learning finance on your own?
I'm making the move from a software developer at a tech company to a software developer at a hedge fund.
I don't have time to go to school to get a masters in finance, but I'd like to gain a similar amount of quant/finance knowledge on my own.
Any schools that have their entire finance curriculum online? lectures/videos/ppt/etc?
What books should I read / in what order?
I have found the Itunes U lectures to be very helpful...you can access a ton of free lectures on there from professors at many different universities.
I believe Damodoran teaches a free valuation course online.
kahn academy is a great resource
http://www.khanacademy.org/
CFA
Rosenbaum and Pearl's book on ibanking is good.
CFA probably would be a pretty good measuring stick of a solid financial knowledge base for someone in your situation.
What type of strategy does the fund run? Understanding that cold should be top priority.
You can learn the theories from books / classes but just as important is having a nuanced understanding of the geo-political climate and who the key decision makers are. The best way to get this is by reading as much news as you can get your hands on every day.
Reading the thoughts of respected investors also helps immensely.
Yra Harris (Few posts a week): http://yrah53.wordpress.com/ John Hussman (Sunday night / Monday morning): http://www.hussmanfunds.com/weeklyMarketComment.html Plenty of others too.
Thanks for the info
kahn academy seems like a neat site, I'll spend some time poking around.
Damodoran - I follow his blog and have read a couple chapters from his little book on valuation. Going thru his course online is definitely something I'll get around to.
Itunes U -- never used it before but already found some useful classes on it -- may prove the most useful
The biggest problem with this approach though is its a bit haphazard -- if there's a good masters in math/finance or financial engineering or mba program that has all/most of its classes publicly available online that would make following along the path much easier.
CFA -- I'm a bit skeptical that the study material might be dry since its just a test prep. If I don't care about actually getting a CFA (I might care about it later, but not now), then are its books actually still worth using?
The CFA is considered by many to be the best overall educational resource for the fundamentals of finance. The materials are basically a lesson plan to teach someone the fundamentals of finance from beginning to end. It's more than just test prep, it's an educational resource. If you look at the sample chapter at the CFA website you will see what I mean. Schweser makes study materials and a lesson guide for learning the CFA, which actually includes lecture videos. It is very expensive but I know that if you are resourceful you can find it for free ;) (hint hint) I think that would probably be the best, most structured approach.
And I also agree that Khan Academy is great. The videos are very clear, concise, and easy to follow. From the titles it looks like if you watch all the Finance videos you will end with knowledge comparable to most MBAs.
You could also just purchase a book on the subject. Most university courses are, after all, usually structured around a textbook. Find a good textbook that is being used by an MBA program and buy an old edition.
A friend of mine also sent me slides from his undergrad portfolio management class. They are very good. If you want them PM me and I'll share them with you
Just read the academic journals Journal of Finance, Journal of Financial Economics, ect. A smart programmer like you should find this stuff simple. :)
How do I learn more about Finance (Originally Posted: 01/06/2014)
During undergrad I majored in Cellular Biology but I didn't have the best grades. Below (3.5). I thought I wanted to go to medical school but rules it out because of my GPA and so I decided that business would be a great opportunity. It was what I initially had planned to study until my parents basically gave me an ultimatum to pursue medicine or transfer. I didn't get accepted into the business school at my school and so I couldn't double major in business and science; had to choose science. After graduation, I decided to become a teacher in a low income area. I am also the first in my family to graduate from college, I went to a underprivileged high school and grew up in subsidized housing. It was something I really wanted to do, but unfortunately it didn't turn out the way I thought it would.
I tried applying to consulting gigs. Deloitte - Rejected Boston Consulting - Rejected Bain - Phone Interview - Rejected
And applied online to a bunch of other firms but I was rejected from all of them. I am not opening up my search to all kind of positions within the realm of business. I like solving problems, analyzing things, working with data, trends, and numbers. In undergrad. I published a poster abstract where most of the data was analyzed by yours truly. I self taught myself SPSS in a span of 3-4 weeks and really loved doing it. I love learning on my own, but I don't know where I can just go and learn.
I have a lot of free time and I just want to learn more about finance that will hopefully lead me to becoming a more competitive applicant to jobs. Where can I learn more about Finance in general. For example; I don't know how to do that below which I saw on a post. What steps can I take to master that.
9) If you want to practice for HFs, pick any public company that doesn't have nightmare financial statements (i.e. don't pick a FIG unless that's your thing), download the latest K and Q, and give yourself 2 hours to make a working 3 statement model with a DCF and a quick LBO analysis. You should be able to get the 3 statement model with 5 yr projections and a balancing balance sheet in 1 hour or less, then do the DCF and LBO in the next half hour, and leave a half hour to check your work via: 5-things-i-wish-i-knew-as-a-first-year-banking-analyst
Or how do I answer these questions. Where can I learn the information that will teach me this so I can answer some of these questions?
