Real versus financial assets

• Rates of return

Module 2: Market Structure

he second module of the course is the Market Structure. As the name suggests, you’ll learn more about market structure in this module. It also contains 6 lessons. These lessons include:

• Types of orders
• Types of markets
• Primary markets
• Market indices
• Tying risk and returns to pricing assets
• Measuring expected returns and discussing risk

Module 3: Trading Practices and Locations

This is perhaps the longest module in the course. The reason for this is that it contains 9 lessons about trading practices and locations. 

The lessons included in this module are:

• Economic analysis – Policy problems
• Economic analysis – Measurement problems
• Setting the valuation stage
• Short selling – Games and Strategies
• The basics of short selling
• Advanced Margin Considerations
• How Margin Works
• Technology in Trading
• Stock exchanges

As you can see, there are a lot of things to learn from this module. Because of this, it’s ideal to take your time in this module. You might need more than a week to finish this.

Module 4: Basics of Valuation

The 4th module of the course is titled Basics of Valuation. It contains 4 lessons. This makes the 4th module the shortest module of them all. 

The lessons included in this module are:

• Introducing technical analysis
• Approaches to quality evaluation
• Company and industry analysis
• Business indicators and cycles

Module 5: Fundamental Valuation Analysis

This is the last module of the course and it contains 8 lessons. This is the second longest module. The lessons in this module include:

• Introduction of Fundamental Analysis – Notions of Value

• Efficient Markets – Evidence

• Efficient Markets – Theory

• Sustainable Growth

• Multi-Stage DCF Models

• DCF Building Blocks

• Discounted Cash Flow Evaluation – Overview

• Comparable Valuation

• Business indicators and cycles

Check out this 1-minute video that gives you a glimpse on this course...

How to Join Introduction to Investments?

Now that you know what’s inside the course, you’re probably interested in enrolling in it. However, how do you do it? How can you join this course? Well, here’s a step-by-step guide.

First of all, open any browser and go to your preferred search engine. You can use Google, Bing, or other options. 

Next, type in “EDX” on the search bar of the search engine and hit enter. After that, the search engine should give you results for your search query. 

The first link that you see on the results page should be from “edx.org”. Click on that link to open the homepage of edX. 

Once you’re on the homepage of edX, you’ll see a search bar on top of it. Type in “Introduction to Investments” on the search bar and hit enter. Then, you’ll see a result with the same title. Click that result. 

Then, you’ll see a button that says “View Course Materials”. Click that button and input your personal details and you’re good to go!

Introduction to Investments cost to join

When you want to join this course, there are two options you can choose from. The first option is the free option. Unfortunately, access to course materials is limited.

If you want full access to the course, you need to pay. However, you don’t have to worry because it’s only $50. This is perhaps one of the cheapest online investment courses out there.

However, if you wish to enroll in the verified track, you may do so. All you have to do is click the "ways to enroll" link and select the verified track for $50, which includes unrestricted access to course materials, world-class institutions and universities, EdX support, a shareable certificate upon completion, and the ability to have your work graded.

Introduction to Investments Reviews Online

Introduction to Investments is an online course by S.G. Badrinath that teaches you all there is to know about investments that can help you earn big amount of money.

But is it any good?

The only way to know this is to read reviews from people who have tried it by themselves...

Common positive Introduction to Investments reviews

• Satisfying service and content
• Encourages you to work
• Shows much information about the class

The following comments below are the common positive reviews you’ll find online:“

• “I would recommend. I did many courses and a program on edX and I was overall happy with it. Lately I had a technical issue and had to contact the support team. They replied the next day with a solution. Definitely satisfying service and the courses' content were great.”
• “I’ve taken one course on edX and am currently on my second, which is the Introduction to Investments. The content is very good quality and the quizzes at the end of each section actually encourage you to work things out for yourself and actively learn.”
• “I love edX.org. I am very impressed with how they have set up their website. It shows so much information about the classes. They have everything that you need to know like the course description, syllabus, information about the professors, how much they cost, the duration of the class, etc. I also love the fact that the sound is great on the videos and they have the transcripts of every video for each class. This makes it so much easier to take great notes because you don't have to stop the video and then replay it.”

Common negative Introduction to Investments reviews

• It teaches nothing
• It is buggy and causes issues
• It is useless

And here are the best negative reviews I seen:

• “After having used edX for a few weeks, I am so angry and frustrated that I fell for this scam that I cannot express! I thought it was going to show me some useful videos and texts, then I would test what I have learned and by the end, I would get something out of it for my money. Instead, it shows me 2-5 minutes long videos that teach me next to nothing.”
• “As a paying customer, I am very disappointed. Been having an issue with a bug (this is something edX specifically said they are aware of) that is preventing me from obtaining the required score to get a certificate. It's been over a month since I first spoke to them about this and, with every email I send, all I get is a reply saying "someone will be with you soon”
• “If you are doing the Introduction to Investment course because you want to learn how to invest – it is useless. You can get more in 15-minute YouTube videos than these courses EDX itself emails me all the time and has no way to review courses. I wonder how many bad reviews the courses would have if these were visible like every other modern website.

Is Introduction to Investments a scam?

You might think that this course seems too good to be true because of its price. However, that is not the case at all. 

The Introduction to Investments course from edX is a legitimate course. The instructor is also a real professor from a real university. Thus, you can guarantee that each lesson you get from the course is of high quality. 

You can’t call this course a scam because you get everything after paying the price.

Introduction to Investments pros

Here are some of the best things that I discovered when reviewing Introduction to Investments...

#1 Informative

If you go back and look at the content inside the course, you’ll get a total of 32 lessons in one course. That’s a lot of new things to learn.

Of course, this is extremely helpful especially since you’re only paying $50 for everything.

#2 Instructor is a professional investor

S.G. Badrinath is the instructor for the course and he’s the real deal. Unlike other courses out there, Badrinath is a professor. Thus, he knows how to teach students properly. 

Furthermore, he also has tons of achievements when it comes to finance and investments. Thus, you can guarantee he knows what he’s doing.

#3 Affordable

For only $50 you can get all access to the course. In addition to that, you’ll also get a certificate when you complete the course. 

You can utilize this certificate when you apply for jobs related to this industry, which can be extremely helpful. 

Introduction to Investments cons

And here are some of the things I find off in Introduction to Investments. So take note of these...

#1 Boring videos

One of the biggest drawbacks of this course is the videos. Some of them are extremely boring. It’s just the professor talking and nothing else. 

Because of this, you might fall asleep while studying. Thus, I would recommend you pause the video when you notice that you’re spacing out. 

#2 Course page lacks details

Most of the time, online courses will tell you what to expect from the course before you can enroll. Unfortunately, that’s not the case with Introduction to Investments. 

It only provides you with a vague description of the course. This means that you’ll have to do thorough research first to know if it’s ideal for you.

#3 Lessons can be found for free on Youtube

Yes, you’ve read it right. Even though the course is cheap, if you want to save money, you can simply search for some of the lessons online.  

Chances are you’ll find them free on YouTube.

My opinion - Introduction to Investments

Is Introduction to Investments worth it?

Well, the answer greatly depends on you. However, with its current price, I say that it is indeed worth it.

In addition to that, the instructor for the course is also an expert. Thus, you can ensure that every lesson in the course is real and useful.

It also works with prestigious universities and institutions like Harvard, Yale, and MIT. There are classes on Class Central's list of the 100 best online courses and classes taught by award-winning professors from the best universities in the world, many of whom have won Nobel Prizes.

But then again, it is still up to you on how you are going to time the market along with your investments.

Think for yourself, trust your own decisions, and do your best to mantain discipline for this course to really be effective...

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