"Also, make sure you know what the hell you're talking about. Ok you want to do IB, what is IB? Why do you like it? Can you walk me through a DCF? How strong is your accounting knowledge? If a company incurs $10 (pretax) of depreciation expense, how does that affect the three financial statements?" via does-goldman-sachs-even-consider-public-school-candiates
Currently I have WS training videos and I plan on using Khanacademy to learn Finance. Anything else I can use that will help me become more competitive? I feel that if I even get an interview as IBD or Hedge Fund or anything, I probably won't be able to answer the most basic questions.
Lastly, I've been told to read the WSJ. This might sound silly but how do I read the WSJ. Are there specific articles or sections I am focusing on. I generally look at the front page and just read but I don't really know what I am looking for besides general knowledge of current events. How can I use it to learn more about the market?
WS Training videos are key.
Reading the WSJ is to familiarize yourself with finance, wall street, business happenings etc. Read all of it.
Really depends on what side of finance you want to work on. Do you like studying financial statements/accounting/corporate strategy/deals or macroeconomics and public markets? The reason why I ask this is because if you're looking into IBD/Research/Fundamental analysis types jobs (a fair assumption given your consulting interviews), your time is better spent learning accounting and model building, not the WSJ. However, if you're interested in working on a trading floor, or doing something involving public markets... start reading everything. Which do you want to do?
Source: Made the transition from a non-finance background (humanities) to an IBD summer, then helped out with the launch of a hedge fund. Have interviewed for both IBD, trading, and even consulting jobs. Am happy to explain the difference.
I hope I do not sound completely ignorant.
I would be interested in IBD probably. Do you think I should look for a summer analyst? I graduated college in 2012. Is it even possible for me to get a summer analyst gig that I can hopefully use to leverage a full time deal?
I don't know much about trading? What does a trader do exactly?
I know consulting very well, but it is also the most general.
IBD basically evaluate if deals are good or not. They have assets and try to use assets as a form of debt or loan and are essentially the middleman between two companies. Is that somewhat correct?
WSO is obviously also a great place to learn. But WSO has a lot of different threads, so it may be tough for someone who's quite green to know where to start and find old or current threads that are extremely useful. Sometimes it takes some basic knowledge to know the right kind of questions to ask to learn more.
In terms of accounting and finance type interview questions, you can check out WSO's interview guides, or you can also check out Breaking into Wallstreet (BIWS) guides (which is created by M&I's founder). I personally prefer BIWS's materials because I think - from a concept and understanding perspective - it goes deeper, and it's useful even for someone who's quite seasoned in finance. But having said that, I haven't looked closely at WSO's new material. I would say WSO is probably more 'direct' - to the point - and may be better for someone who's just starting out and doesn't need the deeper details.
Macabacus is also a terrific place to check out. It's got free financial models, and free info to provide you with a deeper understanding of finance concepts. http://www.macabacus.com/
Hope that helps.
[quote=Kanon
WSO is obviously also a great place to learn. But WSO has a lot of different threads, so it may be tough for someone who's quite green to know where to start and find old or current threads that are extremely useful. Sometimes it takes some basic knowledge to know the right kind of questions to ask to learn more.
In terms of accounting and finance type interview questions, you can check out WSO's interview guides, or you can also check out Breaking into Wallstreet (BIWS) guides (which is created by M&I's founder). I personally prefer BIWS's materials because I think - from a concept and understanding perspective - it goes deeper, and it's useful even for someone who's quite seasoned in finance. But having said that, I haven't looked closely at WSO's new material. I would say WSO is probably more 'direct' - to the point - and may be better for someone who's just starting out and doesn't need the deeper details.
Macabacus is also a terrific place to check out. It's got free financial models, and free info to provide you with a deeper understanding of finance concepts. http://www.macabacus.com/
Hope that helps.
[/quote]
That advice definitely helped me. SB for you maam. (edit)
I'd be grateful if you could advise me here:
http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/bo-to-ib-analyst-about-to-make-th…
Thank you!
Hello - Hoping to learn more about banking and finance (Originally Posted: 02/12/2013)
Hello everyone! I am new to Wall Street Oasis and I am a prospective monkey willing and hoping to learn more about the banking and finance industry to see if it really is a place for me! I have been surfing around this site for a while now and I have finally decided to join, in order to properly use this wonderful forum and its many benefits. So I would like to thank you all for welcoming me and for your advice in the near future! :)
I have to welcome you, otherwise it would seem like nobody has welcomed you!
Welcome!
Hello
Thank you very much guys!
trip post
trip post
trip post
What do you mean by "trip post" sorry this is the first forum I've joined
hello!
Welcome!
